'Town Of Excel Undergoes An Era Of Changes Since First Post Office'

Excel's present day Masonic Lodge building.

(The following article about Excel, Ala. was originally published in the Aug. 6, 1964 edition of The Monroe Journal newspaper in Monroeville under the headline “Town Of Excel Undergoes An Era Of Changes Since First Post Office.)

The town of Excel has undergone an era of changes since the first post office was given a name Jan. 19, 1884 by M.D. Harrison, original homesteader of the town. Mr. Harrison’s selection of “Excel” originated a title of “elevated status” for the then small group of settlers living in what he considered to be a section which would “Excel because of the excellent surrounding farm lands and the possibility of their development.”

This fact, along with most of the following information, revealing the early history of Excel’s development was listed in a collection of facts compiled in the 1950s by one of the early citizens of the town.

They were collected from memory and various documental sources.

The first attempt to homestead Excel was made in 1875 by George Hallman when he filed application with the government for homesteading the 160 acres of land where the present town is located. He constructed a small pine log camp house on the land and a small pen which he used to coral sheep, mark and brand lambs and take care of his riding horses.

Mr. Hallman did not however comply with the federal law requiring a homesteader to reside on a homestead for a period of five years in order to establish final proof of his claim and procure a title, so at the expiration of seven years, he had no final proof of his claim to procure a title, and the title was retained by the U.S. government as land still open for homestead entry.

During this time, the entire section surrounding Excel community was “Wild Fork.” People from Brewton and other nearby established towns used the land chiefly for open range for several hundred head of livestock known as “range stock,” which lived on the range throughout the year with no other feed than that supplied by range pasture. The sheering of thousands of sheep each spring included in his range livestock furnished a productive enterprise.

No other attempt was made to homestead the town site until 1885 when M.D. Harrison filed a homestead application for the original 160 acres, previously filed by Mr. Hallman.

Mr. Harrison soon built a home and started cultivation of a farm, thereby becoming the first actual full-timer resident of Excel. His endeavor proved successful to the extent that much of the surrounding land was soon sold and a small farming community was established, comprised of pine log homes and fences, made from an abundant, surrounding supply of pine timber.

Many descendants of Excel’s early families yet reside in the community. Family names still striking a familiar note include the following: Coleman, Shumack, Rhodes, Hall, Dyess, Casey, Wasden, Davidson, Wright, Linam, Kelly, Gardner, Petty, Mosley and many others.

In 1894, the best unimproved land around Excel, with its supply of virgin pine timber sold from $2 to $3.50 an acre. The first town residences in the order of their construction  were built by M.D. Harrison, D.W. Powell, J.A. Wasden, A.M. Manning, J.C. Griffin and W.S. Porter.

During this year, the first post office was established at the instigation of Mr. Harrison, the town’s homesteader. D.W. Powell, one of the new residents, was installed as the first postmaster. A building located at the corner of the Frisco City-Monroeville highways was constructed to house the post office.

In connection with the post office, Mr. Powell opened one of the town’s earliest types of business… the general store.

After a few years, he sold his store to two brothers, J.C. Griffin and C.G. Griffin, and the latter was subsequently made postmaster.

The Griffins helped develop the first real thriving business life in Excel. They promoted a mercantile business which handled cotton for farmers in both young towns of Excel and Jones Mill (now Frisco City) and all nearby settlements, hauling the cotton to Repton, the nearest railroad shipping point, or to Claiborne, where it was transported by boat to various parts of the nation.

Other Excel businesses were generally of the mercantile type. The second store was known as Kelly Brothers and was built by C.S. Kelly, J.E. and Riley Kelly in 1902. This store, later completely owned by Riley Kelly, is now owned and operated by W.C. Nicholas.

The third business, another mercantile business, was built in 1905 by A.F. Howington, near the northeast corner of Excel’s main street. It stayed in operation until 1917, when Mr. Howington sold it to T.J. Murphy.

The first hardware store was constructed in 1926 by J.W. Brown, as a concrete block building at the southwest corner of the main intersection and is presently operated as Brown Hardware Co.

Excel’s first school was taught in a one-room building in the northeast of the town’s main intersection where a service station is presently located. In 1896, a new two-room school building was built at the present home site of W.C. Nicholas.

School was held here until 1910, when a four-room school building was erected on the lot adjoining the Methodist Church.

The first accredited high school and vocational school was constructed in 1929 on the Monroeville-Excel highway as a brick structure and is still in use today, with an addition that houses the elementary school.

The Bank of Excel was established in 1918 and operated successfully until 1931. A brick building, now vacant, was built on the site of the first post office to house the bank. It was dissolved in the interest of stronger banks in the surrounding towns.

Excel’s Masonic Lodge was erected Sept. 13, 1906, on the southern end of the town’s main street, a building which is still used for meeting. The charter members of the lodge included G.W. Salter, H.R. White, R.P. Casey, L.B. Cohron, Eugene Parvin, Riley Kelly, John C. Griffin, William Williams, J.E. Kelly, B.L. Sellers, C.M. Arnold, G.W. Lee, W.M. Lee, A.F. Howington, C.G. Griffin, J.A. Barnes, G.L. Brown, John A. Turner, and Charles C. Davidson.

The four churches in Excel were founded as follows: Baptist, in 1905; Methodist, in 1907; Christian, in 1909; and the Nazarene, in 1928.

The Methodist, Christian and Nazarene churches still retain there original structures, while the present brick Baptist church was constructed at a later date.

Excel today, presents a challenging contrast with the small log cabin and livestock pen surrounded by virgin pine forests, which was the town’s beginning.

Recently boasting the most paved streets for a town of its size, Excel was incorporated in 1947. A city hall houses the town jail and provides a necessary meeting place for town organizations.

Excel now has the following numbers of various types of business establishments, gasoline stations, garages, one hardware store, one barber shop, dress shop, café, 10 grocery and general stores, six rolling stores, one livestock stable, one cotton gin and one feed and crushing mill.

Mr. Harrison’s contemplated development of the surrounding farm land as “excelling” has not been far from his prediction. Although Excel has had no rapid growth or expansion afforded by industrial impetus, the many acres of farm land in the community have been highly developed both as cropland and pasture, employing many modern farm practices.