Bluff Park author Heather Skaggs to publish fourth book on 'Hidden History of Hoover'

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Bluff Park author Heather Jones Skaggs has started work on a fourth book concerning the history of Hoover.

This book, to be called “Hidden History of Hoover,” is being marketed as a collection of historical, personal untold stories from communities along Shades Mountain, including Bluff Park, Shades Cliff, The Preserve, Trace Crossings, Ross Bridge and Brock’s Gap.

Skaggs said it will be different from her previous books, which were pictorial books sharing the history of Bluff Park, early Hoover and Riverchase.

This book, which will be part of The History Press’ “Hidden History” series, will not have as many pictures but will go deeper into stories from the communities, Skaggs said. Books in the Hidden History series also dive more into personal stories of individuals, she said.

“That was very interesting to me because there are so many personal stories in the Shades Mountain and Shades Creek area,” she said.

There are a lot of things she didn’t get to include in her previous books, perhaps because she didn’t have pictures to go with the stories or just didn’t yet have enough information, she said. She also has heard new stories since the other books were published, she said.

In particular, she’s looking forward to including information about some of the former businesses in these areas that are no longer in existence, she said.

Skaggs plans to have at least three meetings for people to share personal stories and memories from these areas with her, or at least to get contact information from people so she can hear more details from them at a later time, she said.

Some potential topics that interest her are:

  • The history of the Shades Cliff community and Shades Cliff Civic Club
  • The history of Hoover Sports Park West (also known as Shades Mountain Park)
  • The Bluff Park fire tower and rangers who worked there
  • The fire that destroyed part of a shopping center on Shades Crest Road at the Lover’s Leap landmark
  • The history of Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts on Shades Mountain
  • Bluff Park Hotel
  • Pinnacle House
  • Liberty Hall
  • Development and preservation of The Preserve and Shades Mountain
  • Historical and noteworthy homes and their owners
  • The history of Ross Bridge and Brock’s Gap

The first meeting for people to share stories is scheduled for Sunday, May 6, at 2 p.m. at the On a Shoestring gift shop at 601 Shades Crest Road. Two more meetings will be held later in the year, Skaggs said.

The Hidden History books are about 35,000 to 45,000 words and typically are illustrated with as many as 60 photos, both vintage and modern. She expects the book will take about a year to create and will be published in early 2019, she said.

Skaggs’ first book, “Images of America: Bluff Park,” was published in February 2013. The second one, “Images of America: Hoover,” was released in October 2014, and the third one, “Images of America: Riverchase,” came out in November 2016. All of those books were put out by Arcadia Publishing, now a sister entity to The History Press.