Recreation

What’s in a name?

How did a 28 mile waterway become to be known as Five Mile Creek?  According to research by Dr. Ken Kirby of Samford University, the name refers to the distance from a pioneer-era creek crossing in Center Point to the old Ruhama Academy boarding school, in what is now South East Lake.  The log cabin school, closed during the civil war, was built on Second Avenue South and 80th Street in Birmingham.  Five miles was the distance pioneers had to drive their wagons from a watering hole, a spring at Spring Lake, to the boarding school.

Brookside Greenway Development Possibilities (pdf)
Developed by Patrick Sewell

Five Mile Creek Canoe Launches (pdf)
Developed by Patrick Sewell

Contact Five Mile Canoe Company owners for more information
Charles Nix
Mike Grissom
www.canoe5mile.com
205-674-5550

Canoe Livery 
Mike Grissom has strong ties to Five Mile Creek.  His wife’s family, from the Cardiff area, is related to Frenchie Negron, one of the leaders in Cardiff in the early 1900’s.  Frenchie helped many families survive the depression with his economic support.

Mike teaches AgriScience at Oak Grove High School.  He met Roger McCondiche in June 2006 and together they sited and cleared the path for the Greenway through Brookside.  The more time Mike spent on the creek the more he started dreaming of owning a canoe company.  By August he began purchasing canoes and kayaks, started a web site and acquired a van for the Five Mile Creek Canoe Company.  The canoe floats in October have been completely booked. 

Mike plans to build a canoe livery on the creek in Brookside and run canoe floats whenever weather and water level permits.  His partnership Charles Nix also looks forward to their new endeavor.

In Mike’s words:
“The idea of Five Mile Creek Canoe & Company was born out of a love for the outdoors and the desire to preserve nature. The Five Mile Creek Greenway was brought to my attention by my wife, Tynette. She asked if I had ever heard of the greenway  From that point on, I began to meet many people who were involved in the Five Mile Creek Greenway project. I discovered that my wife’s family owned a large portion of land along the Greenway in Cardiff, Alabama which was once a thriving mining town. My wife’s great-grandfather, Louis “Frenchie” Negron was the mayor of Cardiff during the early 1900’s and her family connection to this land led me deeper into the Greenway project. My life took on a new meaning the day I met Roger McCondichie, the Mayor of Brookside, Alabama which adjoins Cardiff. Roger had the same vision for Brookside as I had for Cardiff. We began to work on trail development, canoe launches and possible business development.   When I began canoeing the creek with my sons and friends, I discovered that a little bit of heaven was, and had always been, at my backdoor. I decided that I wanted to make a difference in these small towns and I wanted to share it with the rest of the world. Five Mile Creek Canoe & Company was created, partly, as a tribute to the hundreds of settlers who sailed across the ocean in search of the American dream and partly out of my love for preserving history and the environment.”