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Delmar is a small,

community_ A_community_is_a_social_unit_(a_group_of_living_things)_with_commonality_such_as_place,__norms,_religion,_values,__customs,_or_identity.__Communities_may_share_a_sense_of_place_situated_in_a_given_geographical_area_(e.g._a_country,_village,_tow_...

_in_west-central_

_in_west-central_Winston_County,_Alabama">Winston_County,_United_States._Delmar_is_located_six_miles_north_of_ community_ A_community_is_a_social_unit_(a_group_of_living_things)_with_commonality_such_as_place,__norms,_religion,_values,__customs,_or_identity.__Communities_may_share_a_sense_of_place_situated_in_a_given_geographical_area_(e.g._a_country,_village,_tow_...

_in_west-central_Winston_County,_Alabama">Winston_County,_United_States._Delmar_is_located_six_miles_north_of_Natural_Bridge,_Alabama">Natural_Bridge_ A_natural_arch,_natural_bridge,_or_(less_commonly)_rock_arch_is_a_natural__landform_where_an__arch_has_formed_with_an_opening_underneath._Natural_arches_commonly_form_where_inland_cliffs,__coastal_cliffs,_fins_or__stacks_are_subject_to_erosion__...
,_five_miles_south_of_Haleyville,_Alabama">Haleyville_and_15_miles_west_of_Double_Springs,_Alabama.html" "title="Haleyville,_Alabama.html" ;"title="Natural_Bridge,_Alabama.html" "title="Winston_County,_Alabama.html" ;"title="unincorporated_area.html" "title="rural, unincorporated area">community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...
in west-central Winston County, Alabama">Winston County, United States. Delmar is located six miles north of Natural Bridge, Alabama">Natural Bridge A natural arch, natural bridge, or (less commonly) rock arch is a natural landform where an arch has formed with an opening underneath. Natural arches commonly form where inland cliffs, coastal cliffs, fins or stacks are subject to erosion ...
, five miles south of Haleyville, Alabama">Haleyville and 15 miles west of Double Springs, Alabama">Double Springs Double Springs is a town in Winston County, Alabama, United States. The city is the county seat of Winston County. The county seat was initially located at Houston, but by referendum in 1883, Double Springs prevailed and it was removed to there. ...
, the county seat of what was once the "Free State of Winston." Delmar has an elevation of 881 feet above sea level.

Origins of the name "Delmar"

Delmar was originally called "

Frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...

Level." Presumably, the community was called Frog Level because of the

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

y land that existed around the area at the time. In the 19th century, the citizens of Frog Level asked the

U. S. Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the Federal government of the Uni ...

to open a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

in their community, since the nearest post office was in Ark (where Needmore, Alabama is currently located). Their request was denied because there was another Frog Level, Alabama (now

Fayette, Alabama Fayette is a city and the county seat of Fayette County, Alabama, United States. The population was 4,619 at the 2010 census, down from 4,922 at the 2000 census. History Originally known as "La Fayette", it incorporated on January 15, 1821. W ...

) and it already had a post office. In order to get a post office, the citizens of the Frog Level in Winston County had to change their town's name. Around 1887, the town began to be known as "Delmar." The exact origins of the name "Delmar" are unknown. A popular belief holds that a construction engineer with the railroad had a retired

race horse Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...

by the name of "Delmar" or "Del Mar" (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

for "from the sea"). The horse was well known and loved by the community. When work on the railroad was completed around 1887, the community was renamed after the race horse. After notifying the U. S. Postal Service of its name change, Delmar's first post office was opened on September 1, 1887. Newton L. Powell was the first

Postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

of Delmar. The current post office building was erected in 1971, during the service of Postmaster Mrs. Martha Roberts Stewart. Today, the name of the town of Delmar is pronounced "Delmer."

19th century history

According to

legend A legend is a Folklore genre, genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human valu ...

, Delmar was not always the sleepy little community it is today. During the

Coal Mining Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

boom Boom may refer to: Objects * Boom (containment), a temporary floating barrier used to contain an oil spill * Boom (navigational barrier), an obstacle used to control or block marine navigation * Boom (sailing), a sailboat part * Boom (windsurfi ...

of the 19th century, there were several

saloons Saloon may refer to: Buildings and businesses * One of the bars in a traditional British pub * An alternative name for a bar (establishment) * Western saloon, a historical style of American bar * The Saloon, a bar and music venue in San Francisc ...

in Delmar. Reportedly, Delmar was as lively as a town out of the

Wild West The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...

, complete with drunken bar room brawls. Byler Road was completed through Winston County in 1820. The historic highway, which ran through parts of what are today Delmar,

Natural Bridge A natural arch, natural bridge, or (less commonly) rock arch is a natural landform where an arch has formed with an opening underneath. Natural arches commonly form where inland cliffs, coastal cliffs, fins or stacks are subject to erosion ...

, Lynn, and Haleyville, connected the towns of northern Alabama with

Tuscaloosa Tuscaloosa ( ) is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west-central Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal and Piedmont plains meet. Alabama's fifth-largest city, it had an estimated population of 1 ...

, which at the time was the capital of Alabama. When Alabama

seceded Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics lea ...

from the

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

in 1861, the people of Winston County did not want to fight their Northern or Southern brothers and wanted to remain neutral in the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. They decided that if a

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

could secede from the

nation A nation is a community of people formed on the basis of a combination of shared features such as language, history, ethnicity, culture and/or society. A nation is thus the collective identity of a group of people understood as defined by those ...

, then a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

could secede from a state, and formed "Free State of Winston." The people of neighboring counties called the people of Winston County

Tories A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. The ...

(Northern sympathizers). During the closing phases of the

, Union troops made their way through Winston County on parts of what today are Winston County Road 17. Union troops set up their camps on the side of the road. Today, the road is better known as "

Yankee The term ''Yankee'' and its contracted form ''Yank'' have several interrelated meanings, all referring to people from the United States. Its various senses depend on the context, and may refer to New Englanders, residents of the Northern United St ...

Trace Road." After the Civil War, a

rail line Rail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the American term ''railroad'' and the international term ''railway'' (used by the International Union of Railways and English-speaking countries outside the United Sta ...

was built from

Sheffield, Alabama Sheffield is a city in Colbert County, Alabama, United States, and is included in the Shoals metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city was 9,039. Sheffield is the birthplace of "country-soul pioneer" and songwriter Arth ...

to Delmar by the Northern Alabama Railroad. After several years, a rail line was built from Parrish, Alabama to Delmar. This allowed rail service from Birmingham to the Shoals area. Today,

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31 ...

still runs

cargo Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including trans ...

trains through Delmar.

20th century and recent history

In the late 1960s, Marshall Durbin built its regional headquarters in Delmar. On the night of April 3, 1974, Delmar was struck by a deadly

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, altho ...

, as were communities in 12 other states and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

during the 1974 Super Outbreak. Five people

died Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

in Delmar as a result of the tornado. Several homes and other structures were destroyed. Many homes that suffered little or no direct damage were without

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described ...

telephone A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into e ...

, and

water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...

service for several days. In January 1993, the people of Delmar decided to establish a

volunteer fire department A volunteer fire department (VFD) is a fire department of volunteers who perform fire suppression and other related emergency services for a local jurisdiction. Volunteer and retained (on-call) firefighters are expected to be on call to respond ...

for their community. Currently, the department has 30 firefighters, two pumpers and two tankers and a brush truck. The current Fire Chief is Ray Cantrell. In 1998, MSR Forest Products built a large plant in Delmar. Today, it employs over 100 people. On January 27, 2000, Delmar received its first visit from a

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

when Richard Shelby visited the small Winston County town. Like so many small towns and communities in Alabama, Delmar has experienced times of economic boom and bust over the past 100 years. Today, Delmar is experiencing somewhat of an economic upturn with several businesses opening in and around Delmar. Tony BrakeField serves as the current Mayor of Delmar.

Notable people

Perhaps the most famous person from Delmar is Federal Judge Frank Johnson, Jr. Although Johnson was born in Delmar in 1918, he was reared and attended school in nearby Haleyville. He served in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, after which he began a law career. In 1955, President

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

appointed him to a federal judgeship in Alabama. Almost immediately, Johnson was hearing important cases of the civil rights era. In a ruling involving the

Montgomery bus boycott The Montgomery bus boycott was a political and social protest campaign against the policy of racial segregation on the public transit system of Montgomery, Alabama. It was a foundational event in the civil rights movement in the United States ...

, he ruled that racial segregation of public transportation was illegal. Johnson often locked horns with Alabama Governor George Wallace over racial issues. In 1965, Johnson ordered Wallace to allow civil rights protesters to march from

Selma Selma may refer to: Places *Selma, Algeria *Selma, Nova Scotia, Canada *Selma, Switzerland, village in the Grisons United States: *Selma, Alabama, city in Dallas County, best known for the Selma to Montgomery marches *Selma, Arkansas *Selma, Cali ...

to Montgomery. He was often targeted because of his rulings. In 1967, his mother's house was bombed. In July, 1999, at the age of 80, Johnson died at his Montgomery residence. He was buried in the Winston Memorial Cemetery near Haleyville.

Churches

There are five churches in the Delmar area: Delmar Baptist Church, Union Grove Baptist Church, Mount Zion Baptist Church, Bethel #2 Baptist Church, and Botush Freewill Baptist Church.

External links

* Delmar is covered by th
Northwest Alabamian Newspaper

Town of Delmar's Facebook PageDelmar Volunteer Fire Department's Facebook PageHistory of Delmar Alabama by Tony BrakeField
Unincorporated communities in Alabama Unincorporated communities in Winston County, Alabama {{Short description, Unincorporated community in Alabama, United States