Sept. 27, 1912

Alabama lost a little of its color in 1912, as Wiregrass town of Pink changed its name.

Kinston was originally known as Cross Trails, as it was founded in the southwest corner of Coffee County, at the intersection of the east-west road between Opp and Samson and the north-south path connecting Florala and Elba. In the early 1900s, the community was named Pink after Pink Hickman, who donated land to build a train depot.

However, this threatened to cause some confusion with the town of Pinckard in neighboring Dale County, and the town was renamed in honor of Kinston, North Carolina, where one of the town’s residents had grown up. Pink became Kinston officially Sept. 27, 1912.

Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama or the History of Kinston.

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