The Caney Creek Community Center was founded in this shack on October 10, 1916, by Mrs. Alice S. G. Lloyd as a symbol of faith, American democracy, and public service. As her money ran out, she counted on friends back in New England, assembled a list of fifty who might respond to her enthusiasm and spread it further, and put her new Oliver typewriter to work for the cause morning, afternoon, and evening. She then turned to plans for a building adequate to house various enterprises, a Community Hall, and it soon became clear that much more land was needed. A sympathetic woman sent a check for $1,000, which Mrs. Lloyd called a princely gift, making it possible to buy the entire 153-acre farm of Abisha. The check for the land, called a piece of writing, was handed to the Summonser, who turned it over in his gnarled illiterate fingers and then fell to his knees in prayer, asking the God of his people whether he must give over the land of his fathers and his mountains for this piece of writing.