Citronelle, AL news and local guide

The railroad promoted Citronelle as a health resort, praising its altitude and mineral springs in tourist brochures, and visitors filled several hotels in the late 1800s. The town was incorporated in 1892, and its library was built the following year. Citronelle is also known for an event at the very end of the Civil War: on May 4, 1865, Confederate forces surrendered here to Union Major General Edward R. S. Canby beneath what became known as the Surrender Oak. Wikipedia credits Lieutenant General Richard Taylor with the surrender, while the Encyclopedia of Alabama names Major General Dabney H. Maury. Citronelle calls it the last Confederate surrender east of the Mississippi River; the oak was destroyed by a hurricane in 1902, and the town re-enacts the surrender each year. Citronelle's next boom came from underground. A first attempt to drill for oil in 1902 failed when the drill bit broke, but in 1955 oil was discovered north of town, at a depth of 10,879 feet, and Citronelle became known as the oil capital of Alabama. Sources Encyclopedia of Alabama: Citronelle Wikipedia: Citronelle, Alabama (citing the Encyclopedia of Alabama, the Citronelle Chamber of Commerce and Eaves, 1976)