POWERGRAMS

29 Buildings sprang up around the new courthouse, many of them still standing today in a 10-block area of restored storefronts under metal canopies that extend around the entire square, offering shade and benches for shoppers visiting the more than 40 local businesses. Three barber shops still have old-fashioned red, white and blue poles outside their entrances. Barefield's has been providing men's clothing on the square since 1985. There's The Flower Shop, several hair salons and restaurants like Blue Agave, Fannie's and Hoppergrass. On one corner is the Dowling Museum & Ann Rudd Art Center. On another corner is Lillimaggs Butts & Beverages, which encompasses three 1900-era buildings. White- clothed tables await diners in the central section amid exposed red brick walls and black iron columns. The adjoining section has a winding wooden bar and tables alongside framed photos of previous businesses at the location. Flags representing each military service hang on one wall. Army veteran Jason Thomas works on Apache helicopters at Fort Rucker during the day, then tackles his side job with wife, Stephanie, each evening Wednesday through Sunday. In March, they opened Lillimaggs, named after their daughters, hoping to provide something different for people in their hometown and from the nearby Army post. "There's not any place in Ozark that serves seafood, oysters, barbecue, steaks and the variety of fresh, homemade food we do," he says. "We wanted a place you could bring your kids, listen to music, have a great meal and fun. We don't put up with rowdy folks." On yet another corner of the square, Mark Blankenship and several volunteers are painting, sawing, lifting and nailing lumber to form the stage of a community amphitheater. The land was donated by families who owned three two-story buildings destroyed by an F2 tornado in 1984. Blankenship worked at Farley Nuclear Plant for 20 years before starting a construction business and being elected seven years ago to the Dale County Commission, which he now chairs. He is the epitome of a working politician, also directing the amphitheater project for the Performing Arts Council (PAC). Using a $25,000 grant from the Wiregrass Resource Conservation and Development Council, volunteers like Carroll High School masonry teacher Greg Cobb and his students have built the amphitheater stage and storage area from the ground up. "The PAC director is busy lining up future events," Blankenship says. "It's going to be a fixture of our downtown." Above The Herbal Toad are wrought iron balconies extending from lofts, which are also on the second floors of other downtown businesses. Patrons of Milky Moo's enjoy sandwiches and homemade ice cream in the corner shop beneath the Lofts on Main Street. On the edges of the old town square are First United Methodist Church, Ozark Primitive Baptist and Ozark Presbyterian. The nearby Ozark Carillon and Tower erected in 1973 honors military and civilians from Fort Rucker and salutes the 60 soldiers from Dale County who died in World War I, the 56 who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country in World War II and all who've been killed in other battles. A separate monument stands in honor and remembrance of the victims of 9/11. Just down Broad Street is the Dowling-Steagall House built around 1870 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1996. The huge two-story, tall-columned wood home topped by a portico was the first mansion in Ozark. Twin copper lion statues guard the front porch entrance originally owned by the man who organized Ozark's waterworks, ran a hardware store and was president of the First National Bank. The house became the town's first hospital when it was bought by Dr. Malcolm Grace but it was closed 10 years later when he died in 1933. Ozark's most famous politician, U.S. Rep. Henry Steagall, owned the Dowling House for 10 years, too, until his death in Washington, D.C., in 1943, after serving 28 years in Congress. He was co-author of the act that brought banking reforms and created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Steagall also co-authored the 1937 law that created the U.S. Housing Authority. Dowling and other prominent Ozark leaders are buried in a cemetery beside the Claybank Church that was added to the National Register during the nation's bicentennial in 1976. First built in 1829, it was replaced by the current building in 1852 as a school, nondenominational church OZARK Lillimaggs restaurant opened recently in three restored buildings. Barefield's a fixture on the square for 34 years.

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