DANIELSVILLE COURTHOUSE

On our way to check on our lot at Lake Hartwell, we went through Madison County and its county seat of Danielsville. It was a pretty little town, with the road parting as we got to the courthouse so as to go one-way around it.

This is my picture of the front. Hard to see it because of the trees.

And this is its photo from the side, courtesy of my guy:

The Romanesque Revival structure was built in 1901 and is on the Historic Places National Register.

The county is named for James Madison, our fourth president, while the town is named for Allen Daniel, who served in the state militia during the Revolution and donated the land for the town. You'd think one of those men would be honored with a statue, wouldn't you? But no. The statue is of Crawford Long, the doctor who first used ether as anesthesia and who was born here. Okay, I guess he might deserve a statue, too.

One thing I noticed: There was much more traffic than I expected for such a tiny place, and I counted three law offices around the courthouse. Must be a very litigious town!

LOCAL PAPER

So I open the local paper to the headline "Robber Shoots, Victims Shoot Back" and am immediately drawn to read what happened.

Seems an armed robber came into a barber shop demanding money. After the owner, worried about his customers, quickly complied, the intruder left. One of the barbers grabbed a 9 mm (registered) he kept in the shop for protection and stepped outside. The robber fired at him so the barber fired back. Then he, joined by another barber and the owner, gave chase. Residents along the way helped direct them as they trailed the robber and waited for police to get there.

Finally, the robber went to ground, but a K-9 and his handler soon found him and arrested him.

"We've never had any problems at our shop," the bemused owner said. And he's been at the same location for twenty years.

I'm glad no one was hurt. I'm even gladder the neighborhood residents stepped up to the plate and helped catch the guy. With so much distrust between people and police nowadays, it's nice to hear about a small town like this where the two groups can get along

Local News

It's so nice to live in a small town. Headline in the local paper: ALBINO SQUIRREL CAUSES A STIR.

There's even a picture of the perky little critter holding a nut.

Yes, there's a crime blotter inside that has interesting stuff, too. (MAN HITS WOMAN WITH DIAPER) But how great is it to live in a place where albino squirrels land on the front page of the paper?