Gold Hill, Alabama

Gold Hill is an unincorporated community north-centrally located in Lee County, Alabama, United States, just a few hundred feet south of the Chambers County line. It is part of the Auburn Metropolitan Area. Today, Gold Hill lies mostly in the corporate limits of Auburn.

History

Gold Hill was settled in the 1830s, and--despite being in the southern reaches of the territory mined for gold in the 1840s Alabama Gold Rush--was not named for the mineral, but rather for an early settler named Goldsmith. In the 1870s, Gold Hill received a second name, Gold Ridge, after confusion between the railroad stops at Gold Hill and nearby Camp Hill led the postal service to rename the Gold Hill post office. Despite being "officially" considered Gold Ridge by the US Postal Service and the railroad, residents have always considered the community to be only Gold Hill.

Gold Hill is also the location of "Roamer's Roost", the home of epilepsy scientist William P. Spratling and his son, silversmith William Spratling.

Gold Hill's most recognizable landmark is an old barn which stands adjacent to the railroad crossing on Highway 147. The building was erected in 1870 and served as the community's general store.

During most of its history, the barn which housed the general store was connected to about 4200 acres of farmland. The store, and the farms that surrounded it operated much in the same way all the way up until the 1940s. Following The Great Migration, many of the field laborers left the area to begin new lives in northern cities such as Detroit and Buffalo. This left the community a shell of its former self. Eventually, the store closed down and the mail trains didn't make stops in "Gold Ridge" anymore. To this day, mail is still delivered to the community from the post office in Waverly, Alabama. The barn's purpose is now purely aesthetic.

References

*Nunn, Alexander (Ed.) (1983). "Lee County and Her Forebears". Montgomery, Ala., Herff Jones. LCCCN 83-081693

*Williams, Ed. "A Visit to Gold Hill, Alabama." Ed Williams' Homepage. 8 Aug. 2003. Auburn University. 20 Mar. 2007 [http://www.auburn.edu/~willik5/goldhill.html] .