There were no Dixes listed in Montgomery in the 1895 City Directory. The location and date of this photo is unknown.  Allie died in September 20, 1899.  The first known address of Dixes in Montgomery was in 1897 and it's likely that Lell,  Dollie,  Paul,  & Philo were in Montgomery in 1896 (see below).  Their ages in 1896 would have been:  Allie, 22; Paul, 21; Philo, 18; and Murrie, 16.  The boys all look younger in this photo.  It's probable that this was made when they all lived under the same roof in Pine Grove. 

The hard copy at Montgomery Public Library  & hard copy and microfilm at State Archives are missing.  Since our records indicate that Dollie joined the First Baptist Church in 1896, it’s probable that some, if not all of those listed in the 1897 directory, were in Montgomery in 1896.   Since AFD & NBD aren’t listed until 1898, I think we can assume that they were still in Pine Grove.

King St., only 1 block long now, is  in the middle of the state capitol complex – all office buildings and parking lots.  As far as we know, this is the first house where the Dixes lived when the kids moved to Montgomery before Frank and Nellie, still in Pine Grove, followed them the next year.  This July 2006 photo was made facing away from the State Capitol.

Rev. AFD., Alex F. Jr., Dollie, Lell, Paul, Philo, & Murrie are all listed here.  AFD & Nellie have moved to Montgomery to join the kids.  (Wives are not listed along with their husbands until the 1901 directory.) 

The following five photos appear to be the same house.  For a while, I thought (because of the similarity of the porch columns) that this was the same house as the one in the 1903 family portrait.  I later noticed that the 1903 house is straight across at the front door, whereas at this one, the front door is is recessed.  Also, the 1903 house has no bannisters.  The 206 High Street house has similar Victorian spindles around the porch ceiling, but the corner braces are different and the columns are square with chamfered edges, but the columns here are turned. 

I've tried enlarging the newspaper that AFD is holding as well as the calendar near the door in the interior photos, to no avail. 

Given that the 206 High St. house has been eliminated because of the differences in the porch columns, and that we believe that Dollie (pictured inside in one of the images below) was in California in 1899,  I'm deducing that this must be the house at 423 Columbus St. and dates these photographs about 1898.  The two bicycles on the porch suggest that at least two boys were living there.  In 1898, Lell, Allie, Dollie, Paul, Philo, & Murrie were all still living there.  And finally, the trees are bare, suggesting that this photo was made in winter (November - February) and the sun is low in the western sky away from the subject.  The shadows (from the rockers) are toward the photographer, all suggesting that the house is facing south and would have an odd house number.  Columbus Street runs east and west.  The 1899 map of Montgomery shows the trolley route running along Columbus St.  and I see in the background here, what appears to be a power pole.  Perhaps Lell, has one of the new Kodak cameras and is trying it out in the following photographs. 

Ruth was born June 3, 1892.  7 years and 4 months later would be October, 1899.  The long sleeve dress, some leaves on the trees and some on the ground, would seem to be consistent with this time of year.  Alexander Franklin and Nellie Dix lived at 514 Jefferson St. then according to the Montgomery City Directory.   If this is correct, the houses in the background would be at the intersection of Jefferson St. and N. Bainbridge St.  The photographer is facing northeast. 

Before we had this picture of Ruth, we didn't know when or where the photo of AFD and HBD was made. The photo of Ruth is from the front yard -- the photo of Frank and Nellie, from the rear of the same house.  Compare the following two photo enlargements: 

1)  The two story home in the background; 
2)  the two intertwined branches to the right of the foreground tree; and 
3) the side fence on the right with the same molding detail. 

AFD, Nellie, Lell, Paul, Murrie are listed at this address. Lell & Annie Stakely were married 07-16-1901. 

The house is no longer there, but this would have been the south side of the street (206 High Street).  The photographer is facing northwest.  The lettering on the school across the street reads: CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL.  I remember visiting the building.  It was later used as the Montgomery Museum.  On field trip visits there in the 1950's, I recall being amused that it was spelled "MVSEVM". The museum was demolished in the late fifties or early sixties to make room for the current Montgomery Public Library.   Notice the dirt streets High Street at Lawrence and street light and power lines in the B&W image. Dollie died December 20, 1901. This photograph of Dollie must have been made in 1901, toward the end of her life.

AFD, Nellie, Murrie and his new bride, Frances, are listed at this address.

The above is a January 2003 (100 years after the one below) photograph of the house at 414 Findley Ave.  Is it the location of the 1903 Dix family?  Obviously, the columns are not the same, but looks to have been part of a renovation to the house in the intervening years, as is the case with the houses at 12 Marshall Street, and 416 Finley Ave.    Since only the right side door is symmetrical with the front of the house, the left side door could also be a later conversion to make the house a duplex.  The porch height seems about right for the kids seated on the front row below.  The front door is flush with the front of the house as it is below, which is unique among the other known Dix residences. 

This June 2006 photo of the house undergoing renovation, shows better that the"right-side" door is indeed centered between the front porch column supports. 

Front row, L-R:  Helen, Lillis, Nelle, Ruth, James Hall Jr., Francis,  Elhannon Winchester "Chester" Hall.

2nd row (Children in laps of adults), L-R:  Nina Hall, William Hall [standing], Dorothy, Winifred, and Issalee.

2nd row (Seated adults), L-R:  James Hall, Dimple (Dix) Hall, Alexander Franklin Dix Sr., Nellie Beach Dix, Albert Sidney Dix, Isadora Nicoles Dix.

Back row: Mary Vernon (Nix) Dix, Paul Finch Dix [holding Oliver Dix (<1)] Annie (Stakely) Dix  & Lell Daniel Dix [holding daughter Annie Goulding Dix](1), Philo Dix, Elizabeth (Hayes) Dix, Thomas Murrell Dix & Frances (Gray) Dix.

Lell and family are still at 641 S. Lawrence St.  in 1903.
Paul and Vernon are listed at 416 Finley Ave. 

1904  414 Finley Ave.  AFD, Nellie, Murrie &  Frances.
         416 Finley Ave.  Paul and Vernon
         10 Scott St.  Lell and family

1905  414 Finley Ave.  Murrie & (Frances)
         416 Finley Ave.  Paul and Vernon
         418 Finley Ave.  AFD & Nellie
         10 Scott St.  Lell and family

1906  414 Finley Ave.  Murrie & (Frances)
         416 Finley Ave.  Paul and Vernon
         418 Finley Ave.  AFD & Nellie
         10 Scott St.  Lell and family

Again this June, 2006 photo from a one-block-long street, Pearl St., appears to be a match with the 1906 photo below.  It's difficult to see in the recent image, while the shutters are gone,  the windows are the same as below.  In 1906, Murrie and Frances lived in this house. 

1. Dollie - B. 12-23-04; 2. Annie Goulding - B. 10-22-02; 3. Madeline - B. 02-04-04; 
4. L. Daniel Dix - 5. Annie Stakely Dix; 6. Nellie (Beach) Dix (Mother); 7. Frances; 8. Murrie; 9. Paul; 10. Oliver P. - B. 02-22-03; 11. Alexander Franklin Dix (Father) 12. Vernon; 13. Susie - B. 02-09-06; 14. Philo Castle Dix

1907   416 Finley Ave.  Paul and Vernon
         418 Finley Ave.  AFD & Nellie
         1020 S. Hull St.  Lell and family
         Lelle’s family moved within Montgomery; Murrie had moved out of town.

1908  416 Finley Ave.  Paul and Vernon
     418 Finley Ave.  AFD & Nellie
     1020 S. Hull St.  Lell and family

1909  416 Finley Ave.  Paul and Vernon
     418 Finley Ave.  AFD & Nellie
     1020 S. Hull St.  Lell and family
        Helen “Nellie” Beach Dix died 04/14/1909

1910  124 (24) Semmes  Lell and family
     416 Finley Ave.  Paul and Vernon
         Alexander Franklin Dix not listed among other Dixes.   Lelle moved from 1020 S. Hull St. to "124 (24) Semmes".  This is the way it was printed.  I suspect the house renumbering was taking place.

"416 Finley Ave, Montgomery, Ala., Home of Vernon and Paul Dix.  All their children were born here:  Oliver Paul Dix, Susan Elizabeth Dix, Alex Frank. Dix, Mary Vernon Dix, Nell Beach Dix." 

Mary Vernon Sproles said that the photo was taken by her brother Oliver sometime after the family had moved away to Decatur.  The probable date is late 1920s or early to mid 1930s.  She also noted that the brick at the bottom of the columns was a later addition as the base of the original wood columns had rotted out.

According to the Montgomery City Directories, Paul and Vernon lived here from 1903 through 1917, when they moved to Mt. Meigs, Alabama.  After Nellie died in 1909, both grandfathers (Dix and Nix) lived here too. 

Although vacant, the house appears to be in quite good condition. The old neighborhood had been in a state of decline, but in recent years has begun a renaissance with the gentrification of what is being called "The Garden District".  It hasn't hit the 400 block of Finley Avenue quite yet, but homes just around the corner on Hull St., are being restored and populated by upper-middle class families.

The Finley Ave. address is marked on the map at the top of this page with a blue stick pin.

When Albert Sidney Dix died, the widowed Isadora Dix & all of their children (except Nelle, who was already married) had to move from their residence at the Georgia Industrial Home in Macon GA, so that his successor at the school, could  move in. 

This must have taken place over a relatively short period of time.  Albert's brother, Lell, (along with all of the other Dixes) was living in Montgomery at that time.  The 1910 Montgomery City Directory lists Lell's address as "124 (24) Semmes St."  The 1911 city directory is tantalizingly missing from the archives, but the 1912 directory lists Lelle and family at 24 Marshall St., and the widow Dix's family at 12 Marshall St.  I suspect that the street had been renamed from "Semmes" to "Marshall", and that the houses had been renumbered.  I think it's safe to assume that Lell had made arrangements for his brother's family to live nearby.

Above is 12 Marshall St., (renumbered again and now numbered "20") Marshall St. as it appeared in 2004.  The wooden porch columns have obviously been replaced with wrought iron. Otherwise the steps, door, and window placement agrees with the early photographs. 

We believe this is the earliest photograph of 12 Marshall St.  Pictured here are Nelle's daughter, Nelljie Smith (born November 7, 1909), and Eleanor (born 03/13/1909) at the front steps of Granny Dix's home with Lell's home at 24 Marshall St., next door.  I'm guessing that Eleanor looks about 2-3years old, dating this photo at  1911 or 1912.  Although the two girls are the same age, they are a generation apart.

This photo of Eleanor holding her cat must be a year or two later.  At first glance, this image appears to show a wrap-around porch on the side of the house, behind the wicker rocker.  On closer inspection, this illusion is the result of the reflection in the picture window.  Lell's home is in the background.

Again a few years later, the step stiles have been painted white or a lighter color that in the first images.

Granny Dix and her family:  Kneeling, Will Allie (Billy), Dorothy, and Eleanor.  Standing:  Francis Albert (Buddy), Ruth, Granny Dix (Isadora), Nelle, and Issalee.  (The white area at the bottom right is where the photo was torn off -- not a sidewalk.)

During WWI, the homes of mothers who had sons serving in the war, were designated by a banner with a blue star. Gold Star banners were hung on the homes of mothers whose sons had died in the war.   In a sign of the times, it was the mothers, not the wives, who were honored.
 
 

We don't have a date for this photo of Granny Dix, but the stiles of the front steps are now painted a darker color.    Note the house number "12" on the right column, just above the tear in the photo.

Buddy, Granny Dix, and Dorothy, with Eleanor in the back.  Note that the old wooden stiles have been replaced with bricks.

Again we have no date for this photo of Issalee and her family on the porch of 12 Marshall St.  The youngest of the three children is Aubrey Cortez Dismukes: Jr. born 24 July 1923.  The column bases are now painted a dark color.  I don't know why, but I always pictured the color as brown.