Crumley Chapel, also known as Crumleys Chapel or Oakwood, is an
unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...
in
Jefferson County, Alabama
Jefferson County is the List of counties in Alabama, most populous county in the U.S. state of Alabama, located in the central portion of the state. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 674,721. Its county seat i ...
northwest of
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
. The area was first settled in early 1840. The community's name originated from a local church and cemetery, which were named after Robert Crumley, an early farmer of the area.
Crumley Chapel Methodist Church was founded in 1859. The Crumley Chapel Cemetery was founded in 1858 and dedicated to Oliver Shoemaker and his wife. Shoemaker donated the land for the cemetery.
Ernie Pyle
Ernest Taylor Pyle (August 3, 1900 – April 18, 1945) was a Pulitzer Prize–winning American journalist and war correspondent who is best known for his stories about ordinary American soldiers during World War II. Pyle is also notable for the ...
, during his time as a roving reporter, reported on the bitter feud over the attempt to rename the town.
He reported in March 1939 that since November 1938 there had been animosity and even some violence about it. At that time the replacement name was "Westwood".
Pyle half-jokingly suggested a truce with the compromise name of "Crumwood", knowing that the feuders would probably not take his advice.
References
Unincorporated communities in Jefferson County, Alabama
Unincorporated communities in Alabama
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