In 1978, Hollywood came to Opelika, and the old Opelika Manufacturing Company mill became the set of Norma Rae . Sally Field on the mill floor, from the Norma Rae press kit (ODN, April 2007). On April 3, 2007 , nearly three decades after the cameras rolled, I wrote about a press kit for the movie that I had picked up on eBay. The photo here comes from that kit: Sally Field standing among the… Read More
Category: From the Archives
From the Archives: The Summer Pepperell Made the National Register
On June 10, 2014, the Pepperell Mill and Village Historic District joined the National Register of Historic Places — industry, a planned village of 240 buildings, and all that mill housing. Read More
From the Archives: The Runner Who Came Through Town
A March 2010 chance encounter on South 8th Street: Cole Choken, running from the Mexican border to Winnipeg for cancer research, passed straight through Opelika. Read More
From the Archives: What Was That Big Yellow Train?
Some of my favorite old posts started with me chasing something down the street with a camera. The big yellow rail grinder, caught over on Gay Street in Auburn — October 2006. On October 23, 2006 , a long yellow train rolled through downtown Opelika around lunchtime and half the town wanted to know what it was. I went after it for a picture and didn’t catch up until Gay Street in Auburn. The answer… Read More
From the Archives: Four Sentences That Became Red Clay Brewing
Thirteen years ago this week, the biggest news in downtown Opelika was a rumor with a logo attached. The logo that showed up on our Facebook feed in June 2013. On June 23, 2013 , we ran four sentences under the headline “Opelika’s First Downtown Brewery.” Red Clay Brewing Company was coming to town, the item said, and the guys had already scouted a few possible locations. That was the whole story. No address, no… Read More
From the Archives: The Day the Rail Leaned Over Downtown
Every so often the archives remind you how thin the line is between a normal Monday downtown and a very bad one. Downtown Opelika, November 2008 — the rail “leaned over” as a CSX train pulled forward. On November 24, 2008 , I wrote about a CSX train that was picking up cars from a side track here in downtown Opelika when the rail simply leaned over under it. Nothing rolled onto its side, and… Read More
From the Archives: The Day Opelika Cut the Ribbon on Miracle Field
January 12, 2009: ribbon cutting for the Billy Hitchcock Miracle Field, the barrier-free ball field that is still one of the best things Opelika ever built. Read More
From the Archives: The Summer We Almost Lost the Covered Bridge
A tree dropped the 1900 Salem-Shotwell covered bridge into Wacoochee Creek in June 2005. The archives caught the rescue effort — and it worked. Read More
John McAfee to Speak at NAB Show in Las Vegas
After meeting John McAfee a few weeks ago and several times since then, I was disappointed to find I would be missing the #HCON conference in Opelika in April, as he is scheduled to speak. It is the same time I’ll be in Las Vegas for the NAB Show . When you cut thru all the stories that seem to surround John wherever he goes from his personal life, you miss the message he and… Read More
FOX Sports 1 remembers 1979 Daytona 500 with two specials
This month, on Friday the 13th, considered by some to be an unlucky day, NASCAR’s very good fortune is remembered on FOX Sports 1 in a pair of newly produced specials, “A Perfect Storm” and “1979 Daytona 500.”
- From the Archives — originally published on the Opelika Daily News on February 6, 2015. View the original page.
How Mobile Devices Have Changed the Video Game Industry
In 1998, the total amount spent on video games was $2.6 billion. In 2014, that figure topped $24 billion. That figure is more than double the amount spent on movies (approximately $10 billion) per year. Not only does the amount spent on video games continue to rise, so does
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From the Archives — originally published on the Opelika Daily News on January 28, 2015. View the original page.
