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Farming For A Better Future, page 162
known burial is that of Emma Duckett Brewer (18991911). Although the cemetery is not marked on the 1935 USGS topographic map, the map does label “Good Hope Church.” Two of the landowning farmers in Smithsonia in the early 20th century are buried here: Isaac Armstead, Sr. (1877-1978), who owned a farm in Smithsonia from at least 1930 to 1940, and George Armstead (1870-1948), possibly Isaac's brother, who also owned a farm in 1930.
A school was associated with the church from sometime after 1936 to sometime before 1968. The 1954 topographic map labels Good Hope Church with a symbol for a cemetery to the west and a school to the south. The revised map from 1968 has the school crossed out. Another school in the area was Smithsonia School, which was located north of Good Hope MB Church on County Road 189. The school was labeled on the 1924 USGS topographic map when the Good Hope School was not yet established. It appears that the Good Hope School opened after the Smithsonia School closed.
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Sweetwater Plantation
Sweetwater Plantation was owned by General John Brahan, a veteran of the war of 1812. The house was designed by Brahan and built in 1834 on what was then the outskirts of Florence. Braham owned more than 4,000 acres in eastern Lauderdale County but he did not live here. His son-in-law, Robert Miller Patton, a future Governor of Alabama would move into the manor and finish it in 1835. Patton is believed to have operated the first cotton gins in Alabama and founded the Bell Cotton Factory, an early textile mill.
(Below) 1936 USGS Topographic Map of Weeden Heights and Sweetwater Plantation, Florence, Alabama Quadrangle (Right) 1957 USGS Topographic Map of Weeden Heights and Sweetwater Plantation, Florence, Alabama Quadrangle (Bottom Right) 1971 USGS Topographic Map of Weeden Heights and Sweetwater Plantation, Florence, Alabama Quadrangle - (4690)