Old Montalba

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Old Montalba, out in Anderson County. Settle in, because this valley's got a few good layers to it. Way back around 1853, a stretch of land called Beaver Valley started drawing folks in.

That was the year pioneer P. G. Oldham built his home, set about a half-mile northwest of where this marker stands.

He was right on the Palestine-Athens Road, the very route the mail hacks ran in the early days. Just to the east of that road sat a campground where travelers could pull off and spend the night. Later on, that same ground became a gathering place for seasonal religious campmeetings.

The whole community was taking shape around that spot. Near the Oldham home stood the Beaver Valley Primitive Baptist Church, and Oldham himself donated land right next to the church for a cemetery. Nearby there was a school, too, a noted early one called Beaver Academy.

The church would eventually come to be known by the name Holly Springs. Now, the first physician to hang his shingle in this valley was Dr. T.

J. Adams, who built his homestead out in those Beaver Valley woods in 1859. He conducted a wide practice and kept right on going until he was past eighty years old.

Then the Civil War came. With the young men of the area away serving in the army, someone still had to keep the cause supplied. An iron foundry operating right here in this valley made arms and bullets for the Confederacy.

Think on that. Quiet wooded valley, families keeping things going, and somewhere in those trees, iron and fire doing the war's work. Time moved on after the war, and in 1880 the community was granted a post office.

They needed a name, and an early settler by the name of Hamlett had a suggestion. Inspired by a snowclad mountain on the horizon, that settler put forward the name Montalba. The first postmaster appointed to serve under that name was Mrs.

Mollie Hamlett. In later years, the Montalba settlement shifted southward, and today it thrives as a market and supply point for the valley. From a campground on the mail road to a foundry in wartime, from a pioneer cemetery to a post office named for a mountain in the sky, Beaver Valley kept adding chapters.

They just started calling it something else along the way.

What the marker says

In area known as Beaver Valley, settled about 1853 -- the year that pioneer P. G. Oldham built his home a half-mile northwest of this marker. This was on the Palestine-Athens Road, the route taken by mail hacks in early days. To the east was a campground where travelers often spent the night, and where later inhabitants of the area used to gather for seasonal religious campmeetings. Near the Oldham home was the Beaver Valley Primitive Baptist Church. Mr. Oldham donated land for a cemetery adjoining the church. Nearby stood a noted early school, Beaver Academy. The church was later known by name "Holly Springs." The first local physician, Dr. T. J. Adams, built his homestead in the woods of Beaver Valley in 1859, and conducted a wide practice until he was past 80. During the Civil War, while the young men of the area were away in the army, an iron foundry in this valley made arms and bullets for the Confederacy. In 1880 a post office was granted under the name Montalba -- suggested by early settler to be Hamlett, inspired by snowclad mountain on the horizon. Mrs. Mollie Hamlett was the first postmaster. In later years Montalba settlement was moved southward, and now thrives as a market and supply point for valley. (1970)