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Harrell's Crossroads

Harrell's Crossroads, later known as Harrell's, was a town located in Dallas County, AL. Located approx 10  miles west of Selma on highway 80 at the intersection of highway 80 and Dallas County rd 45. It is often referred to as Harrells Crossroads, Harrells, or Harrells X Roads.

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Below is an excerpt from a paper titled

EARLY HISTORY of HARRELLS CROSSROADS, ALABAMA - Written by Robert Hanna DeWitt and Myrtlene DeWitt Loyd about 1983

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                 "Harrells is one of the earliest settlements in Dallas County, Alabama with a history that dates to 1816. The journey to Harrells had been made by way of Huntsville down the southern trail and had passed the last white settlers fifty miles back at what is now known as Centreville. One of the pioneers known as Gabriel Holmes Harrell built near the crossing of trails a pole cabin covered with bark without windows or doors and called it home. Later logs took the place of poles and windows were added and a door with wooden latchstring hung on the outside. From this humble beginning Harrells Cross Roads was born." 

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As stated above, Harrells was most likely founded by  Gabriel Holmes Harrell (1778-1829) of North Carolina. The article above indicates that Gabriel settled the area as early as 1816. Alabama became a state in 1819 and Alabama Land records indicate that Gabriel and his wife Fanny were living in the area as early as 1820. Gabriel his wife Fanny and 3 of their children (Hardiman, Josiah, and Whitmel F.) all owned considerable property in this area. The 1860 census for W F Harrell (Whitmel Finis Harrell) son of Gabriel Holmes Harrell and Fanny, shows him and his wife P F Harrell (Phereby Fort Rasco) and children as well as the Rasco, Pully and Brantley Families residing in Harrells.

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Other Information I found include two pages from the Land Atlas and Plat Book 1982-1983 (the oldest  in the Selma library) shows the location of “Harrell” which in 1982-83 appears to be situated at the crossroads of the Southern RR and Dallas County Rd. 45. The pg. 34 plat shows the relationship of Marion Junction to Harrell.

 

The Dallas County School System brochure (undated) shows the location of a school entitled “Hazen-Harrell Jr. High.” That school was closed some years ago (date unknown). As you can see on this copy Hazen-Harrell was located just off County Rd. 45 and south of U.S. Highway 80. I have not been able to locate much information on the school.

 

A copy of a portion of the Dallas County map, though unlabeled for Marion Junction and Harrell will show the relationship of highways at Marion Junction and Harrell.    

 

A copy of page 3 from “Alabama Railroads Passenger Stations & Stops” http://www.railwaystationlists.co.uk/pdfusarr/alabamarrs.pdf  You will note that stop 287.6 was labeled “Harrell [Harrell’s Cross Roads   1863 AG]"

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Harrells 1860 Census

A Big thank you to the Selma Public Library for Aiding me in my research and for your contributions.

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