Browse Items (963 total)

A place of business in the Sweetwater area that still exists and serves the community today is Staggs Groceries. Originally, Staggs Grocery was founded as Taylor Wylie’s Meat Market at the turn of the twentieth century. Taylor Wylie moved to…

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…

The State Normal School began in 1872 after Florence Wesleyan University closed and the building was deeded to the State. This university was the first normal school south of the Ohio River. The college consisted of a two year program to train…

Southland, located at 1309 S. Jackson Highway in Sheffield was founded in 1950 primarily as a BBQ place and evolved over the years to offer a more diversified menu. In 2012, the building that housed Southland was bought by Steve Gaskins who now owns…

Sterling High School was another prominent school for African Americans in Colbert County. The origin of the school is in a Baptist Church on East 20th St. Originally, the school only served five students and a man named Henry Hopkins was hired as…

Stevenson's importance as the junction of the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad and the Memphis and Charleston Railroad predates the Civil War. The town and its railroad junction were of strategic importance during the war for both sides. …

The original congregation of the group of Baptist was organized in Mobile in 1835 settling in a plain brick church building. This group disbanded in 1840 before immediately reorganizing under the name St. Anthony Baptist Church. This group moved to a…

Located in Smiths Station at County Road 179 and Lee Road 246.

Coordinates: 32.5504161, -85.1643831

Swan Creek Waterfowl Management Area is an 8,870 acre management area located in Tanner, AL. The area is open to the public for waterfowl and small game hunting. Swan Creek Waterfowl Management Area is located on 18936 Harris Station Road.…

This historic marker is located at the intersection of Florence Boulevard (U.S. 43) and Sweetwater Avenue, Florence, AL.

The text on the marker reads: "Home of Major John Brahan, veteran of War of 1812, Major General, Alabama Militia, who owned…

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…

Sweetwater Mill has a relationship to the Sweetwater area because it is an old part of the Cherry Cotton Mill plant. The J.T. Flagg Knitting Company purchased the mill after the conclusion of World War II because the company was looking to expand…

The 1976 National Register nomination of the Robert M. Patton house states that the property is significant in terms of architecture as a classic example of a North Alabama Georgian plantation house, and for political history as the home of the first…

T.S. Stribling graduated from State Normal College in 1903. He was a Pulitzer Prize winning author. Due to his significance to UNA and the literary world he earned UNA the first Literary Landmark in the state in 2006.

Methodist settlers first entered the northwest region of Alabama during the early 1800s during the Second Great Awakening. The lot of land that Tabernacle Methodist Church sits on was used for religious camp meetings during the Second Great…

Tammy Wynette (May 5, 1942-April 6, 1998)

Virginia Wynette Pugh was born May 5, 1942 in Tremont, Mississippi, but she spent much or her childhood just across the state line in Red Bay, Alabama. After her father died when she was nine months old,…

The highest point in Oakwood Cemetery in Sheffield was given to the members of the Jewish Synagogue in appreciation for their contributions to the communities of Sheffield and Florence, Alabama.

Families who are interred there include: the…

Coleman, Erwin M., A History of Temple B'nai Israel, Florence, Alabama: Centennial Celebration, 1906 - 2006. Privately Printed.

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…

The Tennessee Valley Fertilizer Company is another company that the Ashcraft family of Florence either owned or had a stake in. In 1897, a year before he founded the Florence Cotton Oil Company, Lee Ashcraft founded and incorporated the Tennessee…

The Tennessee Valley Historical Society (TVHS) was established in 1923. Since that time, TVHS has served to educate the public and promote the region’s local history. The Journal of Muscle Shoals History is published by TVHS, and includes…

The Tennessee Valley Art Association was incorporated in 1964 in order to create an art museum and develop public programming related to the arts. The Tennessee Valley Art Center was constructed in 1972 on property provided by the city of Tuscumbia.…

The Tennessee Valley Old Time Fiddlers Convention occurs in Athens during the first week of October. This festival is known as the "Granddaddy of Midsouth Fiddlers Conventions" for its role in reviving the tradition of competition in old time music.…

Once the TVA was formed during the New Deal, men were needed to work on building Wilson Dam and to work in the Nitrate Factory No. 2. Many of these men were a part of the Civilian Conservation Corps, or CCC. Many of the original workers were being…

This historic marker is located at the intersection of S. Court Street and Dr Hicks Blvd., Florence, Alabama.

The text on side one of the marker reads: "The American Legion, an organization of U.S. War Veterans was founded in Paris, France, March…

In 1852, the Baptist Female Institution of Moulton was incorporated under the patronage of the Muscle Shoals Baptist Association. At the time the school received its charter, the school building could accommodate 150 female students.

Tuition per…

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…

Founded as the Auburn Presbyterian Church in 1851, “the Chapel” was built by local slaves belonging to one of Auburn’s first residents, Edwin Reese. Like Langdon Hall and Old Main Hall, it served as a makeshift hospital from July 1864 through…

The first African-Americans who lived in the Shoals were slaves of the Chickasaw tribe. When the Chickasaws from Alabama and Mississippi were removed from their homes in the 1830s, the census included 1156 slaves. Tom Melton, an Irishman who lived…

The Christian Science Society of Alabany-Decatur organized the Church of Christ Scientist in 1926 and constructed a church at 6th Avenue and Johnston Street. In July 1936, the original society became an authorized branch church under the name: First…

The Civilian Conservation Corps was a public works relief program set up as a part of the New Deal Program. The last Company of men sent to the Muscle Shoals area in 1936 was the 4499 company. These men originally worked under the United States…

The Communications building has been a part of the University of North Alabama since 1939. It is located on Pine Street. The building, designed by the Birmingham architecture firm Warren Knight and Davis, started off as a gymnasium that included a…

Located at 115 Johnston Street in historic downtown Decatur, the Cotaco Opera House was the first opera house in the state of Alabama. In 1889 there was no facility in the city for a theater or public meeting hall. On September 16, 1889, the Cotaco…

As World War II neared culmination, Congress passed the G.I. Bill of Rights, ensuring a paid college education for American military personnel. America’s universities saw a massive influx of veteran students, and Alabama Polytechnic Institute’s…

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…

This historic marker is located at Hightower Pl., Florence, Alabama.

The text on side one of the marker reads: "Sam Phillips fell in love with the miracle of sound and the unifying power of music. Moving to Memphis, Tennessee, he embraced the…

The first canal built in the Muscle Shoals was built by the state of Alabama, assisted by the United States government, between 1831-1836. To fund the canal the US Congress gave the state 400,000 acres of public land to sell. The proceeds were used…

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…

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…

The Foundry/Florence Stove and Manufacturing Company played an important role in the history of the Sweetwater area of Florence, and as of today, the remnants of their factory still operates under a partnership of former employees as the Martin Stove…

The Franklin House was one of Tuscumbia's early great landmarks.

Colonel Robert Ransom moved to Tuscumbia from Tennessee and began construction of a hotel on the southeast corner of 5th and Water Streets. The Franklin House's grand opening of this…

The Fuller Cemetery can be accessed by car. Travel west from Decatur on Lawrence County Road 460. After crossing the Lawrence County line, the cemetery lies .3 miles on the left.

The Fuller Cemetery is a community cemetery that began as a family…

On March 2, 2012, the University of North Alabama (UNA) in Florence, Alabama, conducted a grand ceremony for the George Lindsey Theatre. The university broke ground for the theatre exactly a year earlier in March of 2011. One individual in the crowd…

George Smith Lindsey attended Florence State Teachers College (now present day University of North Alabama) during the late 1940s. At Florence State Lindsey excelled both on the football field and in the theatre. One of the theatrical plays in which…

The North Alabama Hallelujah Trail features thirty one churches that are at least 100 years old, still stand on their original sites, still hold services, and are accessible to the public.

The churches represent various architectural designs, use…

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,…

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,…

In the early years of the Civil War, the Lathe was constructed in Selma, Alabama to bore out 7-inch Brooke rifles that were the mainstay of Confederate ironclads and coastal fortifications stretched across the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. As Major…

After Solomon Ostromolgilsky decided to leave Russia and live in America, he shortened his name to Sol Mogil. He opened a general merchandise store in 1919 called The Leader. It was located on the east side of the square where Kennemer & McCully…

In 1841 Levi Gallaway established the Moulton Advertiser. Still published today, the Moulton Advertiser is the oldest, continually operated paper in the state of Alabama. Originally, Gallaway printed the paper on a Ramage wooden press. The bed of the…