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A time for reminiscing: Writer Eric Cox spends time with descendants of the rangers from Flagg Mountain. Pictured at left, front to back, are John Roberts; his daughter, Angie Pate; and his son, Jerry Roberts. John’s father, Lucien D. Roberts, was a ranger. Pictured at right, from front, are Eric Cox, Lynn Culberson and Greg Chaplik. Culberson’s mother was Kate Prather, the first female ranger in Alabama. Photo submitted
A view from above: Pictured at the base of the historic fire tower are Greg Chaplik, Jerry Roberts, Angie Pate, Eric Cox, Dan Roberts, Lynn Culberson, Clarence Roberts, John Roberts, Cynthia Rollie, Debbie Neighbors, and Brenda Sayers. Photo submitted
While visiting and conducting interviews, some also enjoyed taking time to visit the top of the fire tower. Pictured from left are Greg Chaplik, Debbie Neighbors, Eric Cox, Lynn Culberson, and Brenda Sayers. Photo submitted
An old photo of cabin 2, which is available for rent at Flagg Mountain. This old photo shows repairs made by the Coosa County Cooperators as they repaired the entire side of that cabin. They also replaced the roof on this cabin and every other structure on site. This group of individuals was instrumental in ensuring Flagg still exists today. Photo submitted
Eric Cox interviewing someone, but the name was not provided so I guess we can skip this one.
By 1989 the cabins at Flagg had fallen into a state of disrepair. The Coosa County Cooperators then came along to repair the cabins and facilities, helping Flagg exist today. Photo submitted
Special to the News
There are some moments in life that are difficult to articulate. Last weekend was one of those times for me.
It was full of laughs, tears and sharing of memories. There was also my wife’s world famous taco soup. The recipe is top secret, so please don’t ask.
My name is Eric Cox. I’m a Florida boy, raised in the pine forest. It’s where I learned to drive, shoot and look for arrowheads after a rainstorm. I’m also writing a book about Flagg Mountain, a place that I first visited in 2019.
I had no prior knowledge of the location until a few weeks before. I’m probably the most unconventional person to write on the subject. But, like so many others, its “energy” captured me.
The book is entitled “Missing Pieces: The Flagg Mountain Story.” That’s what I set out to do last week, to put some of the pieces of the puzzle together to get a more complete picture of what makes this location so unique.
I had the honor of meeting with several individuals to whom Flagg has deep-rooted meaning. It had a special meaning to them.
The weekend started off by meeting with one of the last members of the Coosa County Cooperators. If you have not heard of them, you should. They are a big reason you can visit Flagg today.
The fire tower stopped being used in 1989. At that point the tower needed a loving touch, and all the cabins had fallen into disrepair. The first thing that the Coosa County Cooperators did was to put metal roofs on the cabins and the fire tower.
However, the CCC did so much more. They replaced windows, walls and doors and made countless other repairs. I had the pleasure of walking the grounds with Pete Rogers. He explained in detail the painstaking measures taken to ensure that we can still enjoy this amazing location.
I had the pleasure to meet with descendants of four of the rangers from Flagg Mountain, a great-grandchild of one of the Civilian Conservation Corp leaders and one of the last members of the Coosa County Cooperators.
The goal of meeting them face to face was to interview and record their experiences on the mountain. For some of them it was a very emotional experience. One member of our little group had not been to the top of the fire tower for 20 years. It brought back a flood of memories!
One of the ranger’s children who was raised on the mountain, who had since passed away, had their ashes placed at the base of a tree on top of the mountain. That son once said that Flagg was as close as you could get to heaven on earth.
I was able to hold in my hands photos that were taken by one of the ranger’s children in 1957 and developed in an on-site darkroom, stationed in one of the cabins.
I was able to hear about one of the children staying on the mountain for their honeymoon.
I also heard about how the local moonshiners would let one of the rangers know when they were cooking off a batch, so they would know it was not a wildfire.
The weekend finished by having dinner at one of my favorite local joints, Good Ole’ Boys BBQ. We met with a relative of one of the Civilian Conservation Corps leaders.
His great-grandfather was from Weogufka and was one of the leaders at Company 260. It was a great opportunity to hear about what life was like for the men that built the site.
I’m making my best effort to write a book that will do justice to this amazing historical site. A book that will locate the missing pieces of the story line.
I’m still in the process of researching the history of the CCC at this location, the rangers that served and the relationship between Flagg and Weogufka. If you have any information you would like to contribute, please reach out. I can be contacted via email at genxpreacha@yahoo.com.
If you have never visited Flagg, make it happen. If you can spend the night, even better. You won’t regret it.
You can contact the caretaker via text to 256-223-3990. You can also find more information on the Facebook page, Friends of Flagg.