Hartselle Historical Society (Hartselle, AL), 307 College Street NE, Hartselle, AL (2026)

09/15/2026

Part 3: Coach Cain after the coaching years.

In 1969 Coach Cain moved to the new Hartselle Jr. High as principal. He had been an assistant coach from 1954 to 1956. In 1957, he was named head coach and served in that position for 15 years. Coach was principal of the Jr. High from 1969-1980 and then became our high school principal from 1980-1988. After retirement, he worked on his farm but still attended most of our high school events. The clippings shown will highlight many of the honors he received. Coach lost a battle to cancer on April 7, 2012. What a legacy he left behind. Great teachers and coaches never die. They live on in their students and players and that generation passes what they learned to the next. Coach Cain had a positive influence on thousands and his three sons and his grandchildren and great-grandchildren are carrying on the Cain tradition of excellence.

09/15/2026

Part 2 on Coach Cain: The Coaching Years

We have so many pictures and clippings of Coach Cain's coaching career that I won't try to put them in chronological order. Here is an article on Coach I wrote for the program of the Morgan County Sports Hall of Fame when Coach was inducted.

Coach Cain
What can one say about a man who had such a great influence on so many lives as a coach, teacher and principal? His life touched literally thousands of young men and women as he coached and taught at Morgan County High, became the first principal of Hartselle Junior High and then ended his public teaching career as principal at Hartselle High School. Although he no longer “officially” was a teacher after his retirement, he never stopped sharing his wisdom and life experiences with his children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and his former players and students.
When Coach Cain became a principal many called him Mr. Cain, but to his former players he was and will forever be “Coach.” That title is spoken with a respect and reverence that was earned during the time we played for him and is a word conveying honor and a loyalty to him that has grown even stronger over the years since our playing time. There are very few of his former players who wouldn’t have done anything he asked. Only those that played for him can understand that enduring loyalty and what he meant to us as boys struggling to become young men. At that time we may not have understood why he made us do certain things but, with wisdom gained over the years, we now can see that he had our best interest at heart and there was a purpose behind his actions.
Coach was tough, but fair. He gave 100% as a coach and expected the same from his players. If you gave that, he respected you and let you know he noticed and appreciated your efforts. It didn’t matter if you were “all-state” or spent most of your time on the bench, all were treated the same. He demanded our best and accepted nothing less. Because he did, that’s what we attempted to give and as a result many players with average ability performed at an above-average level. If we failed to give our best he let us know about it but in a way that encouraged us to try harder. Coach was a master psychologist.
While teaching us the game of football, he was really teaching us about the game of life and how to best play it. He instilled in us life principles and a work ethic that would forever be with us. He modeled his work ethic at home and at school. His sons Paul, Charley and Rob will never forget the hours spent at work on the family farm - hoeing thistles, putting “red lead” on the fence in front of their house and hauling hay. Coach would drive 500 yards out of the way in the pasture to dig up a thistle and never forgave Lady Bird Johnson for encouraging people to plant them.
We had a sign in the locker room that said: “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” Another said: “Winners never quit and quitters never win.” These weren’t just catchy phrases to Coach but something he genuinely believed and principles he made us believe too. When we were really tired after a long practice and ready to quit, he would say: “It’s the fourth quarter and Decatur is beating us by 6 points. What are you going to do?” Because we loved and respected him so much, we would reach a little deeper and somehow find the energy to give a greater effort, one beyond that which we thought we were capable of.
One life principle Coach stressed was punctuality. He did not accept your being late for school or practice. Another was honesty. Coach had an uncanny way of knowing if you weren’t telling the truth. He had a stare we called “The Look” that could melt a hole through titanium. He was a master detective and could get to the bottom of almost any situation at school. He could teach the “NCIS” team some interrogation techniques. We soon learned just to be honest with him and accept our medicine if we had pulled a prank or gotten into trouble.
Coach was a leader and made leaders out of his players. In team meetings he would talk to us about being leaders and how others were always watching us although we didn’t know it and that he expected us to be good examples. He taught us X’s and O’s (football strategy), but also took the time to teach so much more. He lived those principles that he taught us and his example made his words so much more meaningful.
Somewhere in his life, someone must have taught Coach that “Cleanliness is next to Godliness” because as a coach and as a principal, he demanded that from his students and staff. As a principal, he maintained the cleanest schools possible. One teacher who visited Hartselle on several Southern Association Accreditation Teams remarked that “A Cain school is always the cleanest I have ever seen.”
No discussion of Coach Cain would be complete without mentioning that he was a very frugal person. He could make equipment and supplies go further than anyone else. Nothing was wasted or thrown away if it had any possible use left. For example, for a cheap fertilizer he had chicken manure placed on the field at the high school which, at that time, served as both the practice and game field. One of my childhood memories of the city swimming pool, which was by that field, is of the awful smell of wet chicken manure after a rain.
One thing I have always admired about Coach is his courage. If he was ever afraid of anything, he never showed it. He displayed his courage when he lost his first wife, Linda, and was left with three young boys to raise. God sent him Ruth, another very special lady who became his second wife, at the right time to help him with that situation. She became a wonderful mother to the boys and a loving and devoted partner to Coach and her daughter, Ann, a caring “big sister” to the boys.
When he lost his leg in a freak accident, he could have become bitter and given up and sat in his chair. Instead, he was up and about working on the farm in no time. The word “quit” was not in Coach’s vocabulary. It was the same in his battle with cancer. Coach fought it with the courage and determination he displayed throughout his life.
One attribute of Coach that many may have never seen was his “soft side”. He really was a caring and compassionate man underneath that hard exterior. Coach kept up with former players and students and was always interested in their well- being. Our lives, our families and our pursuits were important to him. He often visited sick or hospitalized former players and students and rarely missed the funeral of one of “his boys”. Coach never lost his love of athletics and often attended Hartselle High and Jacksonville State games and alumni events. After his wreck, anytime I talked with him on the phone, he would end the conversation by saying “I love you.” The first time he did this I nearly dropped the phone, but became used to it and heard him say that to many others. The accident seemed to have given him the freedom to express his feelings in a more open way.
We don’t know exactly what heaven will be like, but I think it will be a place of eternal joy and happiness. Some of the best days of my life were spent on a football field at Morgan County High School (now Hartselle High). Forty years later I still dream about playing. When thinking of heaven, I can picture a field like our old practice field with a young Coach Cain in his khaki pants and white t-shirt, hat cocked slightly to the side, with a whistle around his neck. We’ll go through a typical practice (that at the time seemed so tough, but now is a fond memory) and then he will blow his whistle and say those once dreaded words: “Okay men, let’s line up on the 50.” Hundreds of young men will line up ready to run those wind sprints that we hated so badly, but usually had us in better shape than our opponents and allowed us to outlast them and win again.
I can also picture one of my favorite memories of him and Coach Hamilton in which both are lying on the grass of the old field taking in the sun and waiting for practice to begin. Coach Cain has a blade of grass in his mouth and begins to sing “Peace in the Valley” with a surprisingly good voice. Those were special days and, at the time, we didn’t know it or appreciate how they would shape our lives and how certain very special people make a huge impact on the lives they touch. Coach was one of those life-changing persons. Thanks Coach for the time you gave us, the life principles you taught us and the example you set. I will be eternally grateful for you and so will thousands of others.
Signed: A Former Player

09/15/2026

Our next Hartselle giver is very special to me and to the hundreds of young men who played football for him at Morgan County High School, the students he taught in his physical education classes, and those he met as an assistant principal or principal. Our football stadium is named for him with good reason. His life focused on our school system and the young men and women in it. Let’s take a look at the life of Hartselle giver J. P. Cain and his contributions to our town and especially our school system. Coach was inducted into the first class of the Hartselle Educator Hall of Fame and we will begin with his biography for that event. We have so much information on Coach Cain that this post will be split into three parts: The Early Years, The Coaching Years and The Years After Coaching.

Coach Cain's biography for the Hartselle Educator Hall of Fame:
J.P. Cain
By: Jimmy Yarbrough
A man who had a tremendous influence on the success of the Hartselle School System was J. P. Cain. He served as a teacher, coach and principal during his 33 years at Hartselle schools and had the opportunity to positively touch the lives of thousands of students and his fellow teachers and administrators. Cain had a vision for our schools and pushed for the building of the stadium that now bears his name and urged the purchase of land around the Intermediate School where the tennis courts are now and the play area west of the school. After he became principal of the Jr. High and then the High School, many referred to him as Mr. Cain, but to his players he will always be Coach.

Coach was born July 26, 1929 to Paul and Esther Cain and grew up on the family farm at Somerville. He attended elementary school at Priceville. His father had been injured by mustard gas in WW I and passed away when Cain was ten. He described this as a “hard experience causing him to have to dig a little harder”. Coach remembered long hard days of working on the farm, especially plowing with two mules named Nellie and Rhodie. One of his favorite expressions was “Whoa, Nellie!”

During his high school years, Coach moved to Hartselle to live with his aunt and uncle, Julia and Cecil Johnson. They lived a short distance from the high school and Cain walked to classes. He was salutatorian of his senior class of 1947, playing baseball, basketball and football. Of the three sports, football was his first love. Mr. J. C. Pettey was one of his coaches and Cain considered him as his mentor. Coach chose to go to Jacksonville State College and decided to walk on as a try out for the football team and earned a scholarship. He played center and linebacker and was a star player even though he only weighed around 165 pounds. Jacksonville State was undefeated in 1947 and went to the Paper Bowl in Pensacola, FL for three straight years during Cain’s playing days, defeating Florida State in the 1947 Paper Bowl. His college coach, Don Salls, in later years, often kidded him about the time in one of the those games when he intercepted a pass and ran it in for a touchdown, but the 25 yard return took the fleet-footed linebacker 30 seconds. Coach served in the army for 3 years, being stationed in Germany and Austria, and returned to Hartselle and was working at a factory in Decatur when Mr. Pettey called and asked him to return to his high school alma mater as a coach.

As a head coach at Hartselle, Coach had a won-loss record of 66-51-3 with his 1964 team having a record of 8-1-1 and finishing third in the state. That might not look too impressive, but Hartselle’s schedule was mainly made up of larger schools. He was well respected by his fellow coaches and developed a close relationship with the University of Alabama coaching staff. They would call him to get his opinion on local players. Coach Gene Stallings became an especially close friend and often called and visited with Cain.

Thinking ahead to the years after his coaching career, Cain got a master’s degree in administration and an Educational Specialist degree from Peabody College. He retired from coaching in 1969 to become the first principal of what was then the Jr. High. Later he would move to the high school in the same position.

Coach married Linda Trotter while at Jacksonville. They had 3 sons, Paul, Charley and Rob. After Linda’s unexpected death, he married Ruth Hawkins Forrester and Ruth’s daughter Ann became a big sister to the boys. The family lived on a cattle farm on LandoCain Road where Coach instilled the value of hard work in the boys as they hauled hay, painted fences and did other chores on the farm.

I would like to talk about Coach Cain the man and his influence on his players and all of those in contact with him as a student, teacher, coach or administrator. I had the privilege of having him as a physical education teacher and football coach, then when I finished college he hired me as a teacher at the Jr. High and we became close friends as he helped me on my farm and I on his. Only my father had more influence on my life than did Coach.
One of my favorite high school memories is playing touch football in physical education with Coach Cain quarterbacking one team and assistant coach Brub Hamilton the other. They made sure everybody got at least one pass thrown to them during the game. While kids today often dislike physical education, we ran to the gym. They also played basketball with us and I well remember Coach Cain shooting foul shots granny style (underhanded). Cain would get at mid-court and, going back to his football days as a center, would snap a basketball between his legs and often make a basket. Coach’s grandson Hudson has been the long snapper on Stillman College’s football team for the last four years.

Coach was tough, but fair. He gave 100% as a coach and expected the same from his players. He demanded our best and accepted nothing less. Just like Coach Bryant, he was a master psychologist. He knew exactly the right way to motivate each player. He earned our respect and each of us had a deep desire to please him and to give him our best effort. He had no favorites and all were treated the same, no matter if you were all state or spent most of your time on the bench.

While teaching us the game of football, he was really teaching us about the game of life and how best to play it. At that time we may not have understood why he made us do certain things, but, with wisdom gained over the years, we now can see that he had our best interest at heart and there was a purpose behind his actions. He instilled in us life principles and a work ethic that would forever be with us. Coach was a leader and made leaders out of his players. In team meetings, he often told us how others were watching us even though we didn’t know it and that he expected us to be good examples.

As a principal, Coach was a master detective, usually being able to get to the bottom of any problem. He was a tough disciplinarian, but always treated students fairly and was willing to give them a second chance. Cain maintained the cleanest schools possible and could make supplies and equipment go further than anyone else.
Despite his hard exterior, Coach was a caring and compassionate man. He kept up with his former players and students and was always interested in their careers and families. Former players often stopped by the farm to visit and reminisce with him. Coach never lost his love of athletics and often attended Hartselle and Jacksonville State games.

He received many honors over the years including being selected to the Morgan County, Alabama High School and Jacksonville State Sports Halls of Fame, having the stadium named for him, and being selected Citizen of the Year by the Civitan Club. Those days at Morgan County High School were very special days, and, at the time, we didn’t know it or appreciate how they would shape our lives and how certain very special people make a huge impact on the lives they touch. Coach J. P. Cain was one of those life-changing persons for thousands of students and players.

09/14/2026

Hartselle had a Bicentennial Committee in 1975 and one of its projects was to buy and renovate the Depot. The present day depot was built in 1914 and was the fourth depot for our town. The Depot had been closed for a number of years and was beginning to show signs of aging and disrepair. Once the social center of the town, it had been abandoned and neglected. The L&N Railroad wanted $10,000 for the depot, but the committee negotiated a price of $6,000. Raymond Baker chaired the committee and oversaw the renovation work. The work was completed and an open house and dedication ceremony were held on October 30, 1976. Here is a summary of the work and dedication of the renovated depot:

09/11/2026

With Depot Days coming up next week, I thought it might be interesting to give some history of our depots. David Burleson is the expert on early Hartselle history, so I called him this morning and want to share some of what he had to say about our depots.

We have had four depots. The first was a boxcar located one mile north of town. David said the first train to pass through Hartselle was a work engine on June 18, 1870. The first official train run was September 29, 1872. A second depot was built and torn down at unknown dates. The third depot was a large one with two levels, waiting rooms on the lower level and an office and the loading platform on a higher level. A small frame baggage room was on the east side of the tracks. This depot was built sometime in the 1880's or 90's and used until the present depot was built in 1914. A. A. Oden is usually mentioned as Hartselle's first station master, but David says that actually George Hunt was first and A. A. Oden second and Oden's son, E. A. Oden, took over the position from his father.

09/09/2026

The Faith of our Fathers (and Mothers)
One very strong memory I have of growing up in Hartselle is that of the older members of my church, especially my grandmother and the other ladies. I will mention the ladies first. They had a particular seat they sat in each Sunday. Nearly all of them wore hats. What is really etched in my mind is their faces. Worn by time and, most likely, a lot of hard work, those faces held something special. They had a story to tell. A story of growing up in a time that was much different from what I knew. Most had faced hard times: two world wars, the Great Depression, struggling to make ends meet and to raise their families.

In reading the newspapers of those early Hartselle years, I have been struck by how many families lost a small child. Nearly every week, the Hartselle Enquirer had a paragraph about a young child who had died. Back in those times, there weren’t antibiotics to take care of infections like pneumonia or vaccines to protect against common diseases. Infant mortality was very high. I now wonder how many of those ladies had lost a child. And I have to wonder how many children they had. Large families were common.

Most of those faces were kind. They were the faces of grandmothers. They looked down on me with a smile and, perhaps, seeing me brought back memories of their children at a young age. A few of those faces were covered with rouge, but most had no makeup and to me, the wrinkles and lines were a badge of honor, not to be covered up.

It seemed that most of those ladies were alone, having lost their husbands. They often sat together or with their adult children. These ladies rarely missed a Sunday and they worshipped. Most had their Bibles and listened intently, often nodding their heads in agreement with a sermon point. They sang the old hymns with enthusiasm, maybe a little out of tune, but that didn’t matter. My mom developed dementia and was in the dementia wing at Summerford’s. Nearly all of the patients in that wing were women. Often, on Sundays, someone would come in and play the piano and lead them in singing. What amazed me was that several of the ladies, who no longer remembered their own names or knew their families, would sing the hymns without missing a word.

The older gentlemen were fewer in number, some alone and some with their wives. Hats were common in those days. Some smelled of cigar smoke and smoking outside of the church before the service was common. Their faces, too, were etched by time. They, too, would look down at me and smile, perhaps thinking back to being my age themselves. Some had strong voices and sang with enthusiasm, but most just listened without singing. Often during the sermon, one of these gentlemen would give a loud “Amen” to a sermon point they agreed with. Some might nod off during the message and, if they had a wife, might get a sharp elbow in the side.

The years have gone by rapidly and now I find myself as one of those older gentlemen. It seems that this has occurred in the blink of an eye. My wife and I have our seats in church. I look at the children and smile and often think of our daughter when she was a child, or, looking at a young boy wiggling in his seat, think back on those days when that was me

09/09/2026

When you drive through downtown Hartselle, do you really see what’s there? Or have the familiar buildings and surroundings become so routine that you pass by without wondering about the stories they hold?

If you’d like to discover more about the history, people, and legends of historic downtown Hartselle, join the Hartselle Historical Society for the free Landmarks & Legends Walking Tour on September 14, 2026. The 50 minute tour begins in front of the old Depot at 6:00 pm..

This special event is part of our town’s Depot Days celebration and will bring Hartselle’s history to life through music, storytelling, and performances. Highlights will include a vignette about the unsolved bank robbery, a performance of Leaning on the Everlasting Arms—a beloved hymn written in Hartselle—USO girls performing World War II boogie-woogie songs in the style of the Andrews Sisters, a live band playing in an air-conditioned space, and a brass ensemble performing in Pocket Park.

These are just a few of the experiences waiting for you as you stroll through historic downtown Hartselle, uncovering the stories behind the places you pass every day.

Come walk with us and see downtown Hartselle in a whole new way!

09/07/2026

Hartselle Giver Ronnie Strickland

Our next Hartselle giver, Ronnie Strickland, was a very special man, one known and loved by a large number of Hartselle residents. Ronnie was a fixture in our community, being seen all over town, riding his bike and picking up aluminum cans which he sold to donate to various charities, buy gifts for others, donate to his church or to buy books for his church library. He was always present at all of our athletic events.

His church was the Hartselle Church of Christ and former minister Phillip Hines said Ronnie had bought at least half of the books in the church library. He had his own key to the church and would come in almost every day and do chores or read and listen to sermon tapes.

If Hartselle was playing a game, Ronnie would be there. He got to know both the coaches and players. He had an encyclopedic knowledge of Hartselle teams. I loved to talk to him about which teams were the best and who were the best players. He was at football practice every day and coaches would let him travel with the team to many games. If he didn’t ride the bus, someone usually took him to out- of -town games.

Ronnie developed polio when he was two years old. This never slowed him down. He graduated from Morgan County High School in 1955. He would split his time between his church in the mornings and afternoons at the high school.

Back in the 1960’s when I was playing, Ronnie never missed a practice or a game. Every day he ran wind sprints. Some days he would run laps in addition to the sprints. Coach Cain, Dr. Sittason and some other men took Ronnie to an Alabama football game in Tuscaloosa. They were friends with the coaching staff and when Ronnie asked if he could run wind sprints on the field prior to the game, they got permission for him to do so. The fans that had arrived early gave Ronnie a loud ovation.

Ronnie said he nearly killed himself trying to learn to ride a bicycle, but he did and that became his mode of transportation. He wore out several and the community donated new ones to him. I am not sure when or how Ronnie lost an eye, but again, this never slowed him down.

After his mother died, Ronnie moved in at Estelle Smith’s boarding house. He spent the last days of his life at Summerford Nursing Home. I visited my mom there and would see Ronnie often, sitting in the hall and talking with other men. Coach Don Pouncey came to see him every Sunday afternoon. Ronnie passed away in 2016. Ronnie’s life and his determination to overcome his handicaps were an inspiration to many. Students at Hartselle Jr. High voted him one of the Seven Wonders of Hartselle, a well-deserved honor. What a remarkable man he was!

09/07/2026

It Was A Big Deal Back Then

November 11, 1957 was a big day for Hartselle and Decatur phone users. On that day, at 1:01 a.m., it became possible for a person in Hartselle to call someone in Decatur and vice versa without an operator and a long-distance charge. This was part of what Southern Bell called "customer direct distance dialing." Prior to that date, to call someone in Decatur, you had to dial an operator and give her the number and she called it. Phone rates went up slightly when the new service was provided.

It was interesting to look at the number of phones in Hartselle in the past. In 1945, we had 345 phones, in 1950 there were 1017 and in 1957, 1594 phones. Hartselle numbers in the 1950's had 4 digits. With the new system, SPruce and 3 were added to the numbers. Our home number was 6801. With the new system, you dialed SP3-6801. Decatur numbers were ELgin3. As Decatur grew, they added ELgin 5 prefixes. When you dialed SP3, you were actually dialing 773. You didn't have to dial an area code.

There were only 20 lines connecting Hartselle and Decatur at that time and they were swamped on that first day. More than 8,000 calls were made. We tried calling our grandmother in Decatur and it took several attempts.

09/06/2026

For those of you who are used to the Hartselle Historical Society presenting its Lunch & Learn Series on the 1st Monday of each month: the September 2026 meeting will NOT be on the 1st Monday (September 7) since that is Labor Day. We will meet on September 14 to hear David Burleson tell about The Founding Fathers of Hartselle. Please join us at 12 noon at East Highland Baptist Church Fellowship Hall for what is going to be a very informative presentation.

Hartselle Historical Society (Hartselle, AL)

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