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A 1910 view of 2nd Avenue North looking to the west. The image was taken from the bell tower of the 1896 courthouse.

The current view of 2nd Avenue North illustrates the growth and development of the city of Clanton.

The W.I. Mullins establishment was located on the northeast corner of 2nd Avenue North and 7th Street.

The Peoples Savings Bank, established in 1901, would become the oldest and longest serving financial institution in Chilton County.

The new brick two-story Mullins Building was completed in 1936 and erected on the site of the original building. The Peoples Savings Bank is visible next to the Mullins Building.

The Mullins Building, completed in 1936, was located on the most famous corner of main street. The A&P grocery store occupied the bottom floor with the Modern Beauty Shoppe on the second floor.

Floats of the 1954 Peach Parade turn onto 2nd Avenue North in front of the Mullins Building.

A float of the 1949 Peach Parade shown in front of the Mullins Building on 2nd Avenue North.

Completed in 1965, the new Peoples Savings Bank consisted of modern construction in every detail and was considered one of the finest banks in any small city in Alabama.

Completed in 1965, the new Peoples Savings Bank consisted of modern construction in every detail and was considered one of the finest banks in any small city in Alabama.

A 1966 view of 2nd Avenue North looking east with the new Peoples Savings Bank building on the left of the image.

A contemporary view of 2nd Avenue North looking east with the River Bank & Trust building on the left of the image.

Contemporary view of the River Bank & Trust building on the corner of 2nd Avenue North and 7th Street.

Contemporary view of the River Bank & Trust building on the corner of 2nd Avenue North and 7th Street.

Story & Photos Contributed by Billy Singleton

Once upon a time, long before the establishment of the Birmingham to Montgomery Highway transformed 7th Street into a major thoroughfare through downtown, 2nd Avenue North served as the main street of Clanton.

The history of 2nd Avenue North as Clanton’s main street is as old as the city it serves. After acquiring the tract of land that would become the settlement of Goosepond and, subsequently, Clanton, Alfred Baker, assisted by surveyor George Floyd, created a plan to develop the new community. In addition to surveying lots, Baker and Floyd exercised great care to establish the system of streets that would become the center of commerce and government. Baker identified the streets and avenues by assigning each a number based on its direction and distance from the intersection of 1st Street and 1st Avenue.

Connecting the Clanton Cemetery on the eastern edge of town with the Louisville and Nashville Railroad depot to the west, 2nd Avenue North soon became a popular destination for numerous businesses, a new two-story wood-frame courthouse, a Baptist Church, hotel, and the community well, making the broad avenue the main street, if not in name, in function.

Through the years, the most notable address along this pathway through the city has been the northeast corner of the intersection of 2nd Avenue North and 7th Street, once described by the editor of The Union Banner Newspaper as the “Famous Corner of Main Street.” Although this lot had been occupied since the founding of the city, the establishment of the Earhman General Merchandise Company in 1889 would be the catalyst in making this corner parcel the center of Clanton’s business activities for more than a century.

With the dawn of the twentieth century, local entrepreneur W.I. Mullins purchased the site to establish the business that an editorial in The Union Banner Newspaper suggested would make the name Mullins a household word throughout Chilton County. With the passage of years, as the city continued to grow, the Mullins Building would serve as a reminder of a past way of life when customers would travel by carts pulled by oxen to its doors to purchase provisions to sustain their families. Following the retirement of W.I. Mullins, his son J. Renfroe Mullins and son-in-law J. Watts Moore took over management of the business that became known as Mullins and Moore.

In 1935, as the United States began recovering from the severe fiscal crisis known as the Great Depression, the city of Clanton was experiencing significant growth with the construction of a new post office and city hall. This period of progress included the corner of 2nd Avenue North and 7th Street, known by residents as Mullins Corner. In place of the old wood frame structure that originally housed the Earhman General Merchandise Company, J. Watts Moored planned construction of a new two-story brick building designed to house a variety of retail businesses. The construction firm of W.C. Monroe of Sylacauga was retained to erect the $15,000 structure that would also be known as the Mullins Building.

As the work of demolishing the old sentinel on 2nd Avenue North got underway, groups of old-timers would gather on the sidewalk to reminisce about the old frame building that once was considered one of the most modern and progressive business houses in this section of the country.

Completed in 1936, tenants of the new Mullins Building included the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company (A&P); L.E. Diefenderfer, proprietor of automobile accessories; and Louis Prince, Jeweler. The upstairs portion of the building facing 2nd Avenue North was leased to the Modern Beauty Shoppe, owned and operated by Mrs. W.C. Robinson. Stylists at the Modern Beauty Shoppe specialized in hair bobbing, shampoos, manicures, henna rinses, scalp treatments, eye lash and eyebrow dyeing, eyebrow arching and facials.

In a noteworthy gesture, jeweler Louis Prince commemorated an important date in his life by permanently encasing a gold watch in the masonry wall of the building during construction. The 1892 model Elgin watch was inscribed with the names of Prince and his wife followed by the January 1935 date that memorialized their arrival in Clanton. In announcing his intent, Prince stated that after being in the city for five months, the couple wished to express their appreciation for the splendid way they had been received by the people of this section of the country. Once the watch was secured in the wall, all places where moisture could enter were securely sealed.

In announcing construction of the Mullins Building, the editor of The Union Banner commented on the potential longevity of the structure. In years to come, “another building will rear its head in its stead, and perhaps fifty years hence still another generation will shake its head as progress grinds old memories under its heel.”

That prediction would come to fruition with the passage of only three decades. In early 1964, Frank J. Callen, President of the Peoples Savings Bank of Clanton, announced that the Mullins Building would be demolished to create additional space for construction of their new building. Chartered in December 1901 as part of an initiative to establish additional banks in Alabama, Peoples Savings Bank would become the oldest continuously operating financial institution in Chilton County. Expanding its original location on 2nd Avenue North, the new building would encompass the most famous corner of Clanton’s main street.

In January 1965, the management and employees of Peoples Saving Bank hosted an open house to allow customers to tour the new building. Described as one of the finest banks in any small city in Alabama, the new building consisted of modern construction in every detail, with up-to-date facilities offered to the public, making it a full-service bank with drive-up windows and off-street parking.

In 1986, the Peoples Savings Bank building would again be expanded with the addition of a second floor. Even more changes would take place in subsequent years. In December 1997, after almost a century of service to the people of Chilton County, the bank was rebranded Peoples Southern Bank. A new chapter in the remarkable history of Chilton County’s oldest financial institution commenced in November 2018 as River Financial Corporation, parent company of River Bank & Trust, completed its merger with Peoples Southern Bank. Although the name has changed, the building and its imposing presence on the most famous corner of Main Street will continue to be a center of Clanton’s business activities in the future.

In considering our past, we are reminded that the only constant in life is change. In the years ahead, 2nd Avenue North will continue to evolve, and the faces of the buildings situated along the avenue will continue to change. Soon, the fourth of the Chilton County Courthouses that have been an integral part of downtown for 150 years will be relocated and the existing building demolished, leaving only the memories of the generations it served. As the words of the editor of The Union Banner Newspaper remind us, “another building will rear its head in its stead” and create memories for future generations.

Through it all, 2nd Avenue North, the main street of Clanton and its most famous corner will continue to thrive and stand as an enduring testament to the resilience of the city, its residents, our shared memories of the past and our hopes for the future.

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