History of Fieldstown Fieldstown started in 1878

Everyone reading this has traveled Fieldstown Road at some point. The main thoroughfare through the city connects the interstate to Highway 31, takes you by most of the city’s businesses and trails down to many of the newer, larger housing developments in the city.

But how many people have thought about where the name Fieldstown came from?

The short answer is that the area down Fieldstown Road, near where Fire Station Number 2 now sits, was once a community known as Fieldstown. Its founder, William Alfred Fields, founded the community in 1878. At this time, Jugtown (as Gardendale was still known) did not extend that far out. His great-granddaughter, Joyce Fields Blankenship, compiled her family history for the Kermit Dooley Gardendale Historical Museum several years ago, in order to preserve the stories. Blankenship has living in Fieldstown her entire life.

William Alfred Fields was born November 15, 1839 to John and Nancy Melinda (Bagley) Fields. Fields enlisted to fight in the Civil War in 1862 and served in the 28th Infantry and Company G, before being honorable discharged in May of 1865. He was married to Louisa Toles Burnam in 1871 and soon after he purchased 160 acres of land in the area that would become the Fieldstown community. He purchased the land for $350 (paid in two $175 payments).

At the time, according to Blankenship, each township had 36 sections and each section was 640 acres, making FIelds’ 160-acre purchase ¼ of a section.

Fields and his wife had eight children and built a house in the middle of the 160 acres.

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That first home was a log structure with two large cedar trees in the front yard. Blankenship said the cedar trees must have been near the well on the property because her dad recalled the well water tasting like cedar twice a year.

After a few years in the log structure, Fields decided to build a larger home he called “Big House.” That home was still standing on Phillips Drive in Fieldstown, although it had been updated and had additions made until it was torn down in 2013.

Families began coming to live in Fieldstown and, it is likely, according to Blankenship, that Fields was leasing them acreage to live and farm. Also, as each of his eight children got married, he gave them 10 acres to start their own homes and farms.

Fields was also known for his avid beekeeping and older family members told Blankeship the hives once stretched for miles, four rows deep. At one point, according to sources, he had over 80 hives and it took almost five days to rob them all for honey. He would sell the honey in the mining camps or trade it at the commissary for flour and coffee.

Fields died in 1913 and was buried in the Fields family plot at Cluster Springs Cemetery, where his mother was also laid to rest. In his later years, family legend said he had a “blood disease” in his legs and also developed a large skin cancer on his face.

In October of 2010, Fieldstown was declared a Historic Community by the City of Gardendale and a marker was placed at the site. Most of what was one Fieldstown is now a part of the City of Gardendale, although some of the property may still remain in unincorporated Jefferson County.

Editor’s Note: Special thanks to Joyce Fields Blankenship for her help in providing this information about the beginnings of Fieldstown. This monthly feature is produced in conjunction with the Gardendale Historical Society.

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