Memories of Irondale, 1925 to 1942, Part II

by H. Bishop Holliman

We continue the memories of my father, Bishop Holliman, of his boyhood home in Irondale, Alabama. The suburb of Birmingham was a rail road center, and it was the Seaborne Rail Line that took Bishop Holliman to the U.S. Navy in 1941.  On December 7, 1941, only three weeks into the Navy, he heard the news at the Norfolk Navy Base that Pearl Harbor had been bombed.  Almost four years would pass before he could return as a civilian to his Irondale family. - Glenn N. Holliman

"As we got older, one of our fondest dreams was to get on one of those fast passenger trains and ride off to some enchanted places we had heard about.  Alas, it did not happen for most of us until World War II.  I left Birmingham on Friday, November 13, 1941, on the Seaboard’s Cotton State Special for Norfolk, Virginia to spend nearly four years in the Navy." 

Below, Bishop Holliman, left, and his brother, Melton Holliman sans his U. S. Army uniform, both home on leave at their parents, Ulyss and Pearl Caine Holliman at 2300 3rd Avenue N., Irondale, Alabama.  It was February 1945, a time when many Irondale men were in service.

 "Incidentally, gates were installed in Irondale after the war to protect against on-coming trains, and thanks to efforts by my Mother, Pearl Caine Holliman, home delivery of mail was begun before the war ended, thus eliminating a daily rail crossing to the post office for all the folks on the north side of town."

Bishop Holliman’s mother, Pearl Caine Holliman of Irondale, wrote this letter to Alabama Congressman Luther Patrick in 1943, describing her efforts to mobilize public opinion.  In January 1945, home delivery mail service began Irondale and residents on the hill above the center of town were no longer required to cross the rail road tracks to collect daily mail at the post office.                 

Below, in 1945, to recognize the beginnings of home delivery of the Irondale mail, the Woodlawn, Alabama newspaper ran this photograph of a postman with Pearl Caine Holliman (1887-1955) and her grandson, Robert W. Daly, Jr., son of Robert W. Daly, Sr. and Vena Holliman Daly.  The Dalys lived next door to the Hollimans in the 2300 block of 3rd Avenue North.

The little boy holding his grandmother's hand would earn a Ph.D. in biology, teach for decades at the University of North Alabama, Florence and become a well-known Alabama naturalist.  Dr. Robert W. Daly, Jr. grew up in Irondale and graduated from Shades Valley High School.

Next post, more memories of Irondale, Alabama....