I went to Rockford, Alabama to investigate a legend.

He was important enough in this city to have a monument erected in his honor.

He also had his own column in the newspaper, but I wasn’t jealous. This small town superstar had something I just couldn’t compete with.

Everyone knows heroes have their feet on the ground. This one had four feet.

His name is Fred. It’s a dog.

Since last month’s driving experience worked out so well, my wife, Angela, and I have partnered up again. I chose the city and it loved seeing new sites and relishing a second leg of the two-lane journey.

Once we got to Rockford, a few tips from the locals guided us to Fred’s Monument, which sits behind the Old Rock Jail, a three-story, stone-covered beauty built in 1842 that still looks strong enough to withstand an attack infantry.

Fred’s monument is actually a gravestone and a gravestone with a color photo of the deceased loved one.

Fred was just a mutt who wandered around town one day and after collecting a few free meals was unofficially adopted by local residents. His frequent walks in Rockford town center were so popular that they were featured in the Coosa County News in a column called “A Dog’s Life”.

As Fred’s fame spread, he appeared on the TV show “Animal Planet” and in a documentary film called “Fred: the Town Dog”.

After paying homage to Fred, Angela and I toured the rest of Rockford.

Like many other towns in the region, Rockford declined with the local textile industry. The 2016 census put the city’s population at 618 souls. The locals say it’s generous.

Main Street is now lined with empty buildings that struggle to stay upright and intact. But this condition may not be permanent.

Things started to change in downtown Rockford a few years ago when Jenny Joiner and her husband Ronnie set out to bring the town where they both grew up and still live to life.

They were successful in purchasing most of the vacant buildings on Main Street and are now in the process of restoring the old places on time and on budget.

We met Jenny and Ronnie at the old Rexall Drug Store on Main Street, which they turned into a family-run restaurant named Twenty-Two and Crew. As Jenny, a retired court reporter, has lived in Rockford her entire life, I thought she would be a great source of information, and between bites at lunch I asked about Fred.

Jenny said Fred was fine, but far from perfect. He would take a nap in the middle of the street sometimes and, according to Jenny, was bad at chasing cars. Years ago Jenny lived near one of Fred’s favorite night stops and her main memory of Fred is hearing her running along the road at night barking cars.

“People loved Fred,” Jenny said. “But he was also kind of a pain.”

In addition to the Rexall Restaurant, restoration work is nearing completion on the building next door, which will be a museum, housing artifacts collected over the years by Ronnie, a retired builder specializing in historic renovations.

He bought old or abandoned houses, renovated them and put them on the market. Most of the old places still contained items that former residents had left behind. In addition to houses, Ronnie brought many of these tarnished and tattered treasures back to life.

These finds, along with pieces from Ronnie’s personal collection of historical artifacts, will be on display in the museum, which will open when Ronnie has restored the building to his satisfaction.

The collection includes shelves filled with local pottery, with some pieces dating from a time when the majority of the inhabitants were Creek Indians. Given that Ronnie is an Iraq War veteran, it’s no surprise that his collection features plenty of Civil War artifacts, including authentic and aging replica uniforms, both blue and gray. Other items on display include old tools, household items, and appliances that locals once used to keep the house buzzing.

The building where Ronnie keeps most of his carpentry equipment was once the town’s theater. It’s easy to spot the area the stage was in when country music legend Hank Wiliams came to town and sang a few songs.

Hank isn’t coming back, but hopefully the old building will find a new voice and a new use.

Since Rockford is the seat of Coosa County, the beautiful courthouse will always attract people in charge of county affairs.

And if a few other people who live in Rockford decide to stop hanging on and start rebuilding again, the little one-stop town may well find a new lease of life.

Alex McRae is a writer and negro. Her first novel, Rough Draft, is out this fall. He can be contacted at: [email protected].