1862- In January the Albany Patriot ran a story about the discovery of rock salt a few miles north of Albany in Lee County. The discovery was made by Mr. C. D. Hammond. The “rock salt, which presents very much the appearance of a lump of isinglass, when ground into a powder; it has the exact taste of sea-water salt. It is thought that there is a large mine on the premises, embedded in the earth. The lump before us was dug from a lime sink.”
1873- In December Captain Hobbs was elected mayor. The citizens of Albany celebrated his victory by “Hobb-nobbing” with champagne and using elaborate “pyrotechnics” and in general there was an air of “jollification” on Broad Street. “They seem to have been wild after the election, but not wilder before.”
1885- George Crittenden disappeared mysteriously from Col. Nelson Tift’s plantation near Albany, and was later found in a lime sink in a “pitiable plight” and insane. “The man will be taken to Milledgeville in all probability.
1893- In March the chimney of the home of Mrs. A. L. Towns sank into the ground after a heavy rain. A lime sink had opened under the stack and left a great hole with no sight of a single brick. The hole was so deep that even grappling hooks were unable to locate any part of the chimney.
1902- In December an election was held to determine if voters wanted a new courthouse. The city needed to issue $40,000 of bonds to cover the cost of the new structure. An election earlier in June had decided the issue but then the case was fought in the courts which invalidated the earlier election results.
1916- The Thomasville Daily Times Enterprise comments on Albany’s completion of a new Municipal Auditorium. The paper states that “Albany is always doing something or other that merits congratulations from her sister cities.” The paper continues, “That quality or spirit or impulse, or whatever one cares to call it makes Albany a different kind of town. Albany undertakes community enterprises which many towns twice as large consider beyond their faculties or resources and it is a matter of record that Albany usually crowns such undertakings with success.”
1916- The Weekly Times-Recorder states that “Albany is about to open her magnificent new Municipal Auditorium, and its splendor has a beauty which passeth understanding.” The Americus newspaper went on to say, “Americus is far behind other cities of a similar size in the matter of a public auditorium-a place for large meetings; of conventions; for shows in keeping with the progress of this city and the adjacent territory.”
1919- February 28, The Davis Exchange Bank and office building on the corner of Washington and Broad Streets which occupied half a block of space was completely destroyed by fire. Two department stores, the bank and a hardware store were among the heaviest losers in the blaze. The losses are estimated at $500,000 dollars.
1921- In April the oldest pecan tree in Georgia was blown away by a tornado. “The tree was 70 years old and had been planted by the son of Captain N. F. Tift, the founder of Albany, from a seed brought by Captain Tift from New Orleans.”
1921- Newspapers report that two “progressive and far-seeing” Albany women have purchased a bus that will seat 14 passengers. The women will begin hourly bus trips to and from the Blue Springs all summer long. Mrs. G. M. Bacon and Mrs. S. G. Brannon are “pioneers in this field in this part of the country.”
Betty Rehberg is the historian for the Albany Journal and maintains a group on Facebook called Vintage Albany Georgia.