When the Civil War came to his newspaper office’s doorstep, a former Alabama governor’s son left his printing press behind and attempted to “strut to Guntersville” in 1862.  A group of Ohio infantrymen and a journaling army band member soon took over and began printing their own publication: the “Huntsville reveille”.  This short lived newspaper lasted only four editions, but its story is one of poetry and patriotism, sabotage and camaraderie, the powers of humor and fonts, and an oddly specific serialized love story.

Huge thanks to Scenethat Tours for their sponsorship of this episode (www.scenethattours.com)

For more Huntsville, Alabama, history you can subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, follow us on Facebook and Instagram at @lilyflaggpodcast, and check out our website (with show transcripts) at lilyflaggpodcast.wordpress.com. You can also be awesome like patrons like Allison, Emily, Eric, Huntsville

They say you can't fight city hall, but what happens when city hall fights itself? On one side: the newly elected mayor (Frasier Adams) and his chosen city clerk, police chief, and other officers. Their opponents? The aldermen and their choices for city officials, including a separate police force ready and willing to arrest members in the mayor's faction. The objective? Control of local government offices, and to not look like too much of a fool. The battle played out in private and public meetings, court cases, and of course in the press, where Huntsvillians read each day to see who would win the feud dubbed "The City Hall War."

Huntsville's water works had its bicentennial this year, and a lot has happened in the two hundred years that residents have been pumping spring water throughout the town.  In just the first 35 years, there were public spats, lots of hollowed out logs, a high turnover rate of ownership, some cool hydraulic technology, and a guy who felt the need to purchase 588 pounds of flour all at once.

This is part one of two detailing the surprisingly more exciting than you'd expect history of the water side of Huntsville Utilities.

For more Huntsville, Alabama, history you can subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, follow us on Facebook and Instagram at @lilyflaggpodcast, and check out our website (with show transcripts) at lilyflaggpodcast.wordpress.com. You can also be awesome like patrons like Allison, Emily, Eric, and Laura by supporting the show monthly at patreon.com/lilyflaggpodcast

In honor of the bicentennial of the Huntsville water works this year, I've done a two-part episode sharing history and fun facts.  In this episode I'll be talking about the system in its time as a public utility, starting in 1858, including expansions, odd fire fighting techniques, diseases, and fancy toilets! 

This is part two of two detailing the surprisingly more exciting than you'd expect history of the water side of Huntsville Utilities.

For more Huntsville, Alabama, history you can subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, follow us on Facebook and Instagram at @lilyflaggpodcast, and check out our website (with show transcripts) at lilyflaggpodcast.wordpress.com. You can also be awesome like patrons like Allison, Emily, Eric, and Laura by supporting the show monthly at patreon.com/lilyflaggpodcast

The library has multiple folders of letters applauding her, it would take a full page to list all her accolades and firsts, and her awards would cover a full wall, but most importantly: her work in public health touched and improved countless lives. Join me today in discussing Nurse Johnnie Loujean Dent (Alabama's first Black Nurse of the Year) and her impact on Triana and other rural and minority communities.

In this week's episode, I had the pleasure of chatting with Chauncey Robinson, the founder of the Mud Creek Archive, a non-profit whose many local history projects include historic cemetery restoration as well as researching and documenting Huntsville's Black Business District.  Join us as we about the destruction caused by urban renewal, the "bread crumbs" that lead to big research discoveries, and how it truly takes a community to preserve and remember the past.

Check out and donate to the Mud Creek Archive at mudcreekarchive.org and historicblackhuntsville.org

For more Huntsville, Alabama, history you can subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, follow us on Facebook and Instagram at @lilyflaggpodcast, check out our website (with show transcripts) at lilyflaggpodcast.wordpress.com. You can also be awesome like patrons like Allison, Emily, Eric, and Laura by supporting the show monthly at patreon.com/lilyflaggpodcast

Bricks! Tallulah! Frogs! Mysterious writing in cement! You asked and I answered this season's requests-only episode. All topics were submitted by listeners like you, and the questions led to fun facts about gargoyles, wild fonts in saloon advertisements, and the histories that lie beneath our feet.

What do indescribable natural wonders, an underground barbecue feast, an "Iowa syndicate", and some rare crayfish have in common?  They all could be found in Shelta Cave,  a now-protected area that was one of Victorian-era Huntsville's weirdest tourism destinations! Join me on this journey to not-quite-the-center-of-the-earth to explore this tourist-trap turned nature preserve!

For more Huntsville, Alabama, history you can subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, follow us on Facebook and Instagram at @lilyflaggpodcast, and check out our website (with show transcripts) at lilyflaggpodcast.wordpress.com. You can also be awesome like patrons like Allison, Emily, Eric, and Laura by supporting the show monthly at patreon.com/lilyflaggpodcast

Have you ever wondered what a walking tour through downtown Huntsville, Alabama, may have sounded like in 1901? This "episode" is just that, complete with building histories, descriptions of businesses, notes on current events, and background sound effects. The tour starts at the corner of Eustis and Green Streets and is paced such that you could walk the eight blocks through the current downtown and listen along, but it's also designed to still be a fun listen from the comfort of your home!

Supplementary maps, photos, and more can be found on the show's website: lilyflaggpodcast.wordpress.com.

For more Huntsville, Alabama, history you can subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, follow us on Facebook and Instagram at @lilyflaggpodcast, and check out our website (with show transcripts) at lilyflaggpodcast.wordpress.com. You can also be awesome like patrons like Allison, Emily, Eric, and Laura by supporting the show monthly at patreon.com/lilyflaggpodcast

For more Huntsville, Alabama, history you can subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, follow us on Facebook and Instagram at @lilyflaggpodcast, and check out our website (with show transcripts) at lilyflaggpodcast.wordpress.com. You can also be awesome like patrons like Allison, Emily, Eric, and Laura by supporting the show monthly at patreon.com/lilyflaggpodcast