By: Ava Bourbeau
A right off Main Street and just past Sweet’s Snack Bar will put you at The First Universalist Church of Camp Hill (c. 1907). The red brick building is splotched with darkness from years of efflorescence. Streaks of dirt, carried by the rain, run vertically down the canopy sign. However, the full spectrum of colors on the “Love is love, black lives matter, climate change is real…” sign standing outside the church is unworn.
The church is listed on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage and now functions partly as a meeting place for community organizers. Its neighbor to the west is the Camp Hill Baptist Church (c. 1881).
The dark blues and greens of the stained-glass windows are cloudy, like someone has been puffing their hot breath into the glass in earnest. Today, there are at least two souls that find comfort in the church, one a Russian Blue and the other a black Tabby; both very well fed. The cats live in and outside the church, taken care of by the community.
Around the corner, in downtown Camp Hill, Alabama, kudzu occupies most of the real estate. The exit off U.S. Highway 280 into the community is marked with potholes and faded yellow lines. Cracks cut their way through the asphalt like lightening strikes.
The trees share the electrified resemblance. The branches reach out like crooked, bony fingers. There are more skeletal twigs than foliage, leaving the trees and the town — barren.
Camp Hill, in Tallapoosa County, was primarily a farming community until after the Savannah and Memphis Railroad tracked into town, according to the Encyclopedia of Alabama. The railroad brought new settlers, and the economy became funded primarily by cotton gins and brickyards.
As of the 2020 Census data, the town boasts 1,006 residents. Nearly 87% percent of these residents are Black, and half of them are living below the poverty line. In the early 1980s, Camp Hill was witness to a “white flight.” In leaving, the white community took money, and more, with them.
Sixteen miles away is Auburn, Alabama, but metaphorical distance is cleaved even farther with the towns’ contrasting nature. Auburn is “the loveliest village on the Plains,” the home to Auburn University, a meeting place of intellect and advancement.
However, to Camp Hill resident C.D. (Dean) Bonner, Auburn is a “homogenous mess.” It is chain restaurants, branded everything, and students who may come from diverse places, but often find themselves conforming to fit the Auburn standard. Bonner is more interested in the “unique hidden characters” in the lesser-known Camp Hill.
Bonner is a Coast Guard veteran who, along with his wife Patricia Garrigus, now calls Camp Hill home. He is a comedian and a published writer. His book, described on his business card as a “nonfiction-based Southern Gothic dark humor” series, is a collection of short stories from his own experience growing up in the South.
“I Talk Slower Than I Think: An Antidote to Helicopter Parenting” is racy and prone to causing side stitches in those familiar with southern living. Garrigus, who seems to be chronically covered in paint splatter, is credited with the cover illustrations. Both would like to see improvement in the community.
Mayor Messiah Williams-Cole is working to bring unity to the community, as well. After making history and winning a runoff election to become one of the nation’s youngest mayors — before he even graduated from Auburn University — Williams-Cole is not losing momentum.
He divides his time between law school and Camp Hill. Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., he’s working on his studies. In his remaining time, he’s working for his community.
“Everyone has my cell phone number. I don’t even have a work phone,” Williams-Cole said. This is in an effort to stay connected, even when he’s not physically in-office.
He said he hopes to fill the cracks in the community and in the pavement. Alberta Street, which Williams-Cole said is “the most necessary,” is on the recent roster, and more will follow.
He has also spent the year planning for the spring and summer’s event schedule. May 14 and 15 will celebrate the opening of Bear Park. There will also be a barbeque and bonfire for Camp Hill Alumni Weekend the Friday before Memorial Day followed by Camp Hill Day the Sunday before.
Williams-Cole uses social media to communicate with the town and has an active Facebook page — where his “Camp Hill Conversations” take place — with 634 followers: more than half the town’s population.
Some crumbles in the town will be more difficult to repair, such as the deterioration that Emberly Zellars is forging a path to renovate. Her grandfather, John Zellars, bought multiple buildings in downtown Camp Hill in the 1980s after integration sused some business owners out during the “white flight.” He paid in cash which he had saved from his insurance company that he started himself.
Zellars works in Washington D.C. as a program analyst for the Department of Health and Human Services. Her family is from Auburn, including her grandfather who raised her. She has taken the responsibility of cleaning out the cobwebs on Main Street, despite never living in Camp Hill.
She is petitioning to restore the shells of buildings to bring business, jobs and revenue to Camp Hill. After more than 50 years, they have potential to be more than just an eye sore.
“Whether we as a family are running the businesses, or [we are] putting things up for rent and allowing other business owners to use our property,” she said.
She will do what’s best for the town, she said. The most recent renovation is the old dental office on the corner of Main Street and Holly Avenue. Zellars plans for it to be reopened as a hair salon.
There has been some pushback, however. Mayor Williams-Cole himself was quoted in a city council meeting in 2021 saying, “It’s a lot easier to find demolition grants than it is to find a restoration grant, especially in businesses that don’t exist.”
Williams-Cole has since confirmed that the downtown renovation is underway.
The town has been hidden in the shadow of Auburn for decades. Pulling every weed and cleaning every brick is no easy task, but Camp Hill surely has the community on its side.
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