HAIL IN BURNTOUT

March 24, 2005, 10:25 am
Posted by J.B. Elliott in Weather Discussions
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We saw a hail report in our last severe weather event out of NW Alabama's Franklin County.

The report mentioned the community of "Burntout" located on Alabama State Route 24 east of Red Bay.

Naturally, that caught my attention because I am intrigued by interesting place names and how the names came about.

Does that mean that once the community had a fire and was "burnt" out? Some folks sometimes pronounce "burned" out as "burnt" out.

Just wondering.

And while I am roaming, despite living in Alabama all my life, I have never been to the Cedar Creek Reservoir west of Russellville and NE of Red Bay. It looks like a pretty site on my detailed topographic map.

If I see a back road, off a back road, off a back road, I am always tempted.
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Posted by  
on March 24, 2005, 10:45 am
JB, I actually went thru that tiny little town once and broke down when i was in the military. Used to be a one gas station town and to my belief, actually had a mechanic on duty and i was on my way in a little over an hour with very little expense.

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Posted by  
on March 24, 2005, 11:35 am
I have noticed that a lot of sources and atlases have the name wrong. The name is Burnout. I was raised right in the center of Burnout. Local history states that the name came about during the civil war when the local school house/church burned. Supposedly, some folks were sheltering there and accidentally caused the fire. I am just a wee bit biased, but I have to say it is a great community to grow up in. The community currently consists of a church, community center, fire department and grist mill. The gas station has closed.

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Posted by scott  
on March 24, 2005, 6:20 pm
JB, Cedar Creek Lake is beautiful, especially in fall. But it is very VERY secluded. All of the Bear Creek Lakes, in fact, are really nice. Miss Molly would probably like it up there too!

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Posted by scott   www
on March 24, 2005, 6:36 pm
BTW this Burntout/Burnout place must be one of these places that is known by more than 1 name. b/c the US postal service even calls it Burntout. But i do see that the fire dept. is called Burnout. Confusing.

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Posted by  
on March 24, 2005, 10:46 pm
You definately need to go see the area. Not only Cedar Lake, but some of the other areas around it. They have cabins on 1 of the Bear Creek Lakes, close to Cedar Lake. Go to www.bearcreeklakes.com and see what they offer.

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Posted by Christie Cantrell  
on March 25, 2005, 11:30 am
I wanted to chime back in and say that the Bear Creek lakes are really nice and I would invite anyone who likes boating, fishing or the outdoors to head up to Franklin county. Also, the Birmingham Paleontological Society makes field trips to Cedar lake and they have a report with pictures of the type of fossils found in the limestone on their web site http://www.westga.edu/~bpsweb/BPS_Trips/bps_ft_00_02.html
For anyone visiting the area I would also recommend stopping by Coon Dog Cemetary, Rock Bridge Canyon and the Dismals Canyon.
As for the community name - I've never heard it called anything but Burnout. I need to visit the local library and do some research some day.

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