On This Day In Alabama History: First Phil Campbell Convention Held In Phil Campbell

By Graydon Rust
Alabama 200

June 24, 1995

Brooklyn-based writer Phil Campbell organized a Phil Campbell Convention in Phil Campbell attended by 22 Phil Campbells and one Phyllis Campbell. Located in Franklin County, the town of Phil Campbell received its name from founder Mel Allen, who promised to name the town after a railroad construction superintendent if he constructed a train depot and side track in the area. After a 2011 tornado killed 28 residents and destroyed much of the town, Brooklyn Phil Campbell reorganized the convention as a relief effort documented by the 2015 documentary “I’m With Phil.” The town’s City Hall, rebuilt with help from the relief effort, maintains a file of all the Phil Campbells who visit the town.

‘I’m With Phil’: Movie tells Alabama town’s extraordinary story from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.

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