Loachapoka
Seven miles and 150 years from Auburn
By Elizabeth Dougherty
Leave Auburn and head east on Alabama Highway 14. Keep the afternoon sun
in front of you and the railroad tracks on your left. The minute you pass under the
267 overpass and leave the Auburn city limits, things change. You notice land and
green pastures, cows gently grazing on deep green grass, bright multi-colored fences
of a hunter-jumper equestrian course and the lone convenience store in the middle
of nowhere.
As the road parallels the tracks you notice just a few new subdivisions like
Wimberly Station, Woodland Park and Somerdale. You can just sense that others will
eventually come to take advantage of the pastoral setting. With the rails still on your
left you see some older buildings up ahead along the right side of the road. A world
away, but only 7 miles, and you are now in Historic Downtown Loachapoka.
The handful of buildings, all on the north side of the street, look as if they have
been preserved in a museum and, indeed, the Lee County Historical Museum is
located there in a general store built circa 1845. There is a small brick town hall, a
Post Office, a feed store and a beautifully restored house that is now the Rattling
Gourd Gallery, a store that exhibits regional art and some craftworks. There is an
historical marker that tells the basics of the story.
A once large and thriving farming settlement of about 564 native Americans,
the Upper Creeks, lived here according to an 1832 census. In 1819 Alabama became
a state; in 1832 this land was ceded to the United States and in1835 to 1837 the
Creeks were forcibly migrated to Oklahoma in the "Indian Removal to the West."
The land was then opened for settlement for non-native Americans. The name is
derived from the Creek words "locha" meaning turtle and "polga" meaning either
killing or gathering place. So the name refers to either land where turtles gathered
or land where turtles were killed.
"The Census of 1870 indicated a population of 1,254, but Reconstruction,
migration, 1873 panic, and railroad extension from Opelika to Dadeville in the early
1870's destroyed the town's preeminence. Loachapoka was placed on the National
Register of Historic Places, May 11, 1973," according to the Historic Chattahoochee
Commission.
Today the town has just a couple hundred residents, but every year in the fall,
the town swells with about 20,000 visitors for the Syrup Sopping Historical Fair that
was organized by the Loachapoka Ruritan Club, Ladies Improvement Club, and Lee
County Historical Society in 1972. Since its early days, Loachopoka was known for
its syrup made from Sorghum and "ribbon"cane. During the Syrup Sopping you can
still see it made the old fashioned way and buy a variety of syrup-derived products.
If you want to enjoy the quiet grace and solitude of a well-preserved piece of
history, drive seven miles east of Auburn along Alabama Highway 14. If you want to
enjoy it with 20,000 others, go during the Syrup Sopping.
Liz Dougherty has been a freelance food
writer and culinary consultant through
her company, Culinary Pursuits, Inc., for
the past six years. She trained under a
maniacal Swiss-German chef and later
received her Bachelor's degree, Magna
Cum Laude in Hospitality. Prior to that,
she was a licensed real estate broker and
mortgage broker with a total of over
ten years experience in real estate and
finance. She can be reached at
EADougherty1@aol.com
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