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Article
The
Boll Weevil The City of Enterprise, Alabama has a strong history of growth and progress. Its diversity of people, occupations, lifestyles, and interests come together to produce the community spirit that has been passed down for generations. The founder of Enterprise, John Henry Carmichael, moved to Coffee County and settled the area in 1861. Carmichael built a small store on what is now North Main Street. In 1882, as others moved to the area, the post office was moved and located about five miles north of Carmichael’s new community. Enterprise was incorporated in 1896 with a population of 250. Two years later, the Alabama Midland Railway Company located in Enterprise and with it came growth and progress. By 1906, the population grew to 3,750. Because early residents believed so much in their own town, they had a battle cry in the form of a banner stretched across Main Street — “Pull for Enterprise or pull out.” The town’s progress was threatened, however, in 1915 as the Mexican boll weevil found its way into Alabama from Texas and wreaked havoc on the cotton crop. In Coffee County, almost sixty percent of the cotton production was destroyed that year. Farmers faced bankruptcy and the area economy was at stake. Farmers turned to peanuts and other crops to overcome the damage brought by the boll weevil. By 1917, Coffee County, Alabama, produced and harvested more peanuts than any other county in the nation. In gratitude for the lessons learned, residents erected the world’s only monument to an agricultural pest — the boll weevil monument. The monument dedicated on December 11, 1919, stands in the center of the downtown at the intersection of Main Street and Column Street. The boll weevil monument is a symbol of humankind’s willingness and ability to adjust to adversity. The base of the monument is inscribed, “In profound appreciation of the boll weevil and what it has done as the herald of prosperity, this monument was erected by the citizens of Coffee County, Alabama. There is, I suppose, a boll weevil or two in every professional life. Each of us, just like the citizens of Enterprise, has to decide whether our boll weevil will be a disaster or an opportunity. For more information about Ken Chapman and Associates’ Leadership Development Programs, contact Ken Chapman at 205.366.0265 or email Ken at kchapman@leaderscode.com. <End> |
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