Throughout the modern landscape of Tallapoosa County and Alabama countryside, the notorious green vine, known as kudzu, can be seen growing everywhere. Creeping and crawling like a plague, it is common to find it dominating old fields, clinging to mature trees, consuming abandoned houses and running up utility poles. Kudzu has become deeply rooted in our culture and associated with the South, along with the likes of sweet tea, fried chicken and college football; however not in a positive light. Kudzu around here is a bad word, a nuisance and invasive vine, despised by land and homeowners alike.    

Residents often wonder how this stuff got here and why on Earth people went through the trouble of planting such a dreadful pest. What were they thinking? Truth be told, looking back at the history, there was a purpose and reason kudzu was introduced in Tallapoosa County. Folks will not believe it, but many, many years ago, when our rural landscape was much different, kudzu was king.