Cullman Historic Walking Tour

Carolyn Peinhardt Johnson led the second week of walking tours through Cullman's historic district Saturday, assisted by Michael Sullins, who had lead the first tour. Two more tours are set for the remaining Saturdays in June. Each starts at 10 a.m. at the Col. Cullmann home.

Below, the tour begins at the Col. Cullmann home; Johnson examines a photo of the building that is now home to Rumor's Deli with deli owner Ralph Harris; the group walks by the old sign on the Cullman Banana Supply building; the group hears about the Steifelmeyer Building from inside the renovated building; and the tour concludes at the Weis Cottage.  (Videos of the tour have been interspersed with the photos.)

Walking Tours of Cullman

Free walking tours of Cullman will be conducted every Saturday during June. They will start at 10 a.m on the front porch of the Cullman County Museum on the corner of First Avenue and Arnold Street NE and end on Second Avenue Arnold Street NE. To help with the heat, there will be three water breaks this year.

And on the other three Saturdays you can choose from one of the other 30 or so towns across Alabama that will be taking part in the Alabama Tourism Department's June Walking Tours. The June Walking Tours are part of state tourism’s “Year of Alabama Small Towns and Downtowns” state-wide promotion.

Towns and starting places for the June Walking Tours are: Ashland, Ashland City Hall; Ashville, St. Clair Tourism Office; Athens, Limestone County Courthouse Annex Parking Lot; Atmore, Heritage Park; Birmingham, Birmingham Civil Rights Institute; Cullman, Cullman County Museum; Courtland, Park on the Square; Decatur, Delano Park Rose Garden; Demopolis, City Hall; Enterprise, Rawls Hotel; Eufaula, Chamber of Commerce Depot; Fairhope, Fairhope Welcome Center; Florence, various starting locations; Gadsden, Pitman Theatre; Gordo, Chamber of Commerce; Guntersville, Chamber of Commerce; Hartselle, Historic Depot; Hayneville, Lowndes County Courthouse; Homewood, City Hall. Huntsville, Constitution Village (June 5 & 12 only); Madison, Madison Roundhouse (June 19 & 26 only); Monroeville, Old Courthouse Museum; Montevallo, Chamber of Commerce; Montgomery; Montgomery Visitor Center; Oak Hill, Bethel ARP Church; Prattville, Autauga County Heritage Center; Selma, Dallas County Public Library; Scottsboro, Jackson County Heritage Center; Sheffield, Sheffield Municipal Building; Silas, Silas Community Center; Sylacauga, B.B. Comer Library; Thomasville, Thomasville Civic Center; Tuscumbia, ColdWater Bookstore; Tuskegee, Tuskegee Human and Civil Rights Multicultural Center; Wetumpka, Chamber of Commerce.

The tours are being coordinated by Brian Jones with the Alabama Tourism Department. “Alabama is the only state in the nation to hold statewide, simultaneous walking tours. The beauty of the June Walking Tours is that any community, whether big or small, can do this. We have done more than 1,000 walking tours since the beginning of the program seven years ago and they keep increasing in popularity every year,” Jones said. More information about the June Walking Tours is available by going online at www.alabama.travel or by calling 1-800-ALABAMA.

Take Cullman Oktoberfest's historical photo quiz on Facebook.

City of Cullman logo mural

Bethany Kerr's latest mural near Carlton's Italian Restaurant:

(Photo courtesy Bethany Kerr)

Doyle Bullard discusses growing up in Cullman County

Doyle Bullard, right, leads the meeting in singing "America the Beautiful."

Doyle Bullard grew up on a two-mule farm.

"My dad didn't like horses," Bullard told the May meeting of the Cullman County Historical Society. "He said (horses) were too spirited and would run away with the plows."

A longtime educator in Cullman, Bullard shared his experiences growing up on a farm in the Walter community during the Great Depression.

In addition to those two mules, the 40-acre Bullard farm had Jersey cows, hogs and yard chickens, but no electricity until 1938. Bullard's mother bought most supplies from one of three "rolling stores" that came through.

"Actually, we didn't have money to buy anything," Bullard said. His mother bartered the butter and eggs she'd collected that day.

Iced tea and lemonade were treats, the ice obtained by chipping it from a block bought at the Cullman Ice Factory. The block could be kept frozen for days wrapped inside three layers of burlap sacks and insulated with sawdust.

The Bullards relied on a dug well, though some neighbors had drilled wells or used a hillside stream. Only residents of the city had running water, so farms typically used an outhouse, as did the schools. A No. 3 galvanized wash tub made for a bath, and Bullard usually had to share the same bathwater with his brother.

Cotton was the family's main crop, and every community had a sawmill to serve the nearby farms. Mostly, communities had to take care of everything themselves, from growing their own food to digging graves.

"People were very enterprising," Bullard said. "We had to be if we wanted to survive."

Cullman Mural Updates

Click photos to enlarge

Cullman High School, early 1900s by Bethany Kerr

German Bank signage by Steve Carter

Cullman in the 1880s by Jack Tupper

(Photos courtesy Bethany Kerr)

May Historical Society Meeting

The Cullman County Historical Society will meet at 2 p.m. Sunday, Mary 23, 2010 at the Ruehl Building, 601 3rd Ave. SE, Cullman, Alabama.

Doyle Bullard will discuss "A Lifetime in Cullman County."

Cullman in the 1880s mural update

Murals by Jack Tupper. Photos courtesy of Bethany Kerr.