Welcome to Ambersonville
Genealogy of Several Southern Families.
The early settler of Ambersonville came from South Carolina,
Georgia and Tennessee in late 1820's and early 1830's.
Families such as the Ambersons, Stewarts, Savages, Craigs,
Montgomerys and Akins played a large part in the early
settlement of this community. The community was orginally
named Spring Garden, but was changed to Ambersonville,
named for the Amberson family who moved from South
Carolina to this area in early 1830's.
In 1870, the Southern Railroad secured the right to build
a rail line from Selma, Alabama through the area to Rome, Georgia.
The land was purchased from the Amberson family. The family
agreed to the purchase with the provision that the passenger train
would make daily stops in the area. If the railroad failed to meet
the agreement, the land would return to the Amberson family.
The railroad depot was built and several trains came through
the area daily and was a very busy stop on the rail line.
At the turn of the century, the town was a thriving community.
It was one of the most prosperous cotton markets in North
Alabama. Several merchandise stores, a drug store, barber shop,
cotton gin, saw mill, and a livery stablewere located there.
A cotton mill, operated at the foot of Frog Mountain. A minister
named Tucker built a winmill about 1860. He built two large
reservoirs and water was transported with iron pipes from
Glades Springs. The water system, which had fire-hydrants
throughout the area, was one of the best water systems
in the United States. It was the smallest community in the
country to have a water system.
In the early 1900's when the name was changed back to Spring Garden.
