Ashley Wilkes' Mom and I went to Eufaula. I had never taken her there, so it was a first for her. One of the big attractions of the town is its high concentration of 19th century mansions and old homes. For a small town, it has quite a few.
The nickname is "Bluff City", and I suppose it isn't related to poker, but to the fact that it sits upon a high bluff above the Chattahoochee River.
Ashley Wilkes' Momma and I stepped into an antique shop to see what we could find. I saw several faded prints of these English paintings for sale. Every home had a copy, it seemed. My Big Mama had a copy of them in her Living Room. I'm not sure where they are now. They thought a lot of these copies, as the price was $135 each, "firm"!
Just like Huntsville, Eufaula had a Martin Theater, but theirs was more like the Lyric Theater in Huntsville, just across from the Martin. It was burned out and hollow inside.
The downtown is quite pretty, and on this day, you can see it was very hot. (click on the photo for a bigger view)
The citizens are proud of their Confederate heritage. Apparently in 1865 their mayor scooted out of town just as word of Appomatox arrived to meet the Union Army's march to the sea to let them know of Lee's surrender in order that the town might not be burned to the ground. Then he rushed back to town to make sure all the Confederates knew as well, so that trouble didn't break out and result in the town burning after all. Units from Eufaula apparently had quite a reputation in the Virginia theatre for bravery and ferocity.
The building behind houses a Cajun restaurant that has poor service, but pretty good food. Our lunch cost twice what it ought, but it also had twice as much food as it ought. So, we took the leftovers back to the farm and had another meal of it.
There is just one hospital in Barbour County, and it is in Eufaula. This is how it looks today.
This is what the hospital looked like in 1956 when I drew my first breath.
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