The following article is reprinted courtesy of the Huntsville Times, 1964:

Story of Active Mayor
by: Guy Hollis
Times News Service

Woodville -- Woodville, the oldest town in Jackson County, hasn't grown much in population down through the years, but it has achieved a stature and solidity of purpose which may well set it apart from other communities of similar size.

Men such as Bentley Hill, mayor of the town, are members of a younger generation following a pattern set by predecessors who have always worked for the progressive welfare of the community.

Hill, 41, can't quite lay claim to being a native of Woodville. He moved here at the age of two months from Scottsboro, where he was born.

He became a member of the board of trustees of Woodville High School 12 years ago, a position he retains today, and it was during this period that he began to demonstrate his determination to assist in the building of an even stronger town.

School improvement was a natural goal in the community's betterment program and a substantial step in this direction was accomplished ten years ago when local people supplied the labor to construct a vocational agriculture department with materials furnished by the Jackson Board of Education.

Six years ago the community made up $2,000 and donated it toward the erection of a two-room addition to the school. A lunchroom and home economics department was constructed last year and Gov. George Wallace has promised an additional teacher for the home ec department. This, in effect, will permit the hiring of another faculty member, inasmuch as the home economics teacher will not be counted against the regular faculty allotment.

Hill served four years on the city council before becoming mayor, and is entering his fourth year as the town's top official. About the time he became councilman in 1958, a $10,000 fire truck was purchased and local folks supplied the money and labor for the construction of a fire hall, including a 4,000 gallon water tank for emergency use. The mayor continues as a member of the volunteer fire department.

Currently, Woodville is building as many as 15 houses each year and 90 percent of its residents are homeowners, many of them employed in Huntsville and Scottsboro.

The mayor is employed as accountant and office manager of a wholesale grocery firm in Scottsboro, a position he has held for 14 years. He was a farmer and substitute mail carrier prior to this. Mrs Hill is the former Miss Cecile Lemons, originally a native of New Hope. The couple has two children, Sandra, 20, the town clerk, and James (Bo), 12.

"We want to keep the town progressive, assure that it will continue building and above all, make it continually a better place in which to live," says the youthful leader.

"A $95,000 water system will be completed in early summer and we will have the ammunition to attract our first industry. - we annexed 240 acres into the city limits as a part of the water project and as a consequence, the families in this section will have lower fire insurance rates."

Hill has able assistance in his ambitious program - 303 community - minded citizens represented by five members of the City Council, Olan Kennamer, David Kennamer, Clyde Thomas, Burlyn Page, and Robert McCormick.