Way Back When we were on a road trip through Virginia I saw my first tobacco fields. I just had to get out and pick a leaf to bring home to show my students.

Ha, joke was on me.

I knew so little about tobacco that I did not realize that by the time we got home, the leaf would have dried and disintegrated into fine tobacco crumbles. It did smell like a nice cigar, though. No way could I take that to the classroom even though the high school smoking area was right outside my window. No air conditioning and windows had to be opened. No telling what that secondhand smoke did to those little brains. Can you believe that?

Soon after, when I was looking at vintage photos, I realized that the county's central agricultural fields were once full of tobacco and that the huge building still standing in Summerdale was the original barn used to treat and package the product.

Historic marker in downtown Summerdale. Photo provided.

Way Back When the railroad from Bay Minette to Foley was completed in 1905, it crossed the major east-west road in the county, Dixie Road, now County Road 32, at Summerdale. This created the most efficient transportation hub for agriculture in all of the south part of the county. The train connected with northbound freight carriers in Bay Minette, and the dirt road ended at Zundel's landing, a major loading dock for the shipping industry. Later, with the completion of State Highway 104, the center moved a little to the north in Robertsdale, which now proudly claims the name Hub City.

Named for an early tobacco farmer and real estate developer, Eli Summer, in 1904, the story of the boom days of Summerdale are all about tobacco. The notable tobacco industry was developed by Hamm Brothers Southern Development Company in Chicago, which had built in the spur rail line and purchased 20,000 acres of farmland. Much of the land that became part of the tobacco company was previously owned by Robert Baker and Stephen Potts who owned 12,000 acres and ran a very successful naval stores trade in the 19th century.

Sumatra and Havana Tobacco Company, based in Pittsburgh, advertised in the Pittsburgh Post to entice local tobacco farmers to move south. They offered five-acre tracts for $250, and some 40-acre farms were available as well. The company also provided a building lot near the barn for each five-acre purchase. The Sumatra land spread from the Florida state line to Fish River, eventually growing to 55,000 acres under contract with the tobacco company. The barn for curing, fermenting and preparing the tobacco for market was completed by 1910. An article in The Onlooker about the barn quoted its cost at $65,000.

Shaded tobacco growing in Sumatra. Photo provided.

Hamm first had the town drawn up as Sonora, but the post office claimed the name Summerdale, and that stuck. The Summers Hotel became a center for commerce; banks, stores, churches and a school sprang up overnight. Early settlers included several French, Polish and Lithuanian families, and a sizeable group of Mennonites settled west of the town in Sonora. Little rabbit trail here: the community of Mennonites was known as Hookers, simply because their style of clothing used hook and eye fasteners rather than buttons.

Several varieties of tobacco were grown, but most was used as cigar filler. There was a cigar rolling plant nearby and one in Fairhope as well. Some varieties need to be cultivated in shade, so huge tents made of net were erected. The industry was short-lived and died out with the confusion of the business affairs after the death of Hamm in October of 1912. It struggled on for a few years with local farmers still marketing their crops using the barn.

Summerdale was officially incorporated in 1927 and with the abundance of agricultural products, a canning company became successful. Summerdale School was a premier educational establishment in the county, serving students through grade 12 for several years.

The town wisely purchased the defunct rail property in the 1980s for a public park and now owns the barn as well. It is affectionately known as the "Sunshine Town of Baldwin County."

The city museum is chock full of memorabilia of the early years of the town with photos of the barn being built. Take a day trip there to learn more about the Sunshine Town. Be sure and have an ice cream at Scoops!

Tobacco barn in Summerdale. Photo provided.