The Great
Cullman
R O B IN S T E R L IN G w a s b o rn in th e o ld
C u llm a n H o s p ita l in 1 9 5 5 a n d a tte n d e d
s c h o o l a t J o n e s C h a p e l a n d W e s t P o in t. H e
a tte n d e d C u llm a n C o lle g e a n d S t. B e rn a rd
a n d u p o n tra n s fe rrin g , re c e iv e d a B .A . in
B ro a d c a s tin g a n d F ilm C o m m u n ic a tio n a t
th e U n iv e rs ity o f A la b a m a in Tu s c a lo o s a in
1 9 7 7 . F o llo w in g g ra d u a te w o rk in th e S c h o o l
o f C o m m u n ic a tio n , h e s tu d ie d c o m p u te r
p ro g ra m m in g a t P h il C a m p b e ll a n d la te r
w a s e m p lo y e d in th e d e fe n s e in d u s tr y in
H u n ts v ille . T h e re , h e e a rn e d a M .S . d e g re e
in O p e ra tio n s R e s e a rc h fro m S o u th e a s te rn
In s titu te o f Te c h n o lo g y in 1 9 9 1 . H e m a rrie d
th e fo rm e r W a n d a B le v in s o f S o m e r v ille in
1 9 8 9 .
S te rlin g w a s in te re s te d in h is to r y fro m a n
e a rly a g e a n d b e g a n c o m p ilin g in fo rm a tio n
o n th e S te rlin g fa m ily tre e . O v e r th e la s t
2 0 y e a rs, S te rlin g p e rs o n a lly s u r v e y e d
e v e r y c e m e te r y in B lo u n t, C u llm a n , a n d
W in s to n C o u n ty a n d s e lf-p u b lis h e d th e
in fo rm a tio n . H e h a s a ls o c o m p ile d s e v e ra l
b o o k s o n n e w s p a p e r a b s tra c ts fro m B lo u n t,
C u llm a n , W in s to n , W a lk e r, L a w re n c e ,
M a rio n , a n d C o lb e r t c o u n tie s. In a d d itio n ,
h e h a s a u th o re d tw o im p o r ta n t h is to ric a l
b o o k s : “Ta le s o f O ld B lo u n t C o u n ty ” a n d
“Ta le s o f O ld C u llm a n C o u n ty ” th e la tte r o f
w h ic h w a s fi rs t p u b lis h e d in S e p te m b e r o f
2 0 1 9 . L o c a lly, c o p ie s o f “Ta le s o f O ld C u llm a n
C o u n ty ” w h ic h c o n ta in s th e s to r y a b o u t th e
fi re , c a n b e fo u n d a t C a m e lo t B o o k s, th e o ld
D e b ’s B o o k s in C u llm a n . “Ta le s o f O ld C u llm a n
C o u n ty ” c a n a ls o b e b o u g h t d ire c tly th ro u g h
h is p u b lis h e r L u lu .c o m . “Ta le s” a lo n g w ith
a b o u t 7 0 o th e r o f h is title s c a n b e fo u n d
h e re : h ttp s ://w w w .lu lu .c o m /s p o tlig h t/R o b in _
S te rlin g _B o o k s.
Fire of 1894
B Y R O B IN S T E R L IN G
Late winter about 10 o’clock in the evening of
Monday. March 5, 1894, someone set fire to
the fodder in the loft over A.J. York’s livery
stable. York first established his livery operation in
Cullman in 1879. The dry hay, straw and shucks
caught up fast and soon had the entire top floor
engulfed. Below, 19 horses and mules stamped and
whinnied nervously, but no one could come to their
relief. Soon, they were killed by the heat and flames.
Parked near the stables in the shelter of the same
building were almost the same number of wagons
and buggies which were also destroyed. The blaze
originated in what was called the McMinn, Koopman
& Gerdes block, or the corner of 2nd Avenue West
and 6th Street, southwest of Cullman’s Opera House.
By then, the town was alerted and people rushed
to the scene to see if they could help contain the fire;
others just came to watch the spectacle.
A strong wind was blowing from the southeast
and fanned the blaze. The fire soon spread next door
to two small warehouses belonging to Koopman
& Gerdes. In one of the buildings was stored four
boxes of dynamite in a steel chest, 100 pounds of gun
powder, as well as caps and fuses. When the flames
reached and ignited the explosives, the resulting blast
wave quite literally broke out most of the windows
in all of Cullman. The concussion knocked people
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