Bemiston is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

and former

company town A company town is a place where all or most of the stores and housing in the town are owned by the same company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schoo ...

Talladega County, Alabama Talladega County is one of the sixty-seven counties located in the east central portion of the U.S. state of Alabama."ACES Winston County Office" (links/history), Alabama Cooperative Extension System (ACES), 2007, webpageACES-Talladega As of t ...

, United States. Bemiston now lies within the city limits of Talladega.

History

Bemiston was founded in 1927, as a

mill town A mill town, also known as factory town or mill village, is typically a settlement that developed around one or more List of types of mill#Manufacturing facilities, mills or factories, often cotton mills or factories producing textiles. Europe ...

built around the Bemis Brothers Bag Company cotton mill. The mill was built between

Alabama State Route 21 State Route 21 (SR 21) is a state highway that extends from the Florida state line, near Atmore in Escambia County to Piedmont in Calhoun County. The route travels almost the entire length of the state from the northeast to the so ...

and the Eastern Alabama Railway. The 700,000-square-foot mill produced handbags during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

and

sandbags A sandbag or dirtbag is a bag or sack made of hessian (burlap), polypropylene or other sturdy materials that is filled with sand or soil and used for such purposes as flood control, military fortification in trenches and bunkers, shielding gl ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The community was home to a school, general store, automobile repair shop, nurses' office, and gymnasium. The company built a power plant and sewer and water treatment plant to serve the community. A recreational director was hired to develop a community baseball and basketball team. The workers' houses were made of

California Redwood ''Sequoia sempervirens'' ()''Sunset Western Garden Book,'' 1995: 606–607 is the sole living species of the genus '' Sequoia'' in the cypress family Cupressaceae (formerly treated in Taxodiaceae). Common names include coast redwood, coast ...

, with two-car garages and running hot and cold water. A community dairy farm was started by the company with 68

Holstein cattle The Holstein Friesian is an international breed or group of breeds of dairy cattle. It originated in Frisia, stretching from the Dutch province of North Holland to the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. It is the dominant breed in industrial ...

to provide milk to the residents. Bemis closed the mill in 1979, but the factory was acquired by Master Brand Industries, a cabinet maker. The community has since been listed on the

Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage The Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage (ARLH), commonly referred to as the Alabama Register, is an official listing of buildings, sites, structures, objects, and districts deemed worthy of preservation in the U.S. state of Alabama. These pr ...

Demographics

Bemiston appeared on the 1950 U.S. Census as an unincorporated community prior to its annexation into Talladega in 1955.

References

Unincorporated communities in Talladega County, Alabama Company towns in Alabama Properties on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage Historic districts in Talladega County, Alabama Unincorporated communities in Alabama Bemis Company {{TalladegaCountyAL-geo-stub