Published On: 03.27.18 | 

By: 9316

On this day in Alabama history: Tom Bevill was born in Townley

March 27 feature

Walker County native Tom Bevill (1921-2005) served in the U.S. House of Representatives about 30 years, known for securing funding for major Alabama development projects such as the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway and Marshall Space Flight Center, and Little River Canyon National Preserve. In 1968 he received the nation's first 9-1-1 call in Haleyville. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of The Birmingham News)

March 27, 1921

U.S. Representative Tom Bevill was born in the small mining community of Townley in Walker County. One of Alabama’s longest-serving congressmen, Bevill represented the state’s Fourth and Seventh Districts as a moderate Democrat from 1967 to 1997. While considered a humble, pleasant, polite and principled public servant, he also became known as the “King of Pork” for securing federal funding for projects in his district, including the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, Little River Canyon National Preserve and the Marshall Space Flight Center. Bevill was named Congressman of the Year for 1994 and was inducted into the Alabama Men’s Hall of Fame in 2010.

Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama.

For more on Alabama’s Bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.