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Abbott
The first stop on the former Mobile & Western line, known as the Dawes' Branch after 1907, was Abbott. In these images from 1925 (below left and right), the L. L. Noble Citrus Packing Company appears to have been a major source of revenue, capable of handling at least two refrigerator cars on its siding track. Noble operated the packing house to ship the produce from his nearby Satsuma orchards up to the Farmer's Market in Mertz, and beyond. Although a firm closure date is not known, the operation may have been abandonned by 1938-1940, when these aerial photographs (composite above left) were taken. The tracks are believed to have been taken up and sold for scrap shortly after this date. |
L. L. Noble Packing Company,
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Interior of the L. L. Noble Packing Company,
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The L. L. Noble orchards occupied at least 80 acres of this land, on both sides of the right-of-way. These orchard lands were later developed into both residential tracts and a pecan orchard by the early 1960's. Today these tracts are collectively known as "Noble Heights". A neighborhood road accessing some of these tracts is known as "Noble Drive". Known as "Abbott", "Three Notches", and "Tillman's Corner" throughout the years, a Lowe's Home Improvement center now sits on the northwest corner of this intersection between Rangeline Road and Halls Mill Road. The southeast corner of this intersection is a Wal Mart Supercenter and various other businesses. The packing house is believed to have stood on the Northeast corner. The location is about 11 miles southwest of the city of Mobile. The community acquired its name of "Tillman's Corner" by way of Bob Tillman, who opened a grocery store in the vicinity in the late 1800's. The Tillman family is decended from James Tillman (1778-1860). |
