By Tiffeny Owens
The Cullman Times
CULLMAN, Ala. — The Depression-era state prison camp that once housed inmates and later served as a state highway department office and then county road department has been demolished.
On Monday, the Cullman County Road Department began taking down the old cinder block building on Alabama 69 North beside the current department’s east side shop. Mostly rubble and the building’s front entrance remained Tuesday as work crews loaded debris into dump trucks for disposal.
County Engineer Jon Brunner said in the short-term, the cleared site will be used to store work trucks, equipment and supplies. In the future, the county may put up a shed to store equipment.
Erected in 1938 by the state’s Board of Administration — which was later abolished with the creation of the Department of Corrections and Institution (DCI) — the old prison camp once held state inmates who performed road work and other county road maintenance. The building featured two guard towers which the county demolished around 2007 due to safety concerns.
For longtime county road workers, the old prison camp was their home office, despite its musty smells and severe spider infestation. The county took over the building from the state Highway Department in the late ‘70s, officials said.
The prison camp closed in 1972 when the state shuttered 27 road camps, leaving five in operation at Hamilton, Hollis, Troy, Grove Hill, and Elba. The last road camp closed in 1974, coinciding with the opening of new work release centers across the state, according to the Alabama Department of Corrections.
The county road department moved into its current building next door in late 2007, using its old office as storage. Office Manager Pam Hadley, who retired after more than 15 years Tuesday, recalled brown recluse spiders scurrying about and gopher rats running overhead in the ceiling in the old prison.
“We were all very happy to move into the new office,” she said. “They’re would be days we’d have to open the front door for the musty smell.”
Despite its poor condition, the county mounted a preservation effort. In September 2007, the county commission authorized Cullman County Economic Development to apply for a $789,046 transportation enhancement grant to renovate the old prison camp. However, the state didn’t award the grant, said Cherrie Haney, CCED director.
“We did try to preserve,” Haney said. “It was just in really bad shape.”
According to the Alabama DOC, the typical capacity of a prison camp was 80 inmates, with the perimeter surrounded by a ten foot high wire fence with two towers overlooking the complex. Each camp had an infirmary for minor illnesses.
The DCI was later replaced with the Board of Corrections (BOC) in 1952. The BOC received $55.90 per month per inmate from the Highway Department for inmate maintenance. The correctional officers during this time were paid $222 per month for a 48 hour work week.
Besides Cullman, the state operated prisons and camps in Atmore, Draper, Tutwiler, Kilby and #4, the Cattle Ranch, and Camps Alexander City, Andalusia, Auburn, Camden, Chatom, Childersburg, Decatur, Dothan, Eight Mile, Enterprise, Evergreen, Fayette, Florence, Gadsden, Greenville, Grove Hill, Guntersville, Hamilton, Heflin, Livingston, Loxley, Maplesville, Portable #1, Russellville, Scottsboro, Selma, Thomason, Troy, Tuscaloosa, and Union Springs.
In 1953, supervision of the road camps was transferred from the State Highway Department to the Board of Corrections. The Highway Department retained authority for operations. The BOC was mandated with inspecting all county jails and those municipal jails of cities with populations of ten thousand or more people.
In September 30, 1954, there were a total of 5,004 state and county inmates on hand. Officers were paid a minimum salary of $156 per month, and it was recommended the work week be reduced to 48 hours from 60 hours a week.
Road camps’ wood framed buildings were later replaced with modern concrete building that had indoor plumbing within the dormitories.