Chris Harris has been appointed as the ACPA Winston County Representative. Please contact him if you have any questions or interest in the cemeteries in Winston County. Inquiries are welcome.

The area now known as Winston was part of Marion and Blount Counties until 1824, when it was changed to Walker County. By 1850, Hancock County was made from the northern portion of Walker, and in 1858, the name was changed to Winston to honor the first Alabama-born governor John Anthony Winston. In 1877, the east portion of the county became part of Cullman. Winston County gained notoriety during the Civil War at a meeting at Looney's Tavern where supposedly Winston was declared the "Free State of Winston" with plans to secede from the state though it never did. The first county seat was Houston; in 1883, it was moved to Double Springs, which is still the county seat. The courthouse burned at Houston on 2/23/1868; it burned again in Double Springs on 8/5/1891. Another one was rebuilt, and it still stands today.

Winston features many unique cemeteries. For instance, at the Dodd Graveyard near Glen Mary, there are two Civil War brothers buried side by side, and one was for the Union and the other for the Confederacy during the war. Also, Pat Buttram, better known as Gene Autry's side-kick and Mr. Haney on Green Acres, is buried at Maxwell Chapel Cemetery near Pebble. Several Revolutionary War and War of 1812 soldiers are buried within Winston's boundaries, several of them fighting in both wars. The Old Lovett Cemetery is (with the exception of any Native American graves) quite possibly the oldest cemetery in Winston County. Henry H. Lovett was born on December 26, 1833 and died December 3, 1834; he rests here.

Let's join hands and make sure that nothing like this ever happens again! Many cemeteries in Winston County need adopting. Barnett Cemetery is one of them, and it is in bad shape. Several huge trees have fallen in the cemetery. Bates Cemetery, near Helican, is even in worse shape. There are two people buried here, but only one of them has a tombstone; this tombstone is laying on the ground amongst brush several feet high. The Shadix Cemetery contains three graves, but if you wish to read what is on the tombstones, you have to peel the moss off, and of course there are small trees growing here. The Montgomery Cemetery needs special attention as well, because it has been neglected throughout the years (people living nearby did not even know where it was). Also, one of the few unknown cemeteries in Winston County, and it would have been one of the oldest too, was completely destroyed when County Road 24 was paved. The Blount Manasco Cemetery is long gone as well. It sat upon a hill in southwest Winston County. When the people sold the land a few years ago, the new owner bull dozed the cemetery off, and there is no trace that ever a cemetery was there except within our minds.

Thank you very much for visiting the Winston County Page.