Annie Lou Holton was born and raised in Madison. She remembers movie theaters, drive-ins and several other places that no longer call Madison home.
By Kristin Finney
Greene Publishing, Inc.
Annie Lou Holton has spent her life in Madison. She was born here, went to school here and spent most of her free time here. She was born in 1938 and left home in 1956.
When Holton was a child she attended the elementary school in town. The school, along with the old Tri-County building, was located where Harvey’s currently resides. She recalls going to the old Tri-County building for lunch; that was where the cafeteria was. “Mrs. Smith ran the lunchroom,” explained Holton.
Later on, Holton attended Madison High School. While in school, Holton played volleyball and baseball. She went to school from seventh grade through tenth. It was in the tenth grade that she turned 18 and left home to get married.
Her childhood was also spent working the tobacco fields here in town. She remembered, “I used to work in tobacco. I would poison the tobacco. I topped it and suckered it, because we didn’t have machines to do all of that back then. I also hoed cotton when I was growing up.”
Some other places in Madison that she can remember include the old drive in movie theatre. “The man who ran the projector, we called him ‘Buddy Tompkins.’” The drive in theatre was located just outside of town, past Yellow Pine Subdivision.
She remembered the Swan Theater, which was located near the Presbyterian Church. Holton also recalled Lucille’s, which was between Madison Sporting Goods and Holton’s, and how it burnt down. She also remembers that where Ashlyn’s Rose Petal is now, used to be Mr. Spear’s grocery store and at one point, was even a bank. Another store she remembered was Cramer’s clothing store.
