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County Courthouse P.O. Box 460 Carrollton , AL 35447-0460 Phone: (205) 367-2020 FAX: (205) 367-2025	County Population 1990: 20,699	Pickens County Courthouse Preservation Project
Ethelsville Town Clerk RR 1 Box 315 Gordo, AL 35466 Phone: (205) 658-2651	Town Population is approximately 52

An interesting bit of information in Pickens County history is the bizarre sight of the face on the courtroom window — aka, the Lightning Portrait of Henry Wells.

Wells, a former slave, was accused of burning the original Pickens County Courthouse in 1876. He was finally arrested two years later. As there was no jail, Wells was placed in the garret of the new courthouse. A mob of locals gathered outside to lynch him.

As Wells peered out the garret window, a bolt of lightning struck nearby and permanently etched his terrified expression into the windowpane. Wells died less than two months later "of wounds received while attempting to escape."

The lightning photo is still visible today, and only from the outside. Up on the third floor, an arrow painted on the outside directs you to the miraculous face.

Henry Wells

State Legislature in Alabama Representative Allen Layson

Contact Information

11 South Union Street
Montgomery, AL 36130

Reform, AL 35481

Official Home Page

61st District
(Pickens, Tuscaloosa)

Last Updated on Sunday, July 30, 2000

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