POWERGRAMS

16 who've made the ultimate sacrifice in war, including 19 members of the 84th Brigade of the Rainbow Division commanded by Brig. Gen. Douglas MacArthur during World War I. Those soldiers died in four battles in France between July 15 and Nov. 11, 1918, including three from Greenville who perished the same day in the Croix Rouge Farm Battle. MacArthur, who was later supreme commander for the Allies in WWII, said those "immortals" fought "with the greatest courage … on the point of the bayonet." The past 17 years, Steve Norman has walked each day into the courthouse as probate judge. He's heard about Hank Williams living across the street as an 11-year-old in a boarding house that has since been torn down. Williams attended the sixth grade at Parmer School. He sold peanuts and shined shoes around the courthouse before his mom moved him to Montgomery and Hank went on to become the King of Country Music. Norman sometimes sings Hank Jr. songs around town. Yet, when Norman picks up his guitar and plays a tune at the senior center or a civic club, he's more likely to be singing a Rock Killough. "He grew up here and has quite a catalog," Norman says, noting Killough has written songs for Hank Jr., Waylon Jennings, Jerry Reed, Carole King, Jerry Jeff Walker, Randy Travis and Brenda Lee. Norman walks through the courthouse greeting folks, many of them old friends. He steps from the probate offices into a unique five-level vault that contains many of the existing records of the county since the previous courthouse burned. There are bound copies of The Greenville Advocate dating to 1878 and of the Butler County News from 1911, thousands of pages of real estate, judgments, trials and sheriff's department records. Original legal papers placed on shelves line the walls of the thin vault with steel steps and floor grates that allow airflow through each level from the basement to the building roof. "Our modern records are in the first-floor offices but this vault has invaluable information about almost every aspect of Butler County and its history," says Norman. Archie Woodruff In 1775, naturalist William Bartram traveled across the Southeast sketching and collecting native plants and wildlife. Native Indian trails took him through what would become Greenville in the early 1800s and across hills that would become Cambrian Ridge in the late 1900s. Bartram's book about his journey would boost environmentalism across Alabama. Greenville's path in the 21st century has been similarly influenced by Archie Woodruff, who left his hometown to become a successful businessman in Orlando. Woodruff's travels the past three decades have found him frequently returning to Greenville, where he has bought and renovated more than 40 historic homes and buildings. "I've been teasing him that we're going to have to change the name of the town to Archieville," says newspaper publisher Branum. "But he really has done a lot for our town." Greenville Chamber leader Salter says the investment of time and money by Woodruff "is astronomical," noting that his restorations on Commerce Street alone have spurred economic Woodruff has helped revitalize his hometown. Greenville's Railroad Depot opened in 1910 but is now headquarters for the Chamber of Commerce.

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