Lauren Estes-Velez

Hartselle Enquirer

The Hartselle Area Chamber of Commerce recently partnered with a local NARCOG member to add a new historical marker in downtown Hartselle, which was unveiled Thursday at 11 a.m.

NARCOG regional transit agency director Robbie Cantrell was one of the main planners of this event’s unveiling, Chamber Director Danielle Gibson said.

“While working on a right-of-way inventory project for the Rural Planning Organization, a function of NARCOG, I discovered text for a marker that was never produced,” Cantrell said. “The marker, or lack thereof, came up during a conversation with Sen. (Arthur) Orr in May. He asked me to get the text to him, and he would see what he could do. The marker would tie in nicely to the Bicentennial Celebration and would be a permanent reminder of one of Hartselle’s, and really Alabama’s, most interesting stories.

“He contacted Lee Sentell, director of the Alabama Tourism Department, and the rest is history.”

The historical marker, located directly in front of the Hartselle Chamber of Commerce, gives facts of the “Great Hartselle Robbery,” which took place in 1926.

Cantrell said the best reason for the marker being located at the depot is the railroad connection to the story – and the simple fact that there is not enough room on the sidewalk to place it at the