Browse Items (963 total)

  • Collection: Alabama Places and Spaces

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Rick Bragg, who was born on July 26, 1959, in Piedmont, Calhoun County to Charles and Margaret Bundrum Bragg, is a noted journalist, teacher, and writer who won the Pulitzer Prize for his work with the New York Times. His most lasting contribution to…

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Harvey Robbins who founded National Floor Products in Florence with his father, Stanley Robbins, in 1957, is credited with restoring downtown Tuscumbia, Alabama.

Born in Dayton, Ohio, he and his family moved to the Shoals while he was still…

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Tom Arlin Dean, an engineer who admired the Rosenbaum House in Florence very much, followed many of Frank Lloyd Wright's ideals in creating the house located at 509 Clinton Street in Athens, Alabama.

The house, which is a neighbor to two of the…

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Montgomery Avenue, in Sheffield, Alabama, has maintained several spots along the street for the citizens of the area to enjoy the natural beauty of North Alabama. A water tower marks the end of the street and a small park with an overlook allows…

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Henry Ford, in 1921, wanted to buy the unfinished Wilson Dam and two nitrate plants in Muscle Shoals. The United States government was willing to sell both to a private company with the intention of producing nitrate fertilizer.
Ford's dream was to…

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Friendship Community Church, an Evangelical Church, is located at 800 North Atlanta Avenue in Sheffield, Alabama.

Friendship Community Church is housed in what was once the first Jewish Temple in the Shoals area.

Sheffield was the home of what…

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The Athens-Limestone Public Library solved two problems very creatively with their 2014 move to the old Kroger building at 603 South Jefferson Street. The old library (located near Julia Newman School) was approximately 10,000 square feet and the new…

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Village One, located in Sheffield, Alabama, is a subdivision of stucco homes built around 1918. The village was designed in the shape of a handbell. At completion, the village had 112 houses, two schools, and one large apartment building. (Maud…

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The residents of Montgomery Avenue and the citizens of Sheffield, Alabama have preserved several spaces for public use on the historic street. The Veteran's Park, which is maintained by the Veterans of Foreign Wars, is the home to several monuments…

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The Helen Keller Birthplace, known as Ivy Green is the original home and grounds of Helen Keller's family. The home was built in 1820. It is a modest, white clapboard, Southern style home of Virginia cottage construction. There are four large rooms…

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Trenholm High School, which is located on Trenholm Memorial Drive, was the last African-American High School in Tuscumbia, Alabama before desegregation.

The school, which opened in 1870 and closed in 1969, was subsequently torn down.

A movement…

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St. John's Episcopal Church, in Decatur, was built in 1890. The original structure was constructed for approximately $2,000.

Through the years the building and the congregation have grown. Descendants of the first parishioners still worship at St.…

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Alfred Hugler Moses, who was appointed the first mayor of Sheffield, Alabama by the governor of the state, moved to Sheffield in order to build the Sheffield Land, Iron, and Coal Company.

Moses, who had been a captain during the Civil War and a…

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The Ritz Theatre, which was built as a playhouse opened on July 9. 1928, with the production of "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes."

Louis Rosenbaum, a prominent Jewish business owner who lived in Florence and who owned a chain of movie theaters in North…

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Limestone County, Alabama; Tanner, Alabama; Harris-Pryor House; Antebellum Trail;

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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…

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Athens First Presbyterian Church was organized in 1829. After meeting an interdenominational building, the church was built on Washington Street.

The building was badly damaged during the Civil War and the Presbyterians met at the First Baptist…

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To reach the Mt. Pleasant Missionary Baptist Church Cemetery from AL-157 in Muscle Shoals, head east on 2nd Street/AL-184 and after 6 miles, turn right onto County Line Road. The church and cemetery are on the left.

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Natalie Chanin, a native of Florence, Alabama, is the founder and creative director of Alabama Chanin.

Her work has been featured in Vogue, Time, The New York Times, Town & Country, Bon Appetit, and Gun and Garden. She has been interviewed by…

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The old Lexington Post Office (circa 1940) had fallen into dis-repair and disuse after the new post office was built. Several businesses attempted to make the space usable without major updates.

When Dr. Paul Corfman, who grew up in North Alabama,…

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Samuel Mockbee - who was born on December 23, 1944 in Meridian, Mississippi and who died on December 30, 2001 - was an architect and the co-founder of Auburn University Rural Studio.

A 1974 graduate of the School of Architecture at Auburn, Mockbee…

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Andrew Freear, the Wiatt Professor of Architecture at Auburn University, became the Director of the Rural Arts Studio in Newbern, West Alabama in 2002.

Freear, who is from Yorkshire, England, was educated at the Polytechnic of Central London and…

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The Coldwater Stagecoach Stop is located 302 South Dickson St. in Tuscumbia. It was built as early as 1815 as a small log cabin. It served as a stagecoach stop on the Jackson Military Road and is believed to be one of several cabins operated as a…

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The Alabama Music Hall of Fame, located off Hwy 72 in Colbert County, on the outskirts of Tuscumbia is the hall of fame that honors Alabamians who have made major contributions to American music. Over the years, it has provided an educational…

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The Sheffield Public Library is one of five public libraries in Colbert County. It is located at 316 N. Montgomery Ave. From Hwy 72 in Muscle Shoals, take E 2nd St. until N Montgomery Ave, then go north. The library is on the corner of N Montgomery…

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The Muscle Shoals Public Library is located at 1918 East Avalon Avenue in Muscle Shoals, Colbert County, next to Muscle Shoals High School. It contains approximately 52,000 volumes and offers DVD's, audiobooks, computers, and free wifi to the public.…

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The Leighton Public Library is located at 8740 Main Street in Leighton, Colbert County, just off Old Hwy 20. If heading east from Muscle Shoals on Hwy 72, turn left on County Line Road which turns into Leighton's Main Street. Besides 6,300 books, the…

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The Tuscumbia Railroad Historic Depot, located at 204 W. 5th St. in downtown Tuscumbia is a fully restored museum based on how it was when it was built in 1888. The museum displays train memorabilia, interactive train simulators, telegraph…

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Paul Elisha Kelly (born on November 10th, 1924; died on May 25th, 1997) was a broadcast engineer, who built and maintained many of the studios and radio stations (notably WLAY and WQLT, which was owned by Sam Phillips) responsible for the Muscle…

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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.…

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Heritage Christian University, located at 3625 Helton Drive, in Florence, Alabama, is a private Bible college affiliated with the Church of Christ.

Founded in 1971 as International Bible College. the school is co-educational, has approximately…

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Mars Hill Bible School is a private preparatory day school for boys and girls in Florence, Alabama. The school begins at pre-kindergarten goes through the twelfth grade.

Mars Hill Academy was opened by Thomas Brown Larimore in 1871. The academy,…

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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…

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WLAY-AM (1450 -AM) was one of the first broadcast radio stations in the Shoals. Licensed in 1933 (as WNRA), the station stopped broadcasting in 2014.

The station's original broadcast was a variety format featuring gospel, country, and "race music"…

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“Pathways: Walk through the History of Muscle Shoals” is a corridor of historic displays in the Muscle Shoals City Hall. It covers the history of the city of Muscle Shoals, the Wilson Dam and Lock, and Muscle Shoals Music with exhibits of…

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The Cherokee Public Library is located on Church Street in downtown Cherokee, Colbert County. If heading west from Tuscumbia on Hwy 72, turn right on Main Street, cross the Old Lee Highway and the railroad, turn right on First Street, then take the…

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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…

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This structure was completed in 1839 on the northeast corner of 5th and Main Streets. John L. McRae was in involved in its construction. It was a three story brick building and competed with the Franklin House with its livery stable located just…

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This building was built in 1833. It was originally known as "The Railroad Hotel." and later as "The Major Pope Railroad Hotel." The word railroad was added because the hotel became a popular resting place for rail travelers even before the Civil War.…

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In 1835, William Young and his brother Isaac Smoot, a contractor, bought a lot on what is today the corner of Fourth and Main Streets in Tuscumbia for the purpose of opening a carriage factory. They constructed a large red brick building with a porch…

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The building originally known as G & J Sutherland's Store is the only remaining building of Mechanic's Row in Tuscumbia and is the oldest known commercial building in the State of Alabama. Thomas Keenan, David Deshler, J.M. Moore, Dr. Wharton, James…

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LaGrange Cemetery in Colbert County is located on the site of Alabama's first college, which was established by charter in 1830, and served as a military academy in the years leading up to the Civil War. In 1854, most of the LaGrange College faculty…

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The Jackson Cemetery was established in 1918 by Alex Jackson as a burial place for his adoptive family. Vinson Perkins, the grandson of Jackson's adoptive parents, was caretaker of the cemetery from 1978 until his death in 2006.

To reach the…

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In 1939 students working for the National Youth Administration, a New Deal program started by FDR to help keep high school and college students by giving them paid work, constructed the Stone Lodge. The Stone Lodge sits in the middle of UNA's campus…

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Description: Leo was born April 14, 1974 in Knoxville, Tennessee. He came to UNA on July 22, 1973. Dr. Robert M. Guillot established a new tradition by making UNA the only school in the country to have a live lion mascot living on campus. In addition…

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The Thimbelton home is located on 221 West Tuscaloosa Street in Florence, Alabama. Originally built as a two-story frame home in 1830, Thimbleton was modified to a Second Empire style home in the late 1800s. The home now has a false mansard roof…

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Locust Hill, a historic home located in Tuscumbia, Alabama on the corner of Seventh and Cave streets, was built in 1823 by Col. William Winters. The large 14 room mansion stretches across nearly three-fourths of a city block and features striking…

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Colbert County was established in 1867, fourteen years before the courthouse was built. Commissioners met at a local hotel called The Horn House while the probate judge’s office was located on the second floor of a brick building on Main Street in…

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On October 7, 2002, University of North Alabama had the ribbon cutting and dedication ceremony for the brand new lion habitat. The habitat was named after a long time contributor to the university, George H. Carroll. After the death of the previous…

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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…
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