Look Back ... to the sale of a venerable Anniston house, 1999

July 14, 1949, in The Star: Several reports of black panthers roaming in Talladega National Forest have been received in Talladega recently. Three young people who live in the Oak Grove community reported a “huge black animal” sitting on the walk in front of a home July 2. The animal was sighted around dusk, they said, and was screaming and snarling. It left soon afterward. A few days earlier, a motorist said his car was attacked by a black panther, which scratched paint down to the bare metal. Senior game warden J. H. Morris said he’d been told that a circus caravan had been wrecked in the area in the early 1930s and that several black panthers and mountain lions escaped.

July 14, 1999, in The Star: The historical home of Anniston’s first baker has a new owner now that City Council members have agreed to allow its sale. The Nonnenmacher House, located in the 1300 block of Gurnee Avenue, has held the city’s planning department offices ever since the city bought it in 1983 and subsequently renovated it. Its new owner is the law firm of Rice & Adams, which offered $91,800 for the 96-year-old structure — judged to be a fair price, given that the roof needs about $10,000 worth of work.