21
Holding
on to
History
COLUMBIANA'S CORE A TIME CAPSULE
OF CENTURIES PAST
It takes just a second in Columbiana to go from 2016 to 1916.
Although the outskirts of town feature mostly modern buildings – an ACE Hardware here, a
McDonald's there, CVS that way, and, of course, a Dollar General – in the blink of an eye a visitor
can travel a century or two back in time. Arriving on Main Street, one is transported almost to
1818 when Shelby County was established, one year before Alabama was officially a state.
It takes just a second in Columbiana to go from 2016 to 1916.
Although the outskirts of town feature mostly modern buildings – an ACE Hardware here, a
McDonald's there, CVS that way, and, of course, a Dollar General – in the blink of an eye a visitor
can travel a century or two back in time. Arriving on Main Street, one is transported almost to
1818 when Shelby County was established, one year before Alabama was officially a state.
By Chuck Chandler
PHOTOGRAPHY BY MEG MCKINNEY
