Loss of namesake bar and grill hits tiny Alabama community
It's unclear what will happen to a tiny west Alabama community now that a storm has wiped out the best-known thing in town: a bar

Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.With fewer than 100 residents and only a handful of buildings, this west Alabama community doesn't have much aside from an old water tower and the namesake Faunsdale Bar and Grill, which lures visitors and locals alike with live music, crawfish boils and good times.
It's unclear what might happen next now that a possible tornado has wiped out the bar.
The Faunsdale Music Festival, a community fundraiser set for Saturday at the venue, had to be postponed because of damage which included a missing roof, bricks flung around like toy balls and overturned tables. Robert McKee, chair of a foundation that promotes the community, told WBRC-TV he was saddened to see the damage but hopeful the town can come back.
“With 98 people it’s definitely a tight-knit community. Everybody knows everybody. We’re all having to step up and clean up and look forward to the next chapter. We just have to find out where that is and how to get there but we’re going that way,” McKee said.
The National Weather Service has yet to determine whether a twister or straight-line winds hit Faunsdale, but forecasters have determined at least 11 tornadoes touched down in the state on Wednesday.
Located in Marengo County about 80 miles (129 kilometers) west of Montgomery, Faunsdale was a thriving town in the heart of the state's cotton belt in the 1800s. It had two cotton gins, a cotton seed mill, five stores, a bank, a drug store and more, according to the Faunsdale Foundation.
All that's left now are homes and a few businesses inside shells of old red-brick buildings. One of them housed the Faunsdale Bar and Grill, a popular stop for University of Alabama football fans headed to Tuscaloosa from south Alabama.
Jennifer Cassity, who worked at the bar for more than two decades before buying it seven years ago, said other spots in town also were damaged, including the post office and a feed store.
“It wasn’t just me, it was all of us," she said in an interview Friday.
But the bar and grill WAS the town to people passing through. Cassity said it's unclear whether it can be repaired or will have to be rebuilt completely.
“It’s like a loss in the family. In the community, every knows it. You say ‘Faunsdale,’ and everyone says, ‘the bar and grill,’” she said.