Siri Hedreen / The Outlook
What was once the Kowaliga Academic and Industrial Institute is now a section of pine forest owned by Lake Martin developer Russell Lands. For years, the bell tower was all that remained of the old campus. Russell Lands recently rebuilt the crumbling bell tower.Â
It's easy for travelers heading down Highway 63 to miss Benson, the rural community once home to the Carnegie-backed Kowaliga Academic and Industrial Institute and the first Black-owned railroad in the U.S. No signs point out Benson; much of it lies underwater beneath the Kowaliga Bridge.
Its founder, John J. Benson, and his son, William E. Benson, get very little airtime given their accomplishments. That is, until last month, when they finally received their 15 minutes of internet fame in the form of a Twitter thread by Erica Buddington.
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TIMELINE: The rise and fall of Benson
Siri Hedreen / The Outlook
The Rosenwald school that replaced the Kowaliga Academic and Industrial Institute is across the street from what is now Russell Crossroads. For awhile it was used by the Dixie Hunting Club but now sits abandoned.
TIMELINE: The rise and fall of Benson
TIMELINE: The rise and fall of Benson
Submitted / The Outlook
A photo of John Benson's original Kowaliga School cabin appears in the Kowaliga Academic and Industrial Institute's 17th annual report.
TIMELINE: The rise and fall of Benson
Submitted / The Outlook
A group of Tuskegee-trained teachers pose for a photo in the Kowaliga Academic and Industrial Institute's 17th annual report.Â
TIMELINE: The rise and fall of Benson
File / The Outlook
Feb. 5, 1909: The Alexander City Outlook reports on the fire that razed the Kowaliga Academic and Industrial Institute. Will Benson later raised $20,000 to rebuild the school.
TIMELINE: The rise and fall of Benson
Submitted / The Outlook
A photo of Howland Hall in Tallapoosa County Bicentennial Committee's 1976 "Tallapoosa County: A History."
TIMELINE: The rise and fall of Benson
Submitted / The Outlook
A photograph of the Kowaliga Academic and Industrial Institute campus in the school's 17th annual report depicts what is today a mostly forested section of Russell Lands.
TIMELINE: The rise and fall of Benson
File / The Outlook
Feb. 17, 1911: The Alexander City Outlook reports on the Dixie Industrial Company's new road engine service (later upgraded to railroad).
TIMELINE: The rise and fall of Benson
Submitted / The Outlook
A photo in Tallapoosa County Bicentennial Committee's 1976 "Tallapoosa County: A History" depicts Kowaliga Academic and Industrial Institute students in shop class.
TIMELINE: The rise and fall of Benson
Submitted / The Outlook
Students pose for a photo in the Kowaliga Academic and Industrial Institute's 17th annual report.
TIMELINE: The rise and fall of Benson
File / The Outlook
Aug. 4, 1914: England declares war on Germany, the Dixie Industrial Company's largest turpentine market.
TIMELINE: The rise and fall of Benson
File / The Outlook
Aug. 7, 1914: A (very) short front-page editorial in The Alexander City Outlook foreshadows the demise of the Dixie Industrial Company.
TIMELINE: The rise and fall of Benson
File / The Outlook
June 6, 1915: An Alexander City Outlook reprint of The New York Times documents Will Benson's resignation as president of the Dixie Industrial Company
TIMELINE: The rise and fall of Benson
File / The Outlook
Oct. 13, 1915: The Alexander City Outlook reports the death of William E. Benson, "one of the best-known negroes in the state."
TIMELINE: The rise and fall of Benson
File / The Outlook
Jan. 26, 1916: The Alexander City Outlook reports on the Dixie Industrial Company's sale of timber rights to J. M. Steverson and Ben Russell.
TIMELINE: The rise and fall of Benson
File / The Outlook
Feb. 2, 1916: The Alexander City Outlook editorializes on the business prospects of Steverson and Russell's timber rights purchase.
TIMELINE: The rise and fall of Benson
File / The Outlook
July 24, 1918: A Dixie Industrial Company advertisement in the The Alexander City Outlook promotes farm land for sale.Â
TIMELINE: The rise and fall of Benson
File / The Outlook
Aug 17, 1930: The Alexander City Outlook describes summer diversions at Hotel Camp Dixie in its society column.
TIMELINE: The rise and fall of Benson
File / The Outlook
Nov. 1, 1934: The Alexander City Outlook advertises Camp Dixie Hotel (Hotel Camp Dixie), on the grounds of what was once the Kowaliga Academic and Industrial Institute.
TIMELINE: The rise and fall of Benson
Siri Hedreen / The Outlook
The Rosenwald school that replaced the Kowaliga Academic and Industrial Institute is across the street from what is now Russell Crossroads. For awhile it was used by the Dixie Hunting Club but now sits abandoned.
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Submitted / The Outlook
Students pose for a photo in the Kowaliga Academic and Industrial Institute's 17th annual report.
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Siri Hedreen / The Outlook
Pieces of concrete foundation are still visible on the site of the Kowaliga Academic and Industrial Institute. The school closed after its Elmore County students were cut off by the rising levels of Lake Martin.
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Siri Hedreen / The Outlook
"Terrific winds" burned the school down in 1909. The buildings burned down again in the 1960s, by then several decades after the Russells turned it into Hotel Camp Dixie.Â
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Siri Hedreen / The Outlook
William E. Benson is buried on the site of what was once the Kowaliga Academic and Industrial Institute, a few feet off a dirt road leading to one of Russell Lands' waterfront developments.Â
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Siri Hedreen / The Outlook
The site of the Kowaliga Academic and Industrial Institute is accessible by trail but lacks a historical marker.Â
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