THE GERMANS ARE COMING

November 3, 2011  Dateline: Pickensville, AL USA

I woke up this morning to the sound and touch of rain.  Rich called the Stennis Lock and learned that it would be closed until at least 9:30 AM for repairs, so I sat in Columbus Marina.  I had only 28 miles to go today so the delay was okay and it gave the rain a chance to move on.  Carol was happy, as she would not have to stand out in the rain as I went through the lock.

A few hours after I left Mississippi I was back in Alabama.  After I was tied up at Pirates Cove Marina, Rich and Carol along with Wayne and Francine as well as John and Mary went to the Tom Bevill Visitors Center at the Bevill Lock.  The Visitors Center is a reproduction of a mid-1800’s Greek revival Tombigbee mansion.  The house is furnished with appropriate period furniture.  

The house has a center staircase that leads to the windowed roof top cupola.  The cupola served at least two purposes.  It was an observation point to survey ones property and a ventilation system when its windows were opened along with those on the first floor.  The stair case is quite impressive.

Alongside the Visitors Center the U.S. Snagboat Montgomery is docked.  The boat built in 1926 was one of the last operating steamboats in the US.  The boat was driven by a single paddle wheel at its stern.  On its bow the U.S. Montgomery had a 45 ton crane to lift debris from rivers and to also, when necessary, dredge the rivers.  The boat is 178 feet long and draws four feet of water (9 inches less than me). After 56 years of service she was retired and a restoration process began.

They then went to a town close by, named Aliceville, which had a prisoner of war camp located there from 1943 through 1946.  Today, there is a museum in the town dedicated to the camp and all local military personnel.  In 1943, 6,100 German prisoners of war from Rommel’s Afrika Krop arrived at the Aliceville prison camp and would remain in any one of the 500 such prison camps across the U.S. through the end of the war.  The camp brought prosperity to the area as it employed 1,000 Americans.  The prisoners whose rank was less than a non-commissioned officer worked in the cotton and peanut fields adding to the economy.  The museum has had reunions where Germans and Americans who were at the camp came together.  The town also organized a trip to Germany to meet and have a reunion with some of the individuals who were prisoners at the camp. Many German relatives of these prisoners have sent their memorabilia to the Aliceville Museum. The Germans received such good and considerate care that many returned later to the U.S. and made their home here.

The Pickensville Police Department operated out of this building.

Tomorrow I will make a 90+ mile run to Demopolis, AL