anyone familiar with the High Chaparral and the Holt-Peterson Cutoff in Tuscaloosa County?

[Syrinx]

The High Chaparral was/is a house located way up on a hill along the Holt-Peterson Cutoff Road in Tuscaloosa County.

I haven't driven out that way since the storm, but I doubt the house is still intact.

I have no idea who currently owns that property.

But back in the day, the High Chaparral was an infamous open-secret. It was a legendary hotbed of illegal gambling and bootleg alcohol sales. And everyone knew it. Everyone.

And somehow it was tolerated by law enforcement. And I'm not even complaining about it. I think Americans were more free in the seventies and early eighties than we are today. And with a stronger safety net. I like both aspects of that duopoly.

But I'm not even posting about the High Chaparral, really. Just the road that it's on.

Remember how that road was covered by a canopy of trees? You could ride through there at noon, and you'd damn near need to turn your headlights on. You could be riding through on a hot summer day, and the temperature would instantly, though briefly, drop something like thirty degrees? It was such a welcome respite from the heat, especially if you were driving a vehicle without AC.

Well, those days have ended.

I wish the person that made this video had not turned his camera sideways, but here is a small peek at what the former canopy looks like now.

I don't like it. It's just another small thing, in the grand scheme, that sucks about that damn tornado.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4_QvYXt0Uo

[AverageJoe]

1. They pile up

these small things, these big things, all these damned things about this damned tornado. Thank you for posting this.

[Syrinx]

2. you're welcome

Do you have any idea yet where everyone is going to live? There's already a housing shortage, and that's with most of the students away. Has the city or the university given any guidance yet on this? I was surprised to hear that the loss of apartment units was well under two hundred (I'm guessing that must not include public housing, since nearly that many were lost at Rosedale, I think), but many, many houses were destroyed, and many of those were rental properties occupied by students. And has anyone heard anything about the public housing project off Crescent Ridge Road yet? One guy I know told me it was demolished, but I don't necessarily consider him a terrific source of information. I tried to check it myself one time, but couldn't find the main entrance. I did notice the "Sixth Street" sign still standing, and that used to be a back-way to get in there. Maybe I'll try again in the next day or two, but it's depressing as hell to see all the damage.

[nkt35500]

3. +1