By Paul Fries
DOM, Salem Baptist Association, Liberty
In Enterprise, Ala,, at the corner of College and Main Streets, stands a 13-foot tall monument to the Boll Weevil. This monument was placed their on Dec. 11, 1919 with the following inscription:
“In profound appreciation of the Boll Weevil and what it has done as the herald of prosperity, this monument was erected by the citizens of Enterprise, Coffee County, Alabama.”
The back story to this monument is the arrival of the boll weevil from Mexico in 1915. In just a few short years farmers were losing their entire crop of cotton to the boll weevil. An area businessman saw this as an opportunity and convinced a local farmer to convert his farm to peanut farming. The first year this paid off the farmers debts and ultimately led to great prosperity to the Enterprise area farmers. Today, if you travel to the Enterprise area you will see large fields of both cotton and peanuts. It took a disaster to cause the farmers to change and to diversify. [Read more…]