Broadhead Memorial Park is a small historic heritage park located in the rural community of Needham in central Choctaw County. It is constructed around one of the community’s most important early-20th-century landmarks – Wilson’s Grist Mill, which once served as the economic and social heart of the town.
This historic park includes the restored gristmill, along with a hard-surfaced and wheelchair-accessible nature trail that winds through a mixed hardwood forest along the small creek that once powered the gristmill. Along this nature trail, there are picnic areas and a small rustic pavilion. The park also has a reconstructed nineteenth-century dogtrot log cabin, built from historic local homes, that is complete with period-appropriate furnishings to provide an immersive look at early rural life. The gristmill and log cabin have interpretive displays that tell their stories.
While many historical parks evolve over time, this memorial park was a deliberate preservation project established in the early 21st century. The park was built in 2005 by Paul Elzie Broadhead, Sr. (1936–2007). Broadhead, a native of Needham who became a successful businessman in the shopping mall industry, created the park as a gift to the citizens of Needham and Choctaw County. He dedicated the site to the memory of his parents, Sam and Virdie Broadhead.
This park is in downtown Needham along the banks of the small creek that once powered the old Wilson’s grist mill (Google Maps: 31.986868, -88.333411).
Source: 1) Alabama Black Belt Nature and Heritage Trail, a publication of the Alabama Bureau of Tourism & Travel: 2) wtok.com/news/headlines/8952197.html?storySection_ Paul Broadhead, 70