Browse Items (963 total)

After Union General Williams T. Sherman captured Atlanta in September of 1864, Confederate General John Bell Hood devised a plan to aide General Lee in Virginia by going through Ohio. The plan necessitated a crossing of the Tennessee River. Hood’s…

The first skirmish at four mile branch in Lauderdale County during 1864. January 25, Confederate Colonel William A. Johnson’s 4th Alabama Cavalry was dispatched to forage in Lauderdale County by General Philip Roddey from his headquarters at…

Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest hid his men on Seven Mile Island in Florence October 5-6, 1864. General Forrest’s cavalry crossed into Lauderdale County at Colbert Shoal and rode down the Huntsville Road toward Athens. After raiding…

The battle at the Peters’ Plantation took place just before daylight on April 12, 1864. The 9th Ohio Cavalry known to the local in North Alabama as “The White Horse Company” had been foraging the local area from their base camp at the…

The oldest river bridge in Alabama connected Florence to Sheffield for more than one hundred and fifty years. The Florence Bridge Company was authorized by the Alabama legislature in 1832. It was founded for the purpose of realizing a dream for the…

Gunwaleford Road earned its name because of a Confederate gunboat becoming lodged in between sand bars on Cypress Creek. After the fall of Fort Henry at the mouth of the Tennessee River, Union gunboats under the command of Commander Andrew H. Foote…

A Union force of 1380 men under the command of Colonel Florence M. Cornyn left Corinth, Mississippi on May 26, 1863. Colonel Cornyn’s mission was to destroy the industrial capacity of Lauderdale County. The county was a leading producer of cotton…

Colonel Pickett Place, Home of Richard Oric Pickett a Colonel of the 10th Alabama Infantry under the “Defender of North Alabama” Confederate General Philip Roddey. The house is a “double-pile cottage” and rare example of Tidewater…

The Old Confederate fort in Florence was constructed by Confederate forces under General Daniel Ruggles in 1862. General Ruggles was born in Massachusetts and graduated from West Point married into a wealthy Virginia family. After the fall of Fort…

The city of Waterloo was shelled by Union gunboats in July 1862. Near the end of July 1862, older men from the town of Waterloo fired on the USS Cottage a transport vessel. The escorting gunboats returned fire, shelling the town. Union soldiers…

Alvin Rosenbaum, who was born on January 14, 1945, has worked as a research scholar, conducted tourism and opportunity studies and workshops, and is the author of several books, including: A White House Christmas, The Complete Home Office:Planning…

Jonathan Rosenbaum, who was the head film critic of the Chicago Reader from 1987 to 2008, has had a lifelong interest in movies and the arts. Born in Florence, Alabama on February 27, 1943, his grandfather and father ran a small chain of movie…

Hank Klibanoff, the former managing editor of the Atlanta-Constitution and the James M. Cox Jr. Professor of Journalism, was born in Florence, Alabama. Klibanoff, who co-wrote The Race Beat: The Press, the Civil Rights Struggle, and the Awakening of…

John D. Chisholm (1737 -1742?, d. 1818), who was Chief Doublehead's legal counsel and liaison, arrived in North America around 1777. He was involved in multiple land scams before and after his partnership with Chief Doublehead. After Doublehead's…

Alexander Falk was born in Prussia on October 14, 1811. He moved to England at the age of fourteen, where he learned the jewelry business. After a brief trip to his homeland in 1841, he left for America. He arrived in New Orleans and lived in…

Jean Schulman, artist and art teacher, has been working in clay and batik since the 1970s. Originally from Russellville, Alabama, she lives in Florence, and retired from teaching at Muscle Shoals. Her most recent exhibit was with Robin Wade.

The Bootery, which was located on 111 North Court Street, was a locally owned business and landmark for eight decades in Florence. (The last incarnation of the store was Kaye's Shoes in Regency Square Mall.) Owned by Morris Klibanoff and Melburn…

The Tri-Cities Professional Directory of 1900 listed the following Jewish businesses in Florence, Alabama:

M. Coplan, Grocer
F. Cohn, Clothing
H. Kreisman, Grocer
A. Kreisman, Gents' Furnishings
Frank Perry, Grocer
Charles Perry, Gents'…

A significant Jewish community has existed in the Shoals area since the 1840s. One of the earliest references to the Jewish community in Florence, Alabama was in September 1882 (Rosh Hashanah) in the Florence Gazette reminding readers that “our…

Louis Rosenbaum, who moved to Florence from Douglas, Wyoming (in 1918) during the building of Wilson Dam and the TVA government plants, opened the Princess Theatre on September 1, 1919. He lived and worked in Florence for over forty three years. At…

Douglas and Virginia Lambert, owners of Lambert Transfer (which was founded in 1953), chose Wilson Dam as the backdrop for their advertising

Several caves, located 1.5 miles apart, via Gunwaleford Road were included in archaeological digs in the late 1980s. It was believed that the artifacts of indigenous people had been stored in the area. At one time William Key owned the property,…

During the 1960s many of the individually owned businesses in downtown Florence were owned by Jewish merchants. Most were incorporated with family members as officers of the corporations. The opening of Regency Square Mall (in 1978) was a reason for…

Jackson’s Military Road was constructed from 1816 to 1820 under the direction of Andrew Jackson. The original purpose of the road was to serve as a conduit for military supplies in the southeast. The mail route from New Orleans to Nashville was…

The Florence Shoe Company, located at 122 North Court Street in Florence, was owned by Milburn Zeff (November 10, 1913 to April 2, 1989) and Morris Klibanoff (January 29, 1917 - December 13, 1996).
Milburn was married to Bertha…

Sweetwater Creek, located between Huntsville Road and Florence Boulevard, was given its name by the indigenous people for the pure, clear water of the creek.

The Sweetwater Mansion takes its name from the creek as did Sweetwater Mills.

The…

Anna Block Rosenbaum, a native of Lithuania, was born on April 8, 1889, and was brought to the United States at the age of six months.

She married Louis Rosenbaum in 1910 and they had one son, Stanley. After living in Denver, Colorado, Casper,…

The Doublehead Company was a development agency that leased thousands of acres of land in the area between Elk River and Cypress Creek to more than fifty white settlers.
The Company was founded by Chief Doublehead, his fellow Cherokee named…

Franklin Yarborough, Jr. Store was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 29, 1989.

Annual festival celebrating local food, music, and crafts.

http://www.leecountyhistoricalsociety.org/fair/index.html

Annual festival organized by Lee County Historical Society celebrating old-time music, storytelling, dance, food, and crafts.

http://www.leecountyhistoricalsociety.org/leecountygathering/main.html

The Lowther House Complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 16, 1993. The Lowther House Complex is located in Smiths Station, Lee County.

The Jenkins Farm House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 15, 2008. The house is located in Dupree, Lee County, Alabama.

The site of Willingham Hall, which is located on the University of North Alabama’s campus in Florence, Alabama, and Willingham Hall (One Harrison Plaza) itself have many stories to tell. Willingham Hall is located on the site of what was once…

Trowbridge’s Ice Cream and Sandwich Shop (nee Bar), located at 316 North Court Street, is a truly a Florence, Alabama landmark. Opened in 1918, Trowbridge’s is the oldest business still operating in its original location in Florence. Still owned…

The John McKinley Federal Building, which was built on the former site of the Florence Synodical Female College (which closed in 1893), occupies a city block. The main entrance to
the building is on 210 North Seminary Street, a second, smaller,…

Kreisman's Women's Apparel, which was located at 103 N. Court Street, promoted itself as having "Nationally advertised Women's Clothing and Accessories."

Kreisman's Menswear, located at 101 North Court Street, was owned by Mrs. H.K. Levin and…

During the forced removal of the indigenous people from the eastern United States to Oklahoma, Waterloo was a stop for the Cherokees who came by boat, from Tuscumbia, after having walked from the homelands in the Appalachians in the winter of…

Stanley Rosenbaum was born on October 1, 1910 in Denver, Colorado. His parents, Louis and Anna, moved to Florence, Alabama while Wilson Dam was under construction to open the Princess Movie Theatre.

He enrolled in Harvard at the age of…

601 Riverview, Florence, Alabama

The Rosenbaum House is the only Frank Lloyd Wright designed house in Alabama.

Louis and Anna Rosenbaum's wedding gift to their son, Stanley, and his wife, Mildred (known as "Mimi") was a two acre lot with a…

Mildred (“Mimi”) Bookholz Rosenbaum was born in New York City on June 30, 1917, the daughter of Isador and Gussie Bookholz. She attended the New York public schools, Hunter College, and Columbia Teachers College where she pursued degrees in…

Louis Rosenbaum was born in Lublin, Poland on May 12, 1887. He, and his brother had "to flee" eastern Poland in 1893. He married Anna Block in 1910, and their only child, Stanley, was born later that year. The family lived in Caspar, Wyoming, Little…

The Indian Mound is the largest platform mound in the Tennessee Valley. The size and the shape of the earthwork are designated as Mississippian. However, artifacts and radio carbon evidence suggest that the mound is from the Middle Woodland period,…

Louis and Stanley Rosenbaum were instrumental in building and integrating the Florence-Lauderdale Public Library. In August of 1945, Louis Rosenbaum gave $25,000 toward the building of a new library. They also pledged, at the onset of the public…

The First United Methodist Church, located at 415 N. Seminary Street in Florence, Alabama, almost fell victim to the Great Depression. A devastating fire in 1920 caused the congregation to have to design, reconstruct, and refinance the church. The…

1774 – 1807

Doublehead, who was also known as “Talo Tiske” (meaning two heads) and sometimes “Autowee,” was a member of a prominent Cherokee family. “Tassel” or “Old Tassel” was a beloved statesman and principal chief of the…

Founded by Luke Abroms (December 1, 1897 - April 26, 1981), Abroms, located at 118 North Court, specialized in women's clothing. Luke and his wife Reba (February 28, 1901 - August 31, 1984) were members of Temple B'Nai Israel. Their son, Adolph, and…

Looking west towards the old Union Station train shed in Montgomery, Alabama

This photograph depicts Browns, Alabama's train station. Browns, Alabama is an unincorporated town in Dallas County, Alabama.