HUNTSVILLE, Alabama – It was a
busy Saturday 35 years ago when longtime entrepreneur Jerriel Stephens defied
his wife's wishes by leaving to check out a land auction where a 3.59-acre
north Huntsville property was up for sale.

Curious about how much the
property would go for, Stephens watched with interest as the bidding was very
low. Stephens, who at the time owned Circle J Western World where the Parkway
and Interstate 565 cross today, couldn't resist the urge to chime in with an
offer.

Stephens won, and his wife was
ready to divorce him when he showed back up at work to let her know his good news.

"I have a lot of memories here,"
Stephens reflected. "We did a lot of things here and we changed it several
times. ... This is a perfect location for what they're doing to do. The
neighborhood, the location I don't think could've been any better."

Workers began site preparation
on the property this morning and will tear down the Wholesale Jewelry
building over the next several days. The TitleMax store across from Royal
Funeral Home will also be demolished this summer to make way for the new
Wal-Mart grocery store.

In the early 70s, the late Bert Danner owned the property where TitleMax
operates today. Danner built and operated Southern Oaks Realty on that corner
land before selling it in the mid-70s.

Soon after Stephens bought the property in 1979, he opened a Western-style
nightclub there called Dallas. Dallas was the first public venue in Huntsville
to carry satellite TV.

The club also offered $2 mechanical bull rides. Russell, a well-known city
land historian, was 21 at the time and remembers the nightclub well.

"We came down here in our khaki pants, white button-down polo and cowboy boots,"
he said, laughing. "I got on that bull and about three seconds later, it threw
me, fractured my hand and busted my butt. I limped out of there, but I was
laughing."

Over the years, Stephens experimented with different restaurants and
nightclubs on the property, including JB's
Downstairs and Outback, a volleyball bar with putt-putt golf, bumper boats,
horseshoes and an upstairs game room. The Butcher Block, which gave customers
the option to cook their own steaks on a charcoal grill, also operated there.