Photo by Savannah Schmidt.
Children cheer as four lamps on the corners of the street in front of Cahaba Elementary School light up for the first time in 50 years on Oct. 6.
On a late September day, longtime Trussville resident Bob Davis spoke as if he was back in some September of the 1950s, pedaling away the final days of summer.
Davis learned to ride his tricycle under the kelly-green street lamps in the historic Cahaba Project, a one-of-a-kind housing project constructed from 1936 to 1938 by federal Works Progress Administration labor. That dark green, whether it be from the streetlamps or the military, has always been his favorite color.
Four of those lamps, after more than 50 years of street-corner darkness, have lit up again.
“To get those things back up there in the air, that’s going to feel good,” said Davis, who conceived the plan to return the lamps to their former glory. “They used to be all over town.”
The Cahaba Homestead Heritage Foundation held a lamp lighting event on Oct. 6 on the quad in front of Cahaba Elementary School, where the four corners again lit up with refurbished original streetlamps.
“Several times in the last few decades, various residents of the village have inquired about the city returning the lamps to their original places atop the concrete posts,” said Amy Peterson O’Brien, president of the foundation. “Most of these street posts are now topped with a black round cap and bear the street names on black signs. Mr. Davis envisioned four lamps being returned to the quad in front of Cahaba Elementary School, where they originally were installed in the 1930s in front of the now-historic Hewitt High School building on East Parkway.”
To get those things back up there in the air, that’s going to feel good. They used to be all over town.
BOB DAVIS
O’Brien said the lamplights, which measure just over 3 feet tall, were restored based on an original lamp located in Heritage Hall, which has the green paint and textured glass panes from Davis’ childhood memories.
Davis, more than six decades after riding his tricycle under those streetlamps, attended the Oct. 6 event in a front-row chair. He wore a military shirt that featured B-17 bomber aircrafts that were similar in color to the streetlamps.
As the sun sank behind his West Mall home and dozens of Trussville residents counted down, it was hard to tell what shined brighter — the new LED lights in the streetlamps, or the twinkle in Davis’ eyes.
“Great,” Davis said. “It feels great.”
