PHOTO: The City of Rainsville grew around an orchard that was started by a local family over sixty years ago. (File Photo)
By Tyler Pruett, Managing Editor
RAINSVILLE, Ala. — Earlier last month, Marietta Faye Hodgens, aged 80, passed away in her native State of Nebraska after a short illness. She was flown back to Rainsville to be laid to rest next to her husband, Charles. While Mrs. Hodgens may not be known to all of our readers, her family has played a crucial role in growing Rainsville into what it is today.
The Hodgens family weren’t titans of industry, or influential politicians, but they made their lasting impression on a growing Rainsville simply by working hard and growing fruit. It all started in 1940, when Marietta’s in-laws purchased 63 acres in what would become the City of Rainsville.
The farm was located a short distance from Highway 35; near the intersection with Highway 75, or as what some call, “The Crossroads of Sand Mountain.” Much of the land wouldn’t be noticed by those passing through nowadays, but here once stood a sprawling orchard, first growing apples, then peaches, then once again, apples.
The land was originally purchased from James Albert Brannon, who had bought the land from R.A. Rains, who Rainsville is named after. Brannon sold the land to his eldest daughter, Delphia, who was married to Rev. A.J. Hodgens. Hodgens would also be crucial to growing organized religion on Sand Mountain; helping to build and grow 22 churches in the area.
As Delphia was busy with her work as a school teacher, this left A.J. in charge of their only son, Charles. Together, they planted hundreds of apple trees on the 63 acres. The decision paid off for many years, with Charles spending much of his young life tending to the orchard. Being close to the intersection of two major highways, travelers could see the well-maintained orchard when passing by, and could stop and pick the best apples from the trees.
Disaster struck the apple trees in the Winter of 1953, however, with a major freeze that wiped out all 600. While most would have given up on the orchard, Rev. Hodgens decided to replant the orchard in peach trees, which would be more resilient in the face of bad weather. After taking on the hard work of planting an orchard a second time, the peaches also turned out to be a success.
While in the peach business, the reverend sold some of the land for development at a bargain to help the city grow. The DeKalb County Tech School, the old post office (now the animal clinic), and Kirkpatrick Concrete are just a few of the properties that were built on property that was once owned by the Hodgens’.
After helping his father build the orchard, Charles Hodgens eventually joined the U.S. Air Force as a security policeman. During his time in service, he met a young lady named Marietta, from Nebraska on a blind date while stationed in Kansas. The couple wed in 1967, after Charles completed his service in the Vietnam War. After Charles retired from the military, the couple moved back to Rainsville to buy the family peach orchard from his father and mother.
Shortly after, disaster would hit the orchard again, with two consecutive crops being killed by harsh winters. Just like his father, Charles was not discouraged, and decided to go back to what was on the land originally: Apples.
With the advice of experts from Auburn University, Charles was able to bring the apple orchard back to Rainsville. In return for their help, the professors had an ideal location to demonstrate pruning techniques and how to properly care for an apple orchard.
As Charles and Marietta got older, the intensive work that’s required to maintain an orchard became more difficult, and they would sell most of the land to Jim Willingham to develop into a new subdivision, appropriately named, “The Orchard.” Charles would succumb to cancer in 2007, and Marietta moved back to her native Nebraska, to be near her remaining family before her death.
Their home still stands in the same spot today, and we at the Southern Torch are proud to call it our office. An apple tree still stands in the backyard, and still produces apples to this day. The Hodgen’s have a long history of helping Rainsville move forward through hard work, and we are humbled to carry this ideal on in our work.
