Natchez Trace
subject: Natchez Trace; Colbert County; Muscle Shoals; Tuscumbia; Sheffield; Parkway
description: The Nathchez Trace was once a path used by Native Americans in the region, including the Choctaw and Chickasaw Indians. It was a popular path for pioneers and settlers to take as well. Once there was better navigation on the river, with the invention of steamboats, use of the Trace decreased. The Trace runs from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee. It is a 444 mile parkway managed by the National Park Service now that crosses Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee. A compact was formed in 1999 to create and maintain the Trace parkway. The primary object of this pact is to bring visitors to the Natchez Trace Parkway and to encourage people to explore the Trace. In the Shoals area the Trace goes through Tuscumbia, Sheffield, Muscle Shoals, and Florence.
creator: Carrie Keener, University of North Alabama
source: 'Explore The Natchez Trace'. Florence. Florence City. UNA Special Archives.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: December 1, 2015
format: image

Nate Walker (J8)

Nathan Gill #26

New Bethel Elementary
subject: New Bethel Elementary; Colbert County School System; Tuscumbia, Alabama; Colbert County, Alabama; Elementary School; School; Education
description: New Bethel Elementary is part of the Colbert County School System. New Bethel was built on its present site in 1915. The original structure was a two room wood constructed building. The original building burned in February, 1924. A new building was constructed but again was destroyed by fire in the 1950's. The current school is located on New Bethel Road, Tuscumbia, Alabama.
creator: Thomas Hale, University of North Alabama
source: “About the School: History of New Bethel”, Accessed on November 27, 2015, nbes.colbert.k12.al.us/?PageName=‘AboutTheSchool’
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: November 30, 2015

New Style in Wrestling Originated Down In Texas
date: 1931

New Wrestling Promoters To Ask For Permit
subject: Professional Wrestling Boxing Commission Jim Crockett Irish Horan Charlotte, North Carolina
description: This article appeared in the Charlotte News (Charlotte, North Carolina) on April 23, 1934. Jim Crockett appears before the Charlotte boxing commission requesting permission to organize professional wrestling matches locally.
creator: Keith S. Hebert
source: The Charlotte News (Charlotte, North Carolina), 29 April 1934
publisher: Newspapers.com
date: 1934
format: JPG
type: Newspaper

Nitrate Plant No. 2
subject: Colbert County, Alabama; Muscle Shoals, Alabama; Tuscumbia, Alabama; Sheffield, Alabama; Nitrate
description: The Tennessee Valley is filled with minerals, including the materials needed to produce nitrates. Nitrates can be used for many things, most importantly for TVA to help add nutrients to fertilizer. This helped to increase crop production. Another use for a nitrate plant can be for producing nitric acid during times of war to create explosives. These two important factors helped lead the US government to initially start building the Wilson Dam in 1918 and susbequently in 1933 give the TVA control of one of the two nitrate plants in the area of the Shoals. During the early twentieth century, only a small amount of nitrate used in the US came from the country. Most was imported from South America. The top priority of the TVA was to improve soil and prevent erosion. By employing nitrogen from the plant, the TVA could improve farmland. Before the introduction of nitrogen back into the land by the TVA, farmers were exhausting the land and creating barren fallow fields of mud that eroded away into the river. With the plant came a village to house the many workers brought into the area by the Civilian Conservation Corps. This was called Village No. 2 and existed for 32 years. The plant was built by the American Cyanmid Company, with the overall goal of producing 40,000 tons of nitrogen. The plant and Wilson Dam, then referred to as Dam No. 2, were commissioned and built by the federal government, with the help of the state of Alabama. The plant was to produce ammonium nitrate by the cynamid process of nitrogen fixation. It cost about $12 million dollars to build.
creator: Carrie Keener, University of North Alabama
source: 'FDR, TVA, And CCC Federal Influence In The Shoals: The Journal Of Muscle Shoals History Volume XIX'. 2015. Florence. William Lindsey McDonald Collection. UNA Special Archives. Gunther, John. 1953. 'The Story Of The TVA'. Book. Florence. William Lindsey McDonald Collection. UNA Special Archives. 'Sheffield History And Recollections: Journal Of Muscle Shoals History Volume XVIII'. 2011. Florence. William Lindsey McDonald Colleciton. UNA Special Archives. Carle, J.F. 'US Nitrate Plant No. 2, Muscle Shoals, Alabama'. Paper. Florence. William Lindsey McDonald Collection. UNA Special Archives. Young, Ronald. 1976. 'History Of US Facilities At Muscle Shoals, Alabama, And Origins Of The TVA'. Paper. Florence. William Lindsey McDonald Collection. UNA Special Archives.
publisher: Alabama Resource Survey
date: December 1, 2015
format: image, postcards

Nitrate Plant No. 2 Fire Department
subject: Colbert County, Alabama; Sheffield, Alabama; Fire Department
description: The Tennessee Valley is filled with minerals, including the materials needed to produce nitrates. Nitrates can be used for many things, most importantly for TVA to help add nutrients to fertilizer. This helped to increase crop production. Another use for a nitrate plant can be for producing nitric acid during times of war to create explosives. These two important factors helped lead the US government to initially start building the Wilson Dam in 1918 and susbequently in 1933 give the TVA control of one of the two nitrate plants in the area of the Shoals. During the early twentieth century, only a small amount of nitrate used in the US came from the country. Most was imported from South America. The top priority of the TVA was to improve soil and prevent erosion. By employing nitrogen from the plant, the TVA could improve farmland. Before the introduction of nitrogen back into the land by the TVA, farmers were exhausting the land and creating barren fallow fields of mud that eroded away into the river. With the plant came a village to house the many workers brought into the area by the Civilian Conservation Corps. This was called Village No. 2 and existed for 32 years. The plant was built by the American Cyanmid Company, with the overall goal of producing 40,000 tons of nitrogen. The plant and Wilson Dam, then referred to as Dam No. 2, were commissioned and built by the federal government, with the help of the state of Alabama. The plant was to produce ammonium nitrate by the cynamid process of nitrogen fixation. It cost about $12 million dollars to build. The village was constructed around the same time as the dam. The village itself housed many of the workers and their families. The village housed a local school for younger ages, a fire department, and even book mobiles to allow greater access to books. The houses came in prefabricated styles, ranging from three to seven rooms. Every house had complete sewer, water, and electrical connections, a rare thing at the t…
creator: Carrie Keener, University of North Alabama
source: 'Sheffield History And Recollections: Journal Of Muscle Shoals History Volume XVIII'. 2011. Florence. William Lindsey McDonald Colleciton. UNA Special Archives. Woodhouse, Henry. 1926. 'Muscle Shoals Industrial Possibilities And Actualities'. Newspaper. Florence. William Lindsey McDonald Collection. UNA Special Archives.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: December 1, 2015
format: image

Nitrate Plant No. 2 Mess Hall
subject: Mess Hall; Colbert County; Muscle Shoals; Nitrate Plant; TVA; Mess hall
description: The Tennessee Valley is filled with minerals, including the materials needed to produce nitrates. Nitrates can be used for many things, most importantly for TVA to help add nutrients to fertilizer. This helped to increase crop production. Another use for a nitrate plant can be for producing nitric acid during times of war to create explosives. These two important factors helped lead the US government to initially start building the Wilson Dam in 1918 and susbequently in 1933 give the TVA control of one of the two nitrate plants in the area of the Shoals. During the early twentieth century, only a small amount of nitrate used in the US came from the country. Most was imported from South America. The top priority of the TVA was to improve soil and prevent erosion. By employing nitrogen from the plant, the TVA could improve farmland. Before the introduction of nitrogen back into the land by the TVA, farmers were exhausting the land and creating barren fallow fields of mud that eroded away into the river. With the plant came a village to house the many workers brought into the area by the Civilian Conservation Corps. This was called Village No. 2 and existed for 32 years. The plant was built by the American Cyanmid Company, with the overall goal of producing 40,000 tons of nitrogen. The plant and Wilson Dam, then referred to as Dam No. 2, were commissioned and built by the federal government, with the help of the state of Alabama. The plant was to produce ammonium nitrate by the cynamid process of nitrogen fixation. It cost about $12 million dollars to build. With the influx of workers, mainly from the CCC, mess halls were built in the villages to help feed all of the men. Village No. 2 housed one mess hall.
creator: Carrie Keener, University of North Alabama
source: FDR, TVA, And CCC Federal Influence In The Shoals: The Journal Of Muscle Shoals History Volume XIX'. 2015. Florence. William Lindsey McDonald Collection. UNA Special Archives. Gunther, John. 1953. 'The Story Of The TVA'. Book. Florence. William Lindsey McDonald Collection. UNA Special Archives. 'Sheffield History And Recollections: Journal Of Muscle Shoals History Volume XVIII'. 2011. Florence. William Lindsey McDonald Colleciton. UNA Special Archives. Carle, J.F. 'US Nitrate Plant No. 2, Muscle Shoals, Alabama'. Paper. Florence. William Lindsey McDonald Collection. UNA Special Archives. Young, Ronald. 1976. 'History Of US Facilities At Muscle Shoals, Alabama, And Origins Of The TVA'. Paper. Florence. William Lindsey McDonald Collection. UNA Special Archives.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: December 1, 2015
format: image, text

Nitrate Plant Village No. 2
subject: Colbert County, Alabama; Sheffield, Alabama; Nitrate; Village
description: The Tennessee Valley is filled with minerals, including the materials needed to produce nitrates. Nitrates can be used for many things, most importantly for TVA to help add nutrients to fertilizer. This helped to increase crop production. Another use for a nitrate plant can be for producing nitric acid during times of war to create explosives. These two important factors helped lead the US government to initially start building the Wilson Dam in 1918 and susbequently in 1933 give the TVA control of one of the two nitrate plants in the area of the Shoals. During the early twentieth century, only a small amount of nitrate used in the US came from the country. Most was imported from South America. The top priority of the TVA was to improve soil and prevent erosion. By employing nitrogen from the plant, the TVA could improve farmland. Before the introduction of nitrogen back into the land by the TVA, farmers were exhausting the land and creating barren fallow fields of mud that eroded away into the river. With the plant came a village to house the many workers brought into the area by the Civilian Conservation Corps. This was called Village No. 2 and existed for 32 years. The plant was built by the American Cyanmid Company, with the overall goal of producing 40,000 tons of nitrogen. The plant and Wilson Dam, then referred to as Dam No. 2, were commissioned and built by the federal government, with the help of the state of Alabama. The plant was to produce ammonium nitrate by the cynamid process of nitrogen fixation. It cost about $12 million dollars to build. The village was constructed around the same time as the dam. The village itself housed many of the workers and their families. The village housed a local school for younger ages, a fire department, and even book mobiles to allow greater access to books. The houses came in prefabricated styles, ranging from three to seven rooms. Every house had complete sewer, water, and electrical connections, a rare thing at the t…
creator: Carrie Keener, University of North Alabama
source: 'FDR, TVA, And CCC Federal Influence In The Shoals: The Journal Of Muscle Shoals History Volume XIX'. 2015. Florence. William Lindsey McDonald Collection. UNA Special Archives. KIng, Gail. 2010. 'Wilson Village No. 2 1918-1950'. Book. Florence. William Lindsey McDonald Collection. UNA Special Archives.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: December 1, 2015
format: image, text

Nitrate Village No. 1 Historic District
subject: Colbert County, Alabama; Sheffield, Alabama; Nitrate Village No. 1 Historic District; Woodrow Wilson; Franklin D. Roosevelt; New Deal; National Defense Act; Wilson Dam; Tennessee Valley Authority; National Register of Historic Places; Historical American Engineering Record
description: The Nitrate Village No. 1 Historic District encompasses 112 family homes, two school buildings and one apartment complex, situated near the south bank of the Tennessee River in Sheffield, Alabama. The village was constructed in 1918 to house workers and their families after President Woodrow Wilson designated Sheffield as the site for a new nitrate plant, where the experimental German "Haber" process would be utilized in an (ultimately unsuccessful) attempt to extract weapons-grade nitrate from the atmosphere. Designed by the Ewing and Allen architectural firm, and constructed by New York's J.G. White Engineering Corporation, the village street plan has a distinctive "liberty bell" shape, and the unifying architectural aesthetic is similarly distinctive. The village is typical of government-sponsored "planned communities" of the period in that all materials used in its construction were standardized and prefabricated to minimize costs and construction time. Likewise, all of the village's buildings share the same Bungalow-style architecture, with stuccoed walls and terracotta roofs. Nitrate Village No. 1 was deeded to the city of Sheffield in 1949, and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
creator: Brian Corrigan, University of North Alabama
source: National Register of Historic Places, Nitrate Village No. 1 Historic District, Sheffield, Colbert County, Alabama, National Register #84000603. Historic American Engineering Record, HAER AL-46, http://loc.gov/pictures/item/al1051 (accessed November 9, 2015).
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: November 9, 2015
format: text, image

Noble Hall
subject: Auburn, AL; Lee County, AL; Civil War; Slavery; Antebellum South; Education; National Register of Historic Places; Auburn University; Alabama Polytechnic Institute; Luther Noble Duncan; Greek Revival Style
description: Wealthy planter Addison Frazer built the home in 1854 in a two-story Greek Revival style. Frazer owned over 100 slaves and grew cotton on 2,000 acres of land. He served on the board of the Auburn Masonic Female College and the East Alabama Male College. Located approximately 2.5 miles from the town center of Auburn, the property was a massive plantation that according to legend, became a makeshift hospital when Ms. Frazer took in sick and wounded soldiers. One later tale recounted that as Union soldiers reached the Addison Frazer home, Ms. Frazer gave them the Masonic sign which saved her home and her provisions from being looted. After the collapse of cotton prices in the 1920s the home changed hands numerous times until it was bought and restored in 1932 by J.V. Brown, superintendent of buildings and grounds at Alabama Polytechnic Institute (now Auburn University). He sold the property in 1941, to Dr. Luther Noble Duncan, president of the school, director of the Alabama Extension Service, and pioneer in the founding of the National 4-H Youth Program. The home was named in his honor by his daughter, Elizabeth Pearson. Additional structures that have been preserved are the original separate kitchen, carriage house, and smoke house. Some remains of slave quarters are found in four locations on the property.Located at 1433 Shelton Road in Auburn, Noble Hall was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972, the first site from Lee County to be added to the register. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noble_Hall
creator: Keith S. Hebert, Evan Isaac, Joshua Shiver
source: Images: Home: Rivers A. Langley, Photographer Auburn University Library, http://www.lib.auburn.edu/archive/aghy/aces/aceshead/duncan.jpg Text: Lee County Heritage Book Committee, The Heritage of Lee County (Clanton, AL: Heritage Publishing Consultants: 2000), 23. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noble_Hall
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 2014-12-4
contributor: Keith S. Hebert, Evan Isaac, Joshua Shiver
rights: Rivers A. Langley, Photographer
relation: Janice P. Hand: National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form Auburn Heritage Association: Noble Hall Marker
format: JPEG and Text
language: English
type: Still Image and Text

North Alabama Abstract & Guaranty Company
subject: Historic Buildings; Businesses; Tuscumbia Historic District; Downtown Tuscumbia; Clark House; Colbert County; Colbert County Courthouse; Alabama
description: The building that currently houses the North Alabama Abstract is known as the Clark Building. It is a part of the Colbert County Courthouse Square Historic District. The district is part of the National Register of Historic Places. This brick building was built in 1926. The photo of the old smokehouse is taken from behind the building.
creator: Jacob Grandstaff, University of North Alabama
source: "Colbert County Courthouse Square Historic District," Accessed December 7, 2015, http://www.digplanet.com/wiki/Colbert_County_Courthouse_Square_Historic_District.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: December 7, 2015

North Alabama Birding Trail
subject: Colbert County, Muscle Shoals, Birding, Hiking
description: The North Alabama Birding Trail consists of fifty birding sites across the northern part of the state. There are currently 397 species known to have been seen along the trail. The fifty sites were carefully selected by a group of biologists, bird enthusiasts, and conservationists. The criteria used to determine the sites were: probability of birds, ecological significance, site resiliency, physical and legal access, economic significance, maintenance support, and parking availability. The trial has a wide array of habitats, such as, wetlands, grasslands, and forests. It is suggested to dress for the season. There is a possibility of seeing birds from inside a vehicle. Binoculars are a useful tool to carry along on the trail.
creator: Carrie Keener, University of North Alabama
source: "North Alabama Birding Trail - Frequently Asked Questions." North Alabama Birding Trail - Frequently Asked Questions. Accessed December 1, 2015. http://www.northalabamabirdingtrail.com/about_the_trail/faq.aspx. 'Explore The Shoals'. 2014. Florence. Florence City. UNA Special Archives.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: December 1, 2015

North Alabamian & Times
subject: Newspapers; Captain Arthur H. Keller; Jewish settlement
description: The North Alabamian and Times, now the Standard and Times and the Colbert County Reporter, was published by Captain Arthur H. Keller (who may now be better known as Helen Keller's father). Local Jewish merchants routinely advertised with Captain Keller and he published wedding announcements, social events, and promoted lecturers and speakers on the Talmud and Jewish history who were sponsored by the Jewish Community. Several memoirs by members of the Jewish Congregation mention meeting Helen Keller and several descendants of the founding Jewish families have had children included in the local production of "The Miracle Worker" at Ivy Green.
creator: Pam Kingsbury, University of North Alabama
source: Coleman, Erwin M., A History of Temple B'Nai Israel, Florence, Alabama: Centennial Celebration, 1906 - 2006.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 1829 to the present.
rights: Pam Kingsbury, University of North Alabama
type: Photograph and text.

Northeast Alabama Community College
subject: Jackson County, Dekalb County, Rainsville, Sand Mountain, Education
description: Northeast Alabama Community College (NACC) is a comprehensive, public two-year college within the Alabama Community College System; it is one of 12 junior colleges created by the Alabama State Legislature during the administration of Gov. George C. Wallace. NACC is located on State Highway 35 approximately five miles from Rainsville, DeKalb County; its grounds straddle the county line between DeKalb and Jackson counties. - See more at: http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-2611#sthash.adCiCsrn.dpuf
creator: Blake Wilhelm
source: http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-2611#sthash.adCiCsrn.dpuf
publisher: Northeast Alabama Community College
date: 1965-present

Northwest-Shoals Community College
subject: Northwest-Shoals Community College; Muscle Shoals, Alabama; Colbert County, Alabama; Two-Year College; Community College; Education
description: Northwest-Shoals Community College was formed in 1993 by the Alabama State Board of Education through the merger of Northwest Alabama Community College's Phil Campbell Campus and Shoals Community College. The merger was enacted in order to provide more effective and efficient educational services to residents of rural northwest Alabama and the Shoals area. Northwest-Shoals Community College is a comprehensive two-year public institution of higher learning providing vocational, technical, academic and lifelong educational opportunities for the northwest Alabama Region. The College is part of the Alabama College System, a statewide system of post-secondary colleges, governed by the Alabama Board of Education. Northwest-Shoals derives its original charter from the Alabama legislature through the Alabama Trade School and Junior College Authority Act of 1963.
creator: Thomas Hale, University of North Alabama
source: “NW-SCC History”, Accessed on November 29, 2015, http://www.nwscc.edu/history.shtml
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: November 30, 2015

Nunn-Winston Home, 1850-1934
subject: Architectural drawings; Watercolors; Houses; Dwellings; Doors & doorways; Windows; Shutters; Porches; Columns; Roofs; Chimneys; Moldings; Women; Trees; Landscapes (Representations)
description: This image is a watercolor painting of the Nunn-Winston Home, also known as the Neva-Winston House, in Auburn, Alabama done by W.C. Baker, Jr. in 1934. The house was built in 1850. The painting shows the front exterior of the home with its double doors, windows, shutters, columned porch, steps, sloped roof, and chimneys flanked by trees and landscaping. There is a woman in period dress standing by the door. The house is placed within framing art showing its architectural features including a floor plan and a close-up of the columns and the molding under the roof. In the lower right corner, there is an Alabama Polytechnic Institute School of Architecture stamp with the handwritten inscription "1st H. Mention"? and a sticker which reads: "W.C. Baker, Jr., Alabama Polytechnic Institute, measured problem, major problem no." The painting is in excellent condition and is encapsulated.
creator: Baker, W. C., Jr. (rendering)
source: Auburn University Libraries. Special Collections and Archives Dept. Architecture, School of -- Architectural Renderings Student Projects
publisher: Auburn University Libraries
date: 1934-01-01
date: 1850-01-01
rights: This image is the property of the Auburn University Libraries and is intended for non-commercial use. Users of the image are asked to acknowledge the Auburn University Libraries. For information about obtaining high-resolution copies of this and other images in this collection, please contact the Auburn University Libraries Special Collections & Archives Department at archive@auburn.edu or (334) 844-1732.
relation: City of Auburn: http://www.auburnalabama.org/parks/Default.aspx?PageID=663 ; Panoramio: http://www.panoramio.com/photo/9204425
format: PDF
language: English
type: Still image
coverage: Auburn -- Lee County -- Alabama ; 520 Chadwick Lane, Kiesel Park (moved from South Gay Street), Auburn, Lee County, AL

O'Neal Hall, University of North Alabama
subject: Lauderdale County, Alabama; Florence, Alabama; Education; Florence State College; University of North Alabama; Edward A. O'Neal
description: O’Neal Hall was the “The Dormitory for Women” at the Florence State College, known now as the University of North Alabama. Completed and occupied by September 1st, 1913, the total cost of the building was $91,000. At its time, it was one of the best equipped dormitories in the South. A beautiful brick structure with stone trimmings, O’Neal Hall was located on Wesleyan Avenue, overlooking the campus, facing Wesleyan Hall and the Annex. O’Neal Hall received its name after Edward A. O’Neal, president of the Alabama Farm Bureau in 1930. The 4-story building was constructed to board 125 students. In addition to bedrooms, baths, and other usual dormitory facilities, O’Neal Hall consisted of a cafeteria on the first floor, a reception hall, a lounge, and offices. O’Neal Hall was unfortunately torn down to accommodate room for the expansion of a Student Union Building, but the steps that once lead to O’Neal Hall are still visible from Wesleyan Avenue. The dormitory was located where the University of North Alabama’s Guillot University Center stands today.
creator: Megan Statom, University of North Alabama
source: "Buildings." In Bulletin of the State Normal School, 10. 2nd ed. Vol. 3. Florence, AL: State Normal School, Florence, Ala., 1914. Images: UNA Archives, University Photo Collection, File: University. Architecture. ONeal, Photo# O.1. “O’Neal Hall.” UNA.edu. www.una.edu/historicUNA/oneal-hall.html (accessed November 11, 2015)
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: December 4, 2015

Oak Grove Cemetery
subject: Cemeteries; Lauderdale County, AL
description: Oak Grove Cemetery is located in Lauderdale County, Alabama. From Florence, Alabama, take Savannah Hwy west to Waterloo Rd. Turn west onto County Road 14, go approx. 17 miles. Turn right onto Bitter Branch Rd. Turn left onto County Road 121. The cemetery is 1.5 miles on right at top of hill. The cemetery is still in good condition today. It has a record of 31 graves. List of graves is located in the source.
creator: Dylan Tucker, University of North Alabama
source: Wood, Sharon L. "Oak Grove Cemetery." Rootsweb. January 13, 2001. http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~allauder/cem-oakgrove.htm. Accessed April 12, 2015.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: Late 1800s.
format: document.

Oakwood Cemetery
subject: Colbert County, Alabama; Tuscumbia, Alabama; Oakwood Cemetery; Felix Grundy Norman; Cemeteries
description: Tuscumbia's Oakwood Cemetery was mapped and designated as a burial ground in General John Coffee's 1817 survey "Plan of a Town at Coldwater Spring," and the cemetery's oldest burial dates from 1821. Hundreds of military veterans are buried in Oakwood, including veterans of the Revolutionary War and dozens of unknown soldiers killed fighting for the Confederacy during the Civil War. Among the noteworthy burials at Oakwood are one-time Tuscumbia mayor Felix Grundy Norman and Captain Arthur H. Keller, C.S.A., publisher of Tuscumbia's North Alabamian newspaper, and father of Helen Keller. To reach Oakwood Cemetery from Muscle Shoals, head south on Highway 72, turn right onto 6th Street, then turn left onto East Commons Street. Continue for five blocks and the cemetery is on the right.
creator: Brian Corrigan, University of North Alabama
source: Mary McWilliams, "Oakwood Cemetery," in The Heritage of Colbert County, Alabama (Clanton, AL: Heritage Publishing Consultants, 1999). Carolyn Murray Greer, "One of Our Best, Most Respected Citizens," Remembering the Shoals, https://rememberingtheshoals.wordpress.com/2011/02/27/one-of-our-best-most-respected-citizens (accessed December 6, 2015).
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: November 22, 2015
format: text, image

Ococoposa
subject: Colbert County Alabama; Tuscumbia Alabama; Native American History
description: Ococoposa, also known as Cold Water, was the site of a French trading post and was the home of Chickasaws and the Cherokees. The Chickasaw’s lived at the top of a hill near the Ocacapoosa spring. The Cherokees lived in the western portion of the area. The area would later be known for a battle that took place between the Native Americans and the United States military.
creator: Sam Keiser, University of North Alabama
source: Colbert County Heritage Book Committee (Colbert County, Ala.). 1999. The Heritage of Colbert County, Alabama. Clanton, AL: Heritage Pub. Consultants.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: December 1, 2015
format: text

Office of Sheffield Land, Iron and Coal Company
subject: Sheffield, Alabama; Colbert County; Jewish History; Alfred Huger Moses
description: Alfred Huger Moses, founder and first mayor of Sheffield, Alabama (along with his brother, Mordecai) was the owner of the Sheffield Land, Iron and Coal Company, located on Montgomery Avenue.
creator: Pam Kingsbury, University of North Alabama
source: Sheffield Historical Society.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: circa 1884.
rights: Sheffield Historical Society.
type: Text and illustration.

Oka Kappasa Festival
subject: Colbert County, Alabama; Tuscumbia, Alabama; Festival; Native American History; Oka Kapassa; Spring Park Tuscumbia
description: Oka Kapassa festival is a festival held every year to remember the Native American presence in Tuscumbia. The festival is allows visitors to learn about Native American culture both past and present during. The festival is free to the public on both days. However, the first day is primarily geared towards schoolchildren. The festival has a myriad of booths that explore both the story of the Native Americans in Tuscumbia as well as their culture. Examples of Native American culture that is on display at this festival includes: music, artistry, craftsmanship, food, language, and many other cultural aspects of their heritage. The festival is located in Spring Park in the city of Tuscumbia.
creator: Sam Keiser, University of North Alabama
source: Oka Kapassa. Accessed December 1, 2015. http://okakapassa.org/.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: November 30, 2015
format: text

Oktoberfest
subject: Festival; Arts; Culture; St. Florian, AL
description: The town of Saint Florian, Alabama, has a strong German heritage. It was established in 1872 by a Catholic priest named J. H. Hueser. Hueser, the director of the Homeland Security of Cincinnati, Ohio, purchased over two thousand acres of land in north Alabama, hoping to spread Catholicism into the region. He sold the purchased land for eight dollars per acre to German Catholic families. The German residents established the Saint Michael’s Catholic Church, and the town was named after Mrs. Florian Rasch because she donated the bell for the newly established church. Saint Michael’s Catholic Church also acted as a school. The wife of the first preacher at Saint Michael’s Catholic Church, Annie Merz, taught German classes at the school during the 1870s. In addition to the church, the town had a blacksmith, a boarding house, a post office, a shoe shop, a brick yard, and a cotton gin. Nearly one hundred years after its establishment, on August 18, 1970 the resident’s in St. Florian decided to incorporate the town. Beginning in 2002, the residents in St. Florian celebrated their town’s German heritage with the establishment of the Oktoberfest festival, which takes place during the first weekend in October. The two day festival is located at the St. Florian Community Park. Many attendees wear traditional German clothing, listen to music, drink from the beer garden, and eat German food such as brats and potato balls. The proceeds from the festival goes toward the town’s operating capital for the senior center.
creator: Jesse Brock, University of North Alabama
source: Text: Tennessee Valley Historical Society, “St. Florian,” Journal of Muscle Shoals Vol. X (1983), 143-144. Jill Garrett, “First Catholic Church in County,” in folder “McDonald Collection: Church Information-Vol. 7: Other Denomination-Catholic, Churches 7.2,” Box 37, Bill McDonald Collection, Archives/Special Collections, Collier Library, University of North Alabama, Florence, Alabama. Bobby Bozeman, “St. Florian Celebrates German Heritage with 12th Annual Oktoberfest,” Times Daily, October 2, 2014.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 2002-present
format: file

Old (Mobile) Fire House, 1823
subject: Architectural drawings; Watercolors; Fire stations; Wooden buildings; Doors & doorways; Windows; Shutters; Porches; Columns; Balconies; Hand railings; Ironwork; Roofs; Streets; Carriages & coaches; Men; Women; Trees
description: This image is a watercolor painting of an old fire house in Mobile, Alabama done by Darcy Tatum, Jr. sometime between 1917 and 1942. The fire house was built in 1823. The painting shows the front exterior of the firehouse with its doors, windows, shutters, columned porch, balcony with iron railing, and peaked roof with the number "5." The firehouse is situated on a street with buildings on either side and a tree in the background. There is a horse-drawn carriage with driver, two men and a woman on the street. The firehouse is placed within framing art showing its architectural features including close-ups of the door and iron railing, a floor plan and various scales. In the lower right corner, there is an Alabama Polytechnic Institute School of Architecture stamp with a handwritten inscription "2nd Medal." The painting is in good condition with minor edge wear and is encapsulated.
creator: Tatum, Darcy, Jr. (rendering); Unknown (building)
source: Auburn University Libraries. Special Collections and Archives Dept. Architecture, School of -- Architectural Renderings Student Projects
publisher: Auburn University Libraries
date: ca. 1917-1942
date: 1823-01-01
rights: This image is the property of the Auburn University Libraries and is intended for non-commercial use. Users of the image are asked to acknowledge the Auburn University Libraries. For information about obtaining high-resolution copies of this and other images in this collection, please contact the Auburn University Libraries Special Collections & Archives Department at archive@auburn.edu or (334) 844-1732.
relation: Library of Congress: http://www.loc.gov/item/al0609/ ; Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Firehouse_No._5
format: PDF
language: English
type: Still image
coverage: Mobile -- Mobile County -- Alabama ; 7 North Lawrence Street, Mobile, Mobile County, AL (between St. Francis and Dauphin Streets; off Government Street)

Old Athens, Alabama Main Post Office
subject: Historic Buildings; Athens, AL; Limestone County, AL
description: The Old Main Post Office in Athens, Alabama was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. Also known as Washington Street Courthouse Annex, the Neoclassical building was constructed in 1933 by the Works Progress Administration. The lobby of the post office features marble floors and door trim. In 1979 the post office was converted to a courthouse annex.
creator: Dylan Tucker, University of North Alabama.
source: National Register Information System. Accessed August 5, 2015.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 1933
type: Text

Old Brick Cemetery
subject: Colbert County, Alabama; Leighton, Alabama; Old Brick Cemetery; Old Brick Presbyterian Church; Cemeteries
description: The origins of Leighton's Old Brick Presbyterian Church can be traced back to 1812, when traveling minister Carson P. Reed staged a two-week revival in the Brick community. 45 men baptized during the revival were inspired to establish a congregation of their own, with Reed as preacher, and the Cumberland Presbyterian Church was born. Nearly a century later, in the early 1900s, a split within the congregation led to the departure of one faction (which formed the nearby Mt. Pleasant Cumberland Presbyterian Church), and a switch to the "Old Brick" name still in use today. To reach the Old Brick church and cemetery from AL-157 in Muscle Shoals, head east on River Road and turn right onto County Line Road. After one mile, turn left onto Mount Pleasant Road, and look for the cemetery on the right. See the RootsWeb source below for a complete list of burials.
creator: Brian Corrigan, University of North Alabama
source: "Old Brick Church Cemetery," RootsWeb, http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~maury/AlabamaCemeteriesWeb/ColbertCounty/OldBrickChurchCem/Old_Brick_Church_Cem_Listing.htm (accessed November 20, 2015).
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: November 21, 2015
format: text, image

Old Brick Presbyterian Church
subject: Colbert County, Alabama; Leighton, Alabama; Old Brick Presbyterian Church; Architecture; Churches; National Register of Historic Places; Historic American Buildings Survey
description: According to church tradition, Leighton's Old Brick Presbyterian Church building was constructed in 1828, although architectural evidence suggests a later date during the 1830s or 1840s. Its distinctive, kiln-fired exterior bricks and sun-dried interior bricks were drawn from a pit still visible today near the church's southwest corner, and may be the products of slave labor. The church's interior, meanwhile, retains its original plaster walls and hand-crafted pews, divided down the middle to establish separate seating for male and female congregants. The original slave gallery also remains intact, reflecting the further segregation of worshippers among racial lines. In addition to its enforcement of race and gender norms through segregated seating, the church played "an important judicial role" in rural Bricksville by "policing... moral standards." Members accused of sins were called before the congregation and given a choice: confess or be "removed from the church." The origins of the Old Brick church can be traced back to 1812, when traveling minister Carson P. Reed staged a two-week revival in the Brick community. 45 men baptized during the revival were inspired to establish a congregation of their own, with Reed as preacher, and the Cumberland Presbyterian Church was born. Nearly a century later, in the early 1900s, a split within the congregation led to the departure of one faction (which formed the nearby Mt. Pleasant Cumberland Presbyterian Church), and a switch to the "Old Brick" name still in use today.
creator: Brian Corrigan, University of North Alabama
source: National Register of Historic Places, Old Brick Presbyterian Church, Leighton, Colbert County, Alabama, National Register #88003078.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: November 10, 2015
format: text, image

Old Confederate Fort in Florence
subject: Confederate Fort; General Daniel Ruggles; Florence, AL; Lauderdale County, AL; Civil War; General Philip Dale Roddey; Dunbar; General Grenville M. Dodge; Colonel George Gibbs Dribrell
description: 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 Henry which guarded the Tennessee River from Union forces on the Mississippi River, General Ruggles was placed in charge of the defense of Florence. Control of the fort was vital for either side to cross the river at the shoals. Confederate General Philip Dale Roddey, “Defender of North Alabama,” used the fort as his base in early 1863. During this period, General Roddey used the Port of Florence to repair boats for the Confederate river boats, including the raising of the Dunbar. General Nathan B. Forrest ordered an artillery battery at the fort in the spring of 1863. The battery was commanded by Colonel George Gibbs Dribrell. In last April of 1863, Union General Grenville M. Dodge took Tuscumbia and moved toward the river. Colonel Dribrell’s artillery fire from the fort persuaded the union general to withdraw back to Tuscumbia. The last action at the fort occurred in 1864 as General Hood’s forces were retreating from the battle of Nashville. Union gunboats shelled the fort on their way to try and stop Hood’s army from crossing the Tennessee at Bainbridge. Presently, the Florence Coliseum occupies the former location of the fort.
creator: Michael Williams, University of North Alabama
source: McDonald, William Lindsey. A walk through the past : people and places of Florence and Lauderdale County, Alabama. n.p.: [Killen, Ala.] : Bluewater Pub., 2003., 2003. UNA Library Catalog, EBSCOhost (accessed April 30, 2015). McDonald, William Lindsey, and L. D. Staggs. 2002. Remembering Sweetwater : the mansions, the mills, the people. n.p.: [Killen, Ala.] : Bluewater Publications, [2002], 2002. UNA Library Catalog, EBSCOhost (accessed April 30, 2015). City of Florence, Alabama. n.d. "Historical Markers." Florenceal.org. Accessed April 17, 2015. http://florenceal.org/At_a_Glance/Historical_Markers/index.html.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 1862-1864
rights: Photo from following websites: http://florenceal.org/At_a_Glance/Historical_Markers/index.html Photo from following websites: http://www.ranger95.com/civil_war/generals_confederacy/daniel_ruggles.htm Photo from following websites: http://www.civilwarsignals.org/pages/spy/pages/dodge.html

Old Lexington Post Office
subject: Lexington Alabama; Lauderdale County Alabama; Post Offices
description: 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, wanted to make an investment in his community, he and his wife, Nicole, renovated the building turning it into usable space.They incorporated the details of the post office - most notably the high ceilings - to turn the building into a comfortable and welcoming space for patients. Located on Highway 101 the building is now a model for a small, rural community hoping to attract new businesses.
creator: Pam Kingsbury, University of North Alabama
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
contributor: Pam Kingsbury, University of North Alabama
rights: Photographs courtesy of Nicole Corfman
type: Still Image and Text
identifier: Old Lexington Alabama Post Office; Corfman Chiropractic

Old Main Hall
subject: Education; Lee County, AL; Auburn University; East Alabama Male College; Button, Stephen Decatur; Civil War; General Lovell Rousseau; Morrill Act; Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical College; Old Main Hall; William J. Samford Hall
description: After the state awarded East Alabama Male College its charter on February 7, 1856, the Board of Trustees set about securing funds to build an administrative and educational building. The trustees initially allocated $25,000 for the facility, but the building that came to be known as Old Main Hall required an expenditure of approximately $60,000 to complete. Stephen Decatur Button, a nationally prominent architect, designed and built the four-story Italianate-style academic building. Old Main Hall was the primary building of the East Alabama Male College from 1856 until 1887. During the Civil War, EAMC suspended operations like so many of the country’s other academic institutions. As faculty, staff, and students left school to join the Confederate war effort, the EAMC shuttered its doors from 1861 to 1864 when Old Main Hall, Langdon Hall, and the Chapel were converted into makeshift hospitals for wounded soldiers arriving from Atlanta. In 1864, Texas’s state legislature paid to convert Old Main Hall into a convalescent hospital that they dubbed Texas Hospital. The ramshackle hospital housed over four hundred Confederate soldiers, many of whom never saw their homes again and were buried in nearby Pine Hill Cemetery. Old Main also acted as a parade ground where soldiers from nearby Camp Beauregard and Camp Johnson marched and drilled during the war. In July 1864, Major General Lovell H. Rousseau and his force of approximately 2,500 Union cavalrymen raided the cities of Auburn and Opelika where they destroyed thirty-five miles of railroad tracks, the local post office, and Pebble Hill. In an effort to defend the city, sixteen-year old John Hodges Drake and approximately thirty or forty convalescents from the Texas Hospital offered some token resistance to Rousseau's raid, to little avail. The Federal cavalrymen left the bedridden and newly minted prisoners alone and did little damage to civilian property. In fall 1866, students returned to attend classes in a building r…
creator: Taylor McGaughy, Joshua Shiver
source: Image Source: http://www.auburn.edu/communications_marketing/150/lecture.html Text Source: Ralph Draughon, Jr., Delos Hughes, and Ann Pearson, Lost Auburn: A Village Remembered in Period Photographs (Montgomery: NewSouth Books, 2012), 9-11.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 2014-11-21
contributor: Taylor McGaughy, Joshua Shiver
format: JPEG and Text
language: English
type: Still Image and Text

Old Mobile Court House, 1824
subject: Architectural drawings; Watercolors; Courthouses; Wooden buildings; Doors & doorways; Windows; Porches; Columns; Balconies; Hand railings; Ironwork; Roofs; Chimneys; Moldings; Women; Trees; Landscapes (Representations)
description: This image is a watercolor painting of the Old Mobile Court House in Mobile, Alabama done by Albion W. Knight sometime between 1917 and 1942. The courthouse was built in 1824. The painting shows the front exterior of the courthouse with its doors, windows, columned porch, columned balcony with iron railing, sloped roof, and chimneys surrounded by trees and landscaping. There is a woman in period dress standing in front of the door. The courthouse is placed within framing art showing some of its architectural elements including a floor plan, the back and sides of the house, and close-ups of the molding under the roof, the columns, the door, and the iron railing. In the lower right corner, there is an Alabama Polytechnic Institute School of Architecture stamp with a handwritten inscription "1st Mention" and the artist's information block which reads: "Measured drawing, issued, due, Alabama Poly. Inst., Albion W. Knight." The painting is in good condition with minor edge wear except for two missing pieces from the top edge and is encapsulated.
creator: Knight, Albion W. (rendering)
source: Auburn University Libraries. Special Collections and Archives Dept. Architecture, School of -- Architectural Renderings Student Projects
publisher: Auburn University Libraries
date: ca. 1917-1942
date: 1824-01-01
rights: This image is the property of the Auburn University Libraries and is intended for non-commercial use. Users of the image are asked to acknowledge the Auburn University Libraries. For information about obtaining high-resolution copies of this and other images in this collection, please contact the Auburn University Libraries Special Collections & Archives Department at archive@auburn.edu or (334) 844-1732.
format: PDF
language: English
type: Still image
coverage: Mobile -- Mobile County -- Alabama

Old Natchez Trace (No. 310-2A)
subject: National Register of Historic Places; Native American History; Early Settlement; Transportation; National Parkway
description: The 1976 NR nomination documents a 400 foot unpaved section of the original Natchez Trace not covered by the Natchez Trace Parkway. The original Natchez Trace was a network of trails established by Native Americans that stretched roughly from what is now Nashville, Tennessee to Natchez, Mississippi. The trails whenever possible avoided creek and swamp crossings and followed watershed divides. The trails shifted with weather conditions and as population centers changed. The trails appeared on French and British maps in the 1730s and 1770s and were labeled with names such as the Chickasaw Trace and the “Path to the Choctaw Nation”. White trade was documented along the trace as early as 1785. When the Mississippi Territory was formed in 1798 settlers called for improvements to the trace which was authorized by President Jefferson in 1801. Between 1800 and 1830 the Trace was used as a post road and numerous inns and stops were established along the route. Andrew Jackson and his troops traveled the Trace in 1812 to protect New Orleans from a threatened British invasion. In 1938 the National Park Service established the Natchez Trace Parkway extending 444 miles from Nashville to Natchez bypassing this small section of one of the original trails. The Park Service interprets the Trace for its significance to Native American history, European settlement, transportation, commerce, military history and local flora and fauna. The National Register nomination for this small section of the Trace, less than one acre, was written in 1976 and like most nominations from that time period could be improved by additional research. All information and photos for this Omeka entry were taken from the nomination.
creator: Missy Brown, University of North Alabama
source: Cox, William E. National Register Nomination. “Old Natchez Trace (no. 310-2A)” (#76000156) (11/7/76).
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 1730 - 1830
format: image

Old Opera House
subject: Historic Businesses; Sheffield, Colbert County; Alabama; Old Opera Houses; Historic Buildings
description: 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 supported by large columns on the west side. The roomy second floor was used as a show room for Mr. Young's carriages. This business was known as 'Young's Coach Shop” and sometimes the “Old Carriage House" until the 1880s when it was purchased by A. J. Lloyd who had moved to Tuscumbia from Kentucky. Mr. Lloyd used the first floor to house the local post office and the second floor he used for an opera house. From then on, the building was referred to as “The Old Opera House.” In addition to locals who performed plays and minstrel shows, the theater was also used by traveling theater companies and vaudeville troops. General Tom Thumb, the circus midget, was possibly the most famous to visit The Old Opera House. In 1897, the new Tuscumbia library which had been meeting at the Deshler Female Institute purchased the building through a third party. In 1897, the theater was closed for renovations and reopened two years later. The library occupied a portion of the first floor while the rest was rented to local businesses. The upstairs continued to serve as the town performance center. In 1908, the Colbert County Courthouse burned and the library offered the upstairs as the temporary court house until a new one could be built because the theater was not used during the summer. The county offices ended up remaining here until a new court house was built. The Old Opera House also housed the post office from 1915-1936 for which the U.S. Government rented part of the building. When the post office moved out, the library moved downstairs. In order to afford its new building on the corner of N. Main and N. Commons Streets, the library was forced to sell the Old Opera House building. The library hoped it would be preserved as a public…
creator: Jacob Grandstaff, University of North Alabama
source: Journal of Muscle Shoals History. Tennessee Valley Historical Society 9 (1981). Young's Coach Shop Image courtesy of: "Florence Times," May 22, 1960.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: November 27, 2015

Old State Bank
subject: Morgan County, Decatur, Banks, Old State Bank
description: Constructed in 1833, the Old State Bank in Decatur, Alabama, served as the Decatur Branch of the State Bank of Alabama. The Alabama General Assembly passed legislation to create the State Bank of Alabama in 1830. Formed in Tuscaloosa, Tuscaloosa County, the bank would have additional branches in Decatur and Mobile. Construction of the bank began the same year, despite the controversy of Decatur being chosen as one of the sites with only 200 residents. The benefit of being close to the Tennessee River helped change that. The bank was designed in the Jeffersonian style with a price of $10,000. Much of the construction was done by enslaved workers from James Fennell's plantation. The bank opened up for business on July 29, 1833, but unfortunately accumulated a debt of more than $1 million dollars by 1840. It remained empty until it was occupied by Federal troops in 1861. The bank served as a headquarters, storehouse, and a field hospital. The thick walls protected most of the soldiers from different forms of projectiles. After the Civil War, the bank served multiple purposes for the citizens of Decatur. It was a doctor's office and a residence. The bank was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. It was donated by the American Legion, Post No. 15, to the City of Decatur and became a museum in 1984. The Old State Bank is located at 952 Bank Street NE, in Decatur.
creator: Dylan Tucker, University of North Alabama
source: "Old State Bank." Encyclopedia of Alabama. Accessed June 1, 2015.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 1830s
format: Document

Old Town Cemetery
subject: Cemeteries; Athens, AL; Limestone County, AL
description: Old Town Cemetery is the earliest know cemetery in Athens. Records indicate that the first burials date from the 1820s and continue through the mid-1800s, with some burials past 1900. Many markers in the cemetery are sunken below ground, while others were destroyed or removed from site. The entire block was purchased for ten dollars from Robert Beaty and John Carriel.
creator: Dylan Tucker, University of North Alabama
source: "Old Town Cemetery." Title Marker. http://www.lat34north.com/historicmarkersal. Accessed May 26, 2015.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: Early 1800s
type: Text

Old Water Tower
subject: National Register of Historic Places; Florence, AL
description: The water tower has served as a landmark for the city of Florence since its construction in 1889 by the Jeter and Boardman Gas and Water Association. The stone buttressed masonry tower is seventy feet high and topped by a 282,000 gallon cast iron tank that is 30 feet high and 40 feet in diameter. The tower is located on a plateau two miles north of the center of town roughly sixty feet above the average elevation of the town. The water quality of the tank was reportedly exceptionally fine with the water drawn from clear Cypress Creek as opposed to the often muddy Tennessee River. The tower replaced an earlier waster system provided by the Cypress Water Company and continued to serve the Florence area until it was phased out in 1935. The water tower was built during an industrial and population boom in the late 1880s and early 1890s resulting from the completion of the redesigned Muscle Shoals Canal System. In anticipation of further growth, the current population was 12,000 to 15,000, the tower’s capacity was designed to serve a city of 35,000 -50,000 people. However, by 1891 the boom was over and the population dwindled to 6,000. The tower is significant to the history of Florence, Lauderdale County, and the region as a surviving example of 1870-1880s city water works technology. Around the turn of the 20th century elevated tanks on exposed metal trestles gained popularity due to the superior engineering and lower costs of construction. The tower also serves as a vivid reminder of the 1889-1891 economic boom and the plans and dreams to prolong the industrial and population growth. The water tower was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. Additional information can be found on the National Park Service’s National Register data base, or on the Florence Historical Board Historic Marker on site.
creator: Missy Brown, University of North Alabama
source: National Register Of Historic Places
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: c.1880s -1890s
format: file

Omeka Add to Collections Minimal Instructions
creator: C Kristan-Graham
date: Sept 4, 2015

Omeka Download and Installation
subject: Omeka Tutorial
description: A summary of the requirements and steps needed to set up Omeka.
creator: Clint Bellanger
source: http://omeka.org/codex/Installation
publisher: Auburn University Libraries
date: 2015-09-04

Opelika Baptist Female College
subject: Education; Lee County, AL; Opelika Baptist Female College; Opelika, AL; Opelika Baptist Church; Langham, J.J.
description: Opelika Baptist Church established a school in 1873. Local members of the denomination opened the Baptist Female College inside Opelika Baptist Church and named Professor J.J. Langham as principal. It later moved to a new two-story brick building located on the corner of North Ninth Street and Fourth Avenue. The Baptist Female College only operated for two years, but the school building owners later leased and eventually sold the property to the public school system. No two-story brick building stands at any of the modern-day four corners at North Ninth Street and Fourth Avenue. Three corners sport private residences, and the fourth contains a vacant, elevated, well-maintained grass lot.
creator: Taylor McGaughy
source: Text Source: Alexander Nunn, Lee County and Her Forebears (Montgomery, AL: Herff Jones, 1983), 35.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 2014-11-26
contributor: Taylor McGaughy
format: Text
language: English
type: Text

Opelika Cotton Mill
subject: Opelika, AL; Lee County, AL; Industry; Textiles; Cotton
description: The first major industry in Lee County and the first textile mill in Opelika. It opened in 1900. Today, it is most well known as the backdrop for the 1979 film "Norma Rae" about a woman who become involved in the Labor Union Activities at the North Carolina textile factory where she works. The Opelika mill had itself unionized only a few years prior to the filming. The old mill is located at 1016 York Ave, Opelika, AL, 36801. The site was abandoned in 2004, but still stands.
creator: Jonathan Sedlaczek
source: Image: "Whistle blows noon Opelika Cotton Mill" http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ncl2004004125/PP/
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 1900-2004
contributor: Jonathan Sedlaczek
format: JPEG and Text
language: English
type: Still Image and Text

Opelika High School 1911-1918
subject: Education; Lee County, AL; Opelika High School 1911-1918; Opelika, AL; Henry G. Clift High School; Lee County High School
description: In 1911, the Alabama State Legislature allocated a disbursement to fund a public high school in every county in the state. Opelika solicited private funds to meet the state in the middle, and Lee County’s first stand-alone high school, Opelika High School, opened on the corner of North Eighth Street and Seventh Avenue. Elementary and grammar school students remained in the old Opelika Public School building on Avenue A and Seventh Street. In 1914, Auburn High School successfully petitioned the state high school commission to take the county flagship status as the “Lee County’s Public High School” away from Opelika, a decision that resulted in a funding shakeup and some related resentment. In 1916, Opelika Public High School burned down and its students were forced to re-consolidate with the elementary and grammar schools in the building on the corner of Avenue A and Seventh Street. During the 1916-1917 and 1917-1918 school years, due to the amount of students and size of the older building, Opelika High School and Opelika Public School educators were forced to offer classes during extended hours. Opelika High School’s student body transferred to the new Henry G. Clift High School in 1918 upon its completion.
creator: Taylor McGaughy
source: Text Source: The Heritage of Lee County Book Committee, The Heritage of Lee County, Alabama (Clanton, AL: Heritage Publishing Consultants, 2000), 78.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Project
date: 2014-11-26
contributor: Taylor McGaughy
format: Text
language: English
type: Text

Opelika High School, 1972-Present
subject: Education; Lee County, AL; Opelika, AL; Opelika High School, 1972-Present; Desegregation; Civil Rights Era; Johnson, Judge Frank M.; J.W. Darden High School; Opelika High - Southside Campus
description: In 1969, U.S. District Court Judge Frank M. Johnson ordered the Opelika to desegregate its school system. Observing that African Americans comprised 30 percent of the students enrolled in Opelika city schools, Johnson demanded that all of Opelika’s public schools contain a comparable percentage of African American students by the 1970-1971 school year. In the fall of 1970, Opelika High School (then located on the site of modern-day Opelika Middle School on Denson Drive) reported 37 percent African American enrollment. However, Opelika’s school board denoted J.W. Darden High School (Opelika’s black high school) a vocational adjunct campus of Opelika High School in November 1969 and renamed the school Opelika High – Southside Campus. Coincidentally, every student who chose a vocational curriculum in fall 1970 was African American, and Opelika’s high schools consequently remained segregated. The 37 percent enrollment figure included the raw total of the two separate campuses. Noting Johnson’s irritation over the violation of the spirit of his order and fearful of being censured by either him or the Department of Justice, in 1971 Opelika’s school board purchased property and quickly began erecting a new high school. They recognized that the Denson Drive campus was too small to accommodate the newly-integrated student body. Completed in less than 10 months by a Texas-based architectural firm, the new Opelika High School opened in fall 1972. No massive white flight or significant violent episodes occurred upon the school’s full integration. In the years since its opening, Opelika High School constructed an on-campus football stadium, a performing arts center, a new band room, and a video production studio. The school stands to this day at 1700 Lafayette Parkway, Opelika.
creator: Taylor McGaughy
source: Image Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opelika_High_School Text Sources: Joseph M. Bagley, A Meaningful Reality: The Integration of the Opelika, Alabama City School System, 1965-1972 (MA Thesis, Auburn University, 2007), 5, 42-48. Opelika High School, http://www.opelikaschools.org/ohs/. The Heritage of Lee County Book Committee, The Heritage of Lee County, Alabama (Clanton, AL: Heritage Publishing Consultants, 2000), 78.
publisher: Lee County Cultural Resource Survey
date: 2014-11-26
contributor: Taylor McGaughy
format: JPEG and Text
language: English
type: Still Image and Text

Opelika Male School and Opelika Female Academy
subject: Education; Lee County, AL; Opelika Male School; Opelika Female Academy; Antebellum Era; Opelika, AL; Freeman, Rev. J.S.; Bowen, Mrs. E.C.; Private Academies
description: After Opelika’s 1854 town incorporation, citizens concerned with the educational prospects of the hamlet’s youth opened several private academies. Two of the early private schools were the Opelika Male School and the Opelika Female Academy, both founded in 1859. Rev. J.S. Freeman served as the first headmaster of the male school, and Mrs. E.C. Bowen administered the female school as principal.
creator: Taylor McGaughy
source: Text Source: Alexander Nunn, Lee County and Her Forebears (Montgomery, AL: Herff Jones, 1983), 35.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 2014-11-26
contributor: Taylor McGaughy
format: Text
language: English
type: Text

Opelika Middle School
subject: Education; Lee County, AL; Opelika, AL; Opelika Middle School; Henry G. Clift High School; Johnson, Judge Frank; J.W. Darden High School; Carver Elementary School; Jeter Elementary School; Desegregation; Civil Rights Era; Green v. New Kent County, VA;
description: In 1959, Henry G. Clift High School relocated to a new facility at 1206 Denson Drive and rechristened itself Opelika High School, the institutional name it bore from 1911 to 1918. U.S. District Court Judge Frank M. Johnson gave the Opelika city school system an ultimatum in August, 1969 to desegregate and redistribute the black student body of J.W. Darden High School, Carver Elementary School, and Jeter Elementary School. Opelika High School integrated minimally in 1967 as it converted to a “Freedom of Choice” school, thus allowing black or white students to attend voluntarily. After the 1968 US Supreme Court decision in Green v. New Kent County., VA rendered “Freedom of Choice” schools unconstitutional and ordered the dismantling of dual school systems and the creation of systems “without a ‘white’ school and a ‘negro’ school, but just schools.” Because the Denson Drive building was too small to accommodate the influx of black students from Darden (Opelika’s black high school) and the white high school students who opted to stay in public school, the city hastily erected a new high school on Lafayette Parkway in 1972. Since 1972, the Denson Drive building has functioned as Opelika Middle School. The Denson Drive facility housed a segregated high school and a desegregated middle school and today remains a tangible vestige of Jim Crow’s demise in the city.
creator: Taylor McGaughy
source: Image Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Opelika_Middle_School.JPG Text Sources: Joseph M. Bagley, A Meaningful Reality: The Integration of the Opelika, Alabama City School System, 1965-1972 (MA Thesis, Auburn University, 2007), 40-42. The Heritage of Lee County Book Committee, The Heritage of Lee County, Alabama (Clanton, AL: Heritage Publishing Consultants, 2000), 78.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 2014-11-26
contributor: Taylor McGaughy
format: JPEG and Text
language: English
type: Still Image and Text

Opelika Public School
subject: Education; Lee County, AL; Opelika, AL; Opelika Public School; Private House Schools; Ware, Mrs. O.W.; Mrs. Gorman; African American Schools; Giddens, Columbus; Hawthorne, L.; Smallwood, R.W.; Opelika Baptist Female College
description: On November 23, 1869, Opelika citizens petitioned the City Council to create a public high school. A Board of Trustees formed, and in 1873 the Alabama State Legislature empowered the city government to collect taxes to subsidize public education. The Opelika Public School System took almost seven years to initiate operations, primarily attributable to the success of local private schools. By 1880, four public schools opened in the homes of some of Opelika’s citizens. White schools operated in the homes of Mrs. Gorman near Young Lake and Mrs. O.W Ware on Chambers Street. African-American public schools were operated in the homes of Columbus Giddens and L. Hawthorne. When Professor R.W. Smallwood was designated superintendent of Opelika schools in 1887, he reorganized the school system and oversaw the purchase of the facility that previously housed the Opelika Baptist Female College, on the corner of North Ninth Street and Fourth Avenue. His twelve-year superintendancy witnessed an exponential growth in the student body, as enrollment increased from 25 students in 1887 to 200 in 1899. The municipal government originally divided the system into three subdivisions – elementary, grammar, and high schools. In 1902, the city erected Opelika Public School, a three story brick building on the corner of Avenue A and South Seventh Street to house all three programs. The citizenry wanted to build separate facilities to house the high school and the elementary-grammar schools, but a lack of funding inhibited the plan. After the 1911 creation of Opelika High School, Opelika Public School continued to house the elementary and grammar schools. From 1916 to 1918, the building at Avenue A and Seventh Street briefly subsumed the student body from Opelika High School due to a fire that destroyed OHS’s building. After the completion of Henry G. Clift High School, the city’s high school students left Opelika Public School again. Opelika Public School continued to serve elementary and gra…
creator: Taylor McGaughy
source: Text Sources: Alexander Nunn, Lee County and Her Forebears (Montgomery, AL: Herff Jones, 1983), 36-37. The Heritage of Lee County Book Committee, The Heritage of Lee County, Alabama (Clanton, AL: Heritage Publishing Consultants, 2000), 78.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 2014-11-26
contributor: Taylor McGaughy
format: Text
language: English
type: Text

Opelika State Technical College Diploma
description: Linda Day Saxon's college graduation diploma for the Class of 1986
date: August 29, 1986
contributor: Linda Day Saxon
format: Photograph
language: English

Opelika, Alabama
subject: Lee County, AL; Civil War; Opelika, AL; Rousseau, General Lovell Harrison; Auburn, AL
description: The city of Opelika, Alabama was incorporated on February 9, 1854. Because of the many rail lines that snaked through the city, warehouses were built during the war to store cotton and other goods. When General Lovell Harrison Rousseau’s men stormed through Auburn and Opelika in July 1864, they destroyed railroads and other property including Opelika’s warehouses.
creator: Joshua Shiver
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 2014-12-4
contributor: Joshua Shiver
format: Text
language: English
type: Text

Original Site of FAME Recording Studio Marker
subject: Historic Markers; Florence, AL; Lauderdale County, AL
description: This historic marker is located at the intersection of Tennessee St and Seminary St, Florence, AL. The text on the side one of the marker reads: "This marks the site of the pioneering music company of Florence Alabama Music Enterprises (FAME), a name which became renowned worldwide is the home of the Muscle Shoals Sound. FAME was founded in the early 1960s by three young local entrepreneurs (Rick Hall, Billy Sherrell and Tom Stafford) who improvised a makeshift studio in a vacant room above the city drugstore that once stood here. FAME’S earliest recording sessions launched the careers of such music business legends as Arthur Alexander, Rick Hall, Billy Sherrell, Norbert Putman, David Briggs, Dan Penn, Spooner Oldham, and many others." Side two reads: "Following limited success, the partnership dissolved. Rick Hall took the publishing company and FAME name in return for the studio equipment. He relocated the studio to an empty tobacco warehouse in Muscle Shoals. His next recording of “You Better Move On”, by Arthur Alexander, was acclaimed as the Shoals first worldwide bestseller. Over the next several decades FAME recording studios became one of the most successful producers of rhythms in blues, pop and country music in the world. Rick Hall became known as the “Father of the Muscle Shoals Sound”. "
creator: Dylan Tucker, University of North Alabama
source: “Original Site of the FAME Recording Studio Marker”. Accessed 11/04/2015. http://www.lat34north.com/historicmarkersal/
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 11/5/2015
type: Text