Pine Level

aka Stoney Point - Pine Flat Areas Little is recorded in the way of history of the community known as Pine Level. One would surmise that the name came from the fact that the land surrounding the area contains no hills and valleys. Stoney Point, another community close by, was closely associated with Pine Level. The Tatum family and German Crosby were among the early settlers there. At one time in the early development of the area, Stoney Point was more or less a rival to Pine Level in a commercial sense. In time Pine Level, however, won out and became more prominent. Some of the early settlers of the area included such notables as Revolutionary soldier William Chancellor, James and John Bullard, William Harris, and William Temple. William Temple was the father of Nancy Myrick, the wife of John Myrick. A Methodist house of worship was established there as early as 1833. Records at the Autauga County Probate Office show that the land where the church was originally situated belonged to Mr. and Mrs. W. P. Tatum and Mr. and Mrs. W. A. Wiley. They gave 5 ½ acres to the Pine Level congregation and the deed was recorded October 7, 1908. The name, Tatum, has traditionally been closely associated with the early history of the area. It is said that Billie Tatum owned slaves, and, feeling that they needed God, brought them with him to church and that some of the first people to be buried in the Pine Level cemetery were slaves. The first white person buried there was named Whitehead. Pine Flat, whose origins are closely related to Stoney Point and Deatsville, or Ivy’s Mill, was settled during the 1820s. Some of the first settlers were the Johnsons, Smiths, Lewises, and Norrises. They selected this part of Autauga County for its beauty and flowing springs of water. The first school house was built near the Rollins Community. It was made of logs and stood for many years. When it burned, the citizens built another log house where the Pine Flat Presbyterian Church now stands. Soon the community was so thickly populated that another school house had to be built, this one on the Zeigler place, later known as the Rawlinson place. The first organization of a church in Pine Flat was at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Johnson. Soon they built a log church, which stood for many years. The present church, Pine Flat Presbyterian Church, was built in 1829. Its first pastor was the Rev. Robert Holman. What is now Highway 143 was then a stage coach road. The Smiths lived on this line near Wadsworth, and their home was called the “The Smith’s Inn For Travelers.” The only drawback of this community in its early stagess was the problem of wolves. Many cattle were lost before the wolves were stopped. The Elisha Cain family was one of the early families to settle in the area. They lived in a tent until Cane could get their log house built. It was completed without the benefit of plank floors, having instead the packed ground as a floor. Catherine Cain made pine straw carpets to cover the earth.