Cathedral Church of the Advent
subject: Religion; Episcopal Church; Birmingham AL; Jefferson County, AL
description: http://adventbirmingham.org/about/our-parish/history/
creator: Taylor McGaughy
source: Image Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_Church_of_the_Advent_(Birmingham,_Alabama) http://archive.adventbirmingham.org/articles.asp?ID=4163 Text Source: Cathedral Church of the Advent - History, http://adventbirmingham.org/about/our-parish/history/
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 2015-7-23
contributor: John Harper Harris
format: JPEG and Text
language: English
type: Still Image and Text

Cathedral-Basilica of the Immaculate Conception
subject: Religion, Catholic, Mobile County, Mobile, National Register of Historic Places, Father Michael Portier
description: Located in Mobile, the Cathedral-Basilica of the Immaculate Conception was consecrated in December of 1850, fifteen years after the first cornerstone had been laud. Father Michael Portier was the leader in the construction of the cathedral after being made the founding bishop of the Diocese of Mobile in 1829. Originally this diocese included all of Alabama and Florida. The cathedral has gone through a series of enhancement and repairs over the years including in 1865 when the explosion of a magazine shop destroyed all of the plain glass windows in one of the walls and in 1954 when a fire collapsed the sanctuary floor, and the basement was flooded to stop the fire. In 1963, Pope John XXIII designated the Cathedral as a Minor Basilica. This designation is awarded based on several criteria including antiquity, historical, cultural, and artistic importance. On December 8th, 2004, the Cathedral celebrated the tercentennial of its establishment. A three-year plan for restoration was also completed at this point. Today the Cathedral offers daily mass and is open all day to everyone for private prayer.
creator: Makayla Melvin
source: http://www.mobilecathedral.org/cms/index.php/history/in-depth-history http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-3499
publisher: Makayla Melvin; MSM0041@auburn.edu

Cedar Creek Furnace (Alabama Iron Works)
subject: Franklin County, Russellville, Cedar Creek Furnace
description: Cedar Creek Furnace is a blast furnace located on a site near Russellville, Alabama. Joseph Heslip, a native of Pennsylvania, acquired the property around 1811 and used slave labor to construct the furnace. In 1820, a cholera outbreak killed Heslip and many of the furnace operators. In November 1825, the site was put up for auction and was purchased by Aaron Wells. Like Heslip, Wells was an ironmaker and operated the site for two years before he sold it to Robert Napier. From 1832 to 1836, the furnace operated until the creek near the site flooded. The floodwater extinguished the furnace and hardened the metal, making the furnace useless. Cedar Creek Furnace was the first iron ore furnaces in Alabama.
creator: Dylan Tucker, University of North Alabama
source: "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. Accessed June 1, 2015.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 1818
type: Document

Center (Centre) Star Marker
subject: Historic Markers; Killen, AL; Lauderdale County, AL
description: This historical marker is located at 6620 US 72, Killen, AL. The text on the side one reads: "Center Star was spelled Centre Star into the 1900s. The name evolved from the US Postal Service, which served remote areas by "star routes." The Post Office here, which existed from 1850 to 1914 (except between 1902 and 1913), was the center of a star route for this section of the county, thus Centre Star. This area is one of the oldest settlements in Lauderdale County. Settlers arriving in the early 1800s found both Chickasaw and Cherokee Indians. At one time, their dividing line overlapped here. Remains of Indian villages were found southwest of this location. The land south of Center Star was fertile and was sought by cotton planters desiring the "old fields" cleared by the Indians. Plantations established throughout the area included: Phillips/Taylor, Cunningham, Douglas, and Williams. Communities near here were Bellview, Big Oak and Houstontown. The Bellview Road ran from the mouth of the Bluewater Creek to Center Star. Center Star has the oldest active Methodist congregation in Lauderdale County: it was organized near the mouth of Bluewater Creek in June 1818. It later move near Center Star and was named Driskill's Chapel about 1893. In later years, it was renamed Center Star Methodist Church. The text on side two reads: "The Cumberland Presbyterian Church was organized at the Goodsprings Campground in 1839; it divided in April 1861, and a church was organized at Center Star. Center Star was a rallying point where Captain Edward A. O'Neal, on May 26, 1861, organized his "Calhoun Guard," later designated Company 1, 9th Alabama Infantry Regiment. O'Neal was promoted to Brigadier General and became Governor of Alabama after the War. On May 9, 1864, this was the scene of a two-hour skirmish between Colonel William A. Johnson's Confederate Fourth Alabama Cavalry and a combined Union force from the 7th Illinois Cavalry and the 9th Ohio Regiment under Colonel Richard Rowett.…
creator: Dylan Tucker, University of North Alabama
source: “Center (Centre) Star Maker”. Accessed 09/28/2015. http://www.lat34north.com/historicmarkersal/
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 2015
type: Text

Center Star Methodist Church
subject: Church; Religion
description: The Center Star Methodist Church congregation is the oldest Methodist congregation in Lauderdale County. Throughout its history the congregation has moved over five times. Its origins began in 1818, when the Methodist Richland Circuit of Giles County, Tennessee, extended across the Tennessee line into Lauderdale County, Alabama. One resident who lived in Lauderdale County at the time, Reverend Wesley Smith, wrote in a letter: “About the year 1819, my family moved from Tennessee to Lauderdale County, Alabama, and settled on Blue Water Creek. We had not been there long until the ‘circuit-rider’ found his cabin and soon made it a preaching place. I well remember the old cabin with dirt floor and two split-long benches that were used to seat the little congregation of backwoods worshipers.” Two early preachers were G. D. Taylor and J. Boucher. In 1823 the name of this congregation became Driskell Chapel Methodist Church, named after its Reverend Ambrose F. Driskell. Also during 1823, the congregation met in the old Trousdale home in Center Star, Alabama. The congregation kept the name, Driskell Chapel Methodist Church until 1893. During 1893 the congregation relocated approximately one mile east, where the church sits today. When it moved, the church changed its name to Center Star Methodist.
creator: Jesse Brock, University of North Alabama
source: Text: “Center Star Methodist Church,” Tennessee Valley Historical Society, Journal of Muscle Shoals History Vol. X (1983): 147. Jill Knight Garrett, A History of Lauderdale County, Alabama, 144
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 1800s
format: file

Center Star Skirmish
subject: Center Star; Civil War; Confederate Colonel Williams Johnson; 9th Ohio Cavalry; Lauderdale County, AL
description: Confederate Colonel William Johnson’s 4th Alabama Cavalry crossed the Tennessee River and attacked the 7th Illinois infantry encamped near Center Star on May 7, 1864. A six hour battle ensued. The Confederate raid caused 35 casualties and drove the Union into retreat back toward Rogersville. There the 7th Illinois joined up with the 9th Ohio Cavalry under the command of Colonel Rowett. On May13, the combined Union force attacked Johnson’s camp at Center Star. As a result of the second engagement, the confederate forces were driven back across the river.
creator: Michael Williams, University of North Alabama
source: Hannings, Bud. 2013. Every day of the Civil War : a chronological encyclopedia. n.p.: Boston, Massachusetts : Credo Reference, 2013., 2013. UNA Library Catalog, EBSCOhost (accessed April 30, 2015). McDonald, William Lindsey. 2003. Civil War tales of the Tennessee Valley. n.p.: Killen, Ala. : Heart of Dixie Pub. (1812 CR 111, Killen, Ala., 35645), [2003], 2003. UNA Library Catalog, EBSCOhost (accessed April 30, 2015). n.d. "Illinois Adjutant General's Report." old-new-orleans.co. Accessed April 18, 2015. http://www.old-new-orleans.com/ILLINOIS_CW_reghist.pdf.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: May 7-13, 1864
rights: Photo from following websites: http://www.oocities.org/bourbonstreet/Delta/3843/johnson.htm Photo from following websites: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=40292381

Chambers-Robinson House
subject: Colbert County, Alabama; Sheffield, Alabama; Chambers Robinson House; Architecture; National Register of Historic Places
description: The Chambers-Robinson House at 910 Montgomery Avenue in Sheffield is a two-story, Queen-Anne-style frame house, built in 1890 as a residence for Judson G. Chambers and his wife Mary. In 1898, the couple sold the home to Charles and Dora Robinson, whose descendents occupied the house for the next 64 years. The two-story frame house has a steeply pitched hipped roof supported by decorative brackets and pierced by several dormers. Another notable exterior feature is the wraparound porch, complete with elaborate posts, brackets, and latticework. Inside, a grand Eastlake staircase leads to the second story from a first-floor entry hall. The property was listed on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Places in 1992, and added to the National Register of Historic Places the following year.
creator: Brian Corrigan, University of North Alabama
source: National Register of Historic Places, Chambers-Robinson House, Sheffield, Colbert County, Alabama, National Register #93000419. "Chambers-Robinson House," Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chambers-Robinson_House (accessed November 7, 2015).
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: November 7, 2015
format: text, image

Chamlee Cemetery
subject: Cemeteries; Lee County, AL
description: Located in Auburn along Moores Mill Road. Coordinates: 32.5643029, -85.398002
creator: Heather Scheurer
source: alabama.hometownlocator.com
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 2014-12-6
contributor: Heather Scheurer
format: Text
language: English
type: Text

Chapman Smith
description: Lola Sewell remembered that he participated in Bloody Sunday march. He may have played football for Hudson High School. See attached Selma Times newspaper article.

Charles Bonner (#66)
subject: Selma student
description: Author of "Tip of the Arrow"
contributor: Maddy Bridges - Auburn University

Charles Maudin #6
description: Hudson High School student leader.

Charles Mauldin (#6)
subject: Selma student
description: Hudson High School A drive through Alabama's Civil Rights Corridor Page 188 - worked to recruit more students

Cherokee Chief Doublehead's Village Around 1800 Marker
subject: Historic Marker; Rogersville, AL; Lauderdale County, AL
description: This historic marker is located at the Bluewater Creek Polo Club on the south side near US Hwy 72. The text on the marker reads: "About 1800 Doublehead located his village at this site, where his brother-in-law Tahonteeskee had previously lived. Doublehead's log house was built along the same style of those of the white settlers. Chief Doublehead had previously led raids against Tennessee settlers from Moneetown, located southwest of here. In 1806 a reserve was set aside for Doublehead between Elk River and Cypress Creek. He leased large tracts of land to white settlers who were later evicted by the U.S. Army. His own people assassinated Doublehead on the Hiwassee River in 1807." The Florence Historical Board and Edward Stanley Robbins erected this marker.
creator: Dylan Tucker, University of North Alabama
source: “Cherokee Chief Doublehead's Village around 1800 Marker”. Accessed 09/21/2015. http://www.lat34north.com/historicmarkersal/
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: Late 1900s
type: Text

Cherokee High School
subject: Colbert County, Alabama; Cherokee, Alabama; Rosenwald school; African American History
description: Cherokee High School was one of seven Rosenwald School built for African Americans in Colbert County. The Julius Rosenwald Grant provided the funds for the building. The local African American community provided the remaining funds and land for the school. Around $2,900 came directly from the community. The grant from the Rosenwald’s was only worth only $800. Residents in the community were also able to raise around $900 through various donations and fundraisers. The first class graduated in 1938 and the last class graduated in 1969. The school was closed down after 1969 due to integration. The location of the school can be found on 4595 Old Lee Hwy
creator: Sam Keiser, University of North Alabama
source: Curott, David. Colbert & Lauderdale County History Written on Signs of the Past. Bluewater Publishing, 2011. 17
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: November 30, 2015

Cherokee High School
subject: Cherokee High School; Colbert County School System; Cherokee, Alabama; Colbert County, Alabama; High School; School; Education
description: Cherokee High School was founded in 1925 as Cherokee Vocational High School as it was the first designated vocational school in Colbert County. The original high school building was located where the current gymnasium stands. As the school expanded with the end of segregation in 1968 the old high school became the junior high school. That building burned on January 21, 1971. Cherokee High School is located in Cherokee, Alabama and serves the western portion of Colbert County as part of the Colbert County School system. It is located along County Road 21 (North Pike) off of U.S. Highway 72.
creator: Thomas Hale, University of North Alabama
source: “About the School”, Accessed on November 29, 2015, www.chsindians.org/?PageName='AboutTheSchool’
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: November 30, 2015

Cherokee Public Library
subject: Public Libraries; Cherokee; Colbert County; Alabama
description: 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 first left on Church Street. The library is on the corner of First and Church Streets. It offers over 14,000 books and periodicals as well as 7 computers with DSL internet access for the general public and wifi access. The library is open 12 pm - 6pm Monday, 12 pm – 5 pm Tuesdays and Thursdays, and 10 am – 2 pm on Fridays. It is closed on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays.
creator: Jacob Grandstaff, University of North Alabama
source: “Cherokee Public Library," Accessed Novermber, 16, 2015, http://webmini.apls.state.al.us/apls_web/cherokee/?q=home. http://thermasavetech.com/?attachment_id=482
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: November 27, 2015

Cherry Cemetery
subject: Cemeteries; Lee County, AL
description: Located in Auburn on Shug Jordan Parkway at Wire Road. Coordinates: 32.5920792, -85.5043942
creator: Heather Scheurer
source: alabama.hometownlocator.com
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 2014-12-6
contributor: Heather Scheurer
format: Text
language: English
type: Text

Cherry Cotton Mill
subject: Industry
description: The Cherry Cotton Mill was one of the largest cotton mills in Lauderdale County at the turn of the twentieth century. Cherry Cotton Mill has an industrial genealogy in Lauderdale County that is traceable to before the Civil War. Cypress Mills Company and the Mountain Mills were both precursors to the Cherry Cotton Mill. Cherry Cotton Mill came to Florence in the Sweetwater area by way of Barton, Alabama and Colbert County and the movement of Mountain Mills to east Florence. Located in Sweetwater at the sight of where an old cotton mill used to be in 1832, Colonel Noel F. Cherry (and primary stock holder), Nial C. Elting (founder of First National Bank of Florence), and Charles M. Brandon (who the Brandon School was named after) founded Cherry Cotton Mill in 1893. The Cherry Cotton Mill produced high quality yarns, amongst other textiles, until the doors of the mill closed during the Great Depression. During the boom years of the early twentieth century, the Cherry Cotton Mill employed over 400 people and had a running capacity of 12,000 spoolers. Just before the turn of the twentieth century, the average wage for the common worker at Cherry was fifteen to seventy-five cents a day. Specialized mechanics and skilled craftsman would earn anywhere from a dollar to a dollar fifty a day. A master mechanic would make a dollar fifty a day and a supervisor two dollars a day. Even children were employed at the mill at as young as six years old. The majority of the employees at the mill were women, but both the children and women tended to be paid the lowest, which is indicative of factory work at the beginning of the 1900s. The mill did provide housing to its employees on close by Cherry Hill in Sweetwater. From 1893 to 1929, Cherry Cotton Mill is said to have consumed 150,000 bales of local cotton in production. Prosperous until the Great Depression, the number of people employed in 1936 by Cherry Cotton Mill was 300 workers, a strong number for an economic downturn. The pay…
creator: Matthew C. Fesmire, University of North Alabama
source: Text Sources: McDonald, William Lindsey. "A Walk Through the Past: People and Places of Florence and Lauderdale County, Alabama." Killen, Ala., Bluewater Publications, 2003. McDonald, William Lindsey. "Sweetwater: The Story of East Florence." Florence, Ala.: Florence Historical Board, 1989. McDonald, William Lindsey. "Remembering Sweetwater: The Mansions, The Mills, The People." photos by L.D. Staggs, Jr. Killen, Ala., Bluewater Publications, 2002. Picture Source: UNA Archives & Special Collection. William L. McDonald Collection. “Cherry Cotton Mill.” Florence, Alabama. Box 12: Florence Industry, 12-29.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: Late Nineteenth-Early Twentieth Century
format: Image

Cherry Street Historic District Marker
subject: Historic Markers; Florence, AL; Lauderdale County, AL
description: This historic marker is located on North Cherry Street near Hermitage Drive, Florence, Alabama. The text on the marker reads: "Placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997, this district contains 52 structures, most of which were built after 1900. Cherry Street was laid out in 1818 near the east boundary of Florence. Pulitzer Prize winner Thomas Sigismund Stribling portrayed Cherry Street in his novel, The Store. Angel's Corner, at Cherry and Tuscaloosa Streets was named for the James H. Angel Grocery Store which was established about 1905. This was a popular streetcar stop during the era of the streetcars."
creator: Dylan Tucker, University of North Alabama
source: “Cherry Street Historic District Marker”. Accessed 09/21/2015. http://www.lat34north.com/historicmarkersal/
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: Late 1900s
type: Text

Chick-n-Treat

Chickasaw Indian Agency
subject: Colbert County, Alabama; Cherokee, Alabama; Chickasaw Indian Agency; Native American history
description: The Chickasaw Indian Agency oversaw the removal of Native Americans during the forced relocation known as the Trail of Tears. The agency specifically dealt with the removal of the Chickasaw Nation in both Alabama and Mississippi. This agency was originally located in Mississippi. In 1825, a man named Benjamin Smith moved the agency from Mississippi to Cherokee, Alabama. Benjamin Reynolds would later take over for Benjamin Smith and run the agency. Reynolds was responsible for negotiating the removal of the Native American tribes from their lands during the Trail of Tears.
creator: Sam Keiser, University of North Alabama
source: Curott, David. Colbert & Lauderdale County History Written on Signs of the Past. Bluewater Publishing, 2011. 20
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: December 1, 2015
format: text

Chief Colbert
subject: African-American history
description: Chief George Colbert owned a ferry across the Tennessee River, connecting Colbert and Lauderdale Counties. Colbert owned many African-American slaves. One such slave was named Lem Colbert, who operated Colbert's ferry at Waterloo, Alabama.
creator: Ashley Pentecost, University of North Alabama
source: William McDonald, A Walk Through the Past. University of North Alabama archives.
publisher: Alabama cultural resource survey
date: Late eighteenth-early nineteenth century

Chief Doublehead
subject: Chief Doublehead; Cherokee Tribe; Lauderdale County, AL; Bluewater Creek
description: 1774 – 1807 Doublehead, who was also known as “Talo Tiske” (meaning two heads) and sometimes “Autowee,” was a member of a prominent Cherokee family. “Tassel” or “Old Tassel” was a beloved statesman and principal chief of the Cherokee Nation whose name became synonymous with integrity and truth. One of his sisters, Wurteh, married Nathan Gist, who was white and who married into the tribe, choosing to live with the Cherokees. Gist acted as an intermediary on behalf of the Cherokees in their dealings with the white. Wurteh and Nathan Gist were the parents of Sequoya. John Watts, who at one time was counted as the Chief of Chiefs among all Cherokees, was Doublehead’s nephew. Doublehead was without any noted influence in his family until around 1790, the year he established a town near Muscle Shoals. He later moved his town to the north bank of the Tennessee River near the mouth of Blue Water Creek in Lauderdale County. There are legends, and some evidence, that Doublehead lived in other places in Lauderdale County before settling at Blue Water Creek, which is located near Center Star. (Tahleitoiskee, his brother-in-law, had lived there). Tahleitoiskee’s people had made the land inhabitable for farmers. Approximately forty “mostly cast-offs from other Cherokee and Creek villages,” moved to Blue Water with Doublehead. Though the original settlers were “infamous in Tennessee history as “the ravagers of the Cumberlands,” in time, they were joined by other Cherokees. For over two hundred years, the area Doublehead claimed kept as a hunting reserve for both Chickasaws and Cherokees. Doublehead’s settlement was thought to be a test to see if he could regain title to the lands. With the death of Old Tassel in 1788, Doublehead’s position in the tribe started to rise within the Cherokee tribe. He attended important conferences and exerted “considerable influence in the treaties between the United States government and the Indian Nations.” Doublehead, taking twenty-eight members o…
creator: Pam Kingsbury, University of North Alabama
source: McDonald, William Lindsey. "The Lore of Chief Doublehead and His Home at Muscle Shoals." The WIlliam McDonald Lindsey Collection. Archives, Collier Library. University of North Alabama.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: c. 1750 to 1810
contributor: Pam Kingsbury, University of North Alabama
rights: Archives. Collier Library. The University of North Alabama, Florence, Alabama.
format: Photograph. Courtesy of Collier Library.
type: Still Image and Text

Children's Museum of the Shoals
subject: Children's Museum of the Shoals
description: The Children’s Museum of the Shoals is located on Darby Drive in Florence and is part of Deibert Park. The museum offers hands-on exhibits, which allow children of different ages to explore the arts, science, and the history and culture of the Tennessee Valley. The purpose of the Children’s Museum of the Shoals is to promote education and learning. School and group tours are offered by the museum.
creator: Kayla Scott, University of North Alabama
source: http://shoalschildrensmuseum.org Destination Shoals Magazine, 2011. Images courtesy of Kayla Scott
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
format: Image

Christ Church
subject: Architectural Drawings; Watercolors; Churches; Wooden Buildings; Steeples; Doors & Doorways; Porches; Columns; Roofs; Fences; Ironwork; Men; Women; Trees; Landscapes (Representations); Mobile, AL; Mobile County, AL
description: This image is a watercolor painting of Christ Church (also known as Christ Episcopal Church) in Mobile, Alabama done by William T. Warren, Jr. in 1939. The painting shows the front exterior of the church with its steeple, doors, columned porch, steps, sloping roof. There is an iron fence in front of the church, landscaped grounds with trees, and a man on the street and a woman in the church door in period dress. The church is placed within framing art showing its architectural features including a close-up of a roof corner and the steeple, a floor plan and a side view of the church. 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 and is encapsulated.
creator: Warren, William T., 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: 1939-01-01
date: 1838-01-01
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 (Historic American Buildings Survey): http://www.loc.gov/item/al0423/ ; Documenting the American South: http://docsouth.unc.edu/nc/king/ill231.html ; Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ_Church_Cathedral_%28Mobile,_Alabama%29
format: PDF
language: English
type: Still image
coverage: Mobile -- Mobile County -- Alabama ; Northeast corner of Church & Saint Emanuel Streets, Mobile, Mobile County, AL

Christopher Wylie

Church of Christ
subject: Colbert County, Alabama; Tuscumbia, Alabama; African American history; African American Church; African American History
description: The church is located near Lagrange College and the home of Abraham Ricks. The church no longer holds regular services. A former slave, Parson George Ricks, established the church. After gaining his freedom, Parson Ricks took work as a cotton picker. He worked this job until he could afford land. After reaching this goal he built his church on 300 acres of land. The building only has one room and served as a school as well.
creator: Sam Keiser, University of North Alabama
source: McWilliams, John L. Tuscumbia. Charleston, S.C., South Carolina: Arcadia Pub. 2012. 66-67
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: December 1, 2015
format: text

Church Spring and School Marker
subject: Historical Markers; Florence, AL; Lauderdale County, AL
description: This historic marker is located at the intersection of W. Spring Street and S. Pine Street on W. Spring Street, Florence, Alabama. The text on the marker reads: "About 1849, African-Americans began holding religious services in a brick cow shed overlooking the town spring near the site. It was purchased in 1857 by the local Methodists for this congregation, with Robin Lightfoot, a slave as its pastor. In 1879, it was organized as St. Paul's African-American Methodist Episcopal Church. Children of slaves and freemen were taught here in early years. In 1866, the Freedmen's Bureau established a school for the children of African-Americans, probably at this location."
creator: Dylan Tucker, University of North Alabama
source: “Church Springs and School Marker”. Accessed 09/28/2015. http://www.lat34north.com/historicmarkersal/
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: Late 1900s
type: Text

City of Florence Marker
subject: Historical Markers; Florence, AL; Lauderdale County, AL
description: This historic marker is located at the intersection of East Mobile Street and North Court Street, Florence, Alabama. The text on the marker reads: "Florence was surveyed for the Cypress Land Company in 1818 by Ferdinand Sannoner and named for the famous capital of Tuscany. The county seat of Lauderdale County, it was first incorporated in 1826. Located at the foot of Muscle Shoals, it became a thriving agricultural and commercial center with light industry and significant religious, educational, and medical institutions. During the Civil War, Florence was occupied by both armies at various times. The Tennessee Valley Authority with Wilson and Wheeler Dams contributed to further economic development."
creator: Dylan Tucker, University of North Alabama
source: “City of Florence Marker”. Accessed 09/28/2015. http://www.lat34north.com/historicmarkersal/
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Marker
date: Late 1900s
type: Text

City of Florence Walk of Honor
subject: Statues/Monuments; Lauderdale County, AL
description: The City of Florence Walk of Honor is located next to the Marriott hotel in River Heritage Park. The city of Florence designed the Walk of Honor to recognize residents of Lauderdale County who had/have found success at the national or international level. Those fields include agriculture, art, athletics, business, education, government, literature, military, medicine, music, religion, science and technology, and public service. In 2007 16 people were inducted as the first honorees, but their monuments were not placed until 2008. Inductees include Gen. John Coffee, Caroline Lee Hentz, Thomas Stribbling, Dred Scott, and Billy Reid.
creator: Claire Eagle, University of North Alabama
source: City of Florence, Alabama, "Walk of Honor,"http://www.florenceal.org/Administration/Walk_of_Honor/index.html (Accessed April 28, 2015)
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
format: Text

Civil War and Jackson’s Military Road
subject: Civil War; Andrew Jackson; Military Road; Lauderdale County, AL
description: Jackson’s Military Road was constructed from 1816 to 1820 under the direction of Andrew Jackson. The original purpose of the road was to serve as a conduit for military supplies in the southeast. The mail route from New Orleans to Nashville was transferred to the Military Road from the Natchez Trace in 1819. This shortened the mail route by 200 miles. During the Civil War, the Military Road was used by Confederate and Union forces on many occasions. The largest troop movement on the road in Lauderdale County occurred in the fall of 1864. After a three inch snow fall on November 20, the Confederate Army of the Tennessee under General Hood moved out of Florence to Franklin and Nashville in Tennessee. General Benjamin Cheatham’s corps moved down Coffee Road. General Stephen Lee’s corps took Chisholm road. General Alexander Stewart’s corps left via the Military Road.
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. 2003. Civil War tales of the Tennessee Valley. n.p.: Killen, Ala. : Heart of Dixie Pub. (1812 CR 111, Killen, Ala., 35645), [2003], 2003. UNA Library Catalog, EBSCOhost (accessed April 30, 2015). Groundspeak, Incorporated. 2015. "Jackson’s Military Road - Alabama Historical Markers on Waymarking.com." Waymarking.com. Accessed April 16, 2015. http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM1PNX. n.d. "Jackson's Military Road." rootsweb. Accessed April 16, 2015. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~tqpeiffer/Documents/Ancestral%20Migration%20Archives/Migration%20Webpage%20Folder/%285%29%20SOUTHEASTERN%20GULF%20PLAINS/Jackson%27s%20Military%20Road.htm.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 1816-1820, November 1864
rights: Photo from following websites: http://gardenofpraise.com/ibdjack.htm Photo from following websites: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~tqpeiffer/Documents/Ancestral%20Migration%20Archives/Migration%20Photo%20Galleries/(5)%20SOUTHEASTERN%20GULF%20PLAINS/JACKSONS%20MILITARY%20ROAD/JacksonsMilitaryRoadmap.jpg

Civil War Preparations Begin in Decatur
subject: Events; Civil War; Decatur, AL; Morgan County, AL
description: After LeRoy Pope Walker became the first Secretary of War of the Confederacy, he immediately issued the order to confederate forces to attack Fort Sumter. As the war escalated enlistments grew. A growing number of men of the Tennessee Valley signed up to defend their homes. The following is a letter for supplies and support issued to A. B. Moore from John Rather. "Hon. A. B. Moore, Dear Sir, We had a meeting here today for the purpose of raising a volunteer company. We have 53 men, and Monday next, the 22nd inst., will complete the company at Somerville and immediately thereafter will organize by the election of officers. We lend our services to you and through you to the Confederate Government and desire to be received into immediate services in the Volunteer Corps. Write full needs as to requirements about uniforms and whether we are expected to prepare our own tents or will the government furnish them, or rather can do it now. Please respond promptly and oblige. Yours respectufully, John D, Rather"
creator: Dylan Tucker, University of North Alabama
source: Knox, John. "Story of Decatur, Alabama."
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 1860s
type: Text

Civilian Conservation Corps Camps at the TVA
subject: Colbert, County; Muscle Shoals, Alabama; the New Deal; TVA; Wilson Dam; National Park Service
description: The Civilian Conservation Corps, or CCC, was created by President Roosevelt as part of the New Deal. The main goals of the CCC was to reduce fire hazards, control disease, repair railroads, and prevent erosion. A CCC company located in the Muscle Shoals area cleared a 240-acre area of land for the Muscle Shoals City Airport. After this task they were used to maintain tree saplings to help with reforestation of many of the country's forests. In cooperation with the Naitonal Park Service, the CCC created footpaths, trails, bridges, parking areas, picnic areas, shelters, a field museum, boy scout meeting houses and an observation point overlooking a river; this all encompassed the new TVA park opened on July 4, 1935. The CCC in the Muscle Shoals area also produced a radio program broadcast over the area every week. The last company sent to the area was company 4499. This company originally worked for the United States Forest Services. Their main goal was to help prevent erosion.
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.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: November 30, 2015
format: image

Civilian Conservation Corps in Lee County
subject: Lee County, AL; Great Depression; Public Works; Education; New Deal; Alabama State Parks
description: During the 1930s two Civilian Conservation Corps groups were organized in Lee County. Post Number 4448 was located near Chewacla State Park and Post Number 4447 was located on South College Street in Auburn. Members of the Corps came from states throughout the South. From 1935-1941 Post 4448 built Chewacla State Park, including construction of a dam and lake, cabins, roads, trails, office, and bath houses. Education was a major benefit of joining the CCC. In Lee County classes were offered by Alabama Polytechnic Institute, in both the camps and on campus. One report from Post 4448 claimed that 92 percent of the men were enrolled in educational courses. The advent of World War II resulted in the closing of both CCC camps in 1941. Only a water tower and foundations remain from the camp of Post 4448.
creator: Evan Isaac
source: Images: User hikenit, waymarking.com, http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMH65V_Chewacla_State_Park_CCC_Auburn_AL Text: Robert Pasquill Jr., Company 4448, SP-12, Auburn Alabama, in Trails in History: Official Newsletter of the Lee County Historical Society, Vol. 42, No. 2, April 2009, 8-11. http://www.leecountyhistoricalsociety.org/trails/trailsv42n2april09.pdf
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 2014-12-08
contributor: Evan Isaac
format: JPEG and Text
language: English
type: Still Image and Text

Clarance Nelson #109
description: Date of Birth - 1926-06-03
contributor: Laura King

Clarence Carter
subject: Montgomery, Montgomery County, FAME Studios, Candi Staton, Rick Hall, Alabama School for the Blind, Alabama State College, Rock music, R&B music, Blues music, Soul music, Grammy Awards
description: Clarence Carter (January 14, 1936 - ) The best way to describe Clarence Carter’s style is that he is a soul and blues preacher of love, most specifically, the cheating kind. Carter’s vocals, at times soaring and at times down in the gutter, combined with a mischievous chuckle that threatens to reveal more that it should, makes him a truly unique individual in the blues and soul world. Clarence Carter was born on January 14, 1936, in Montgomery, Alabama. Blind at birth, Clarence was a student at Alabama School for the Blind in Talladega, Alabama, and later matriculated at Alabama State College (now University) in Montgomery, earning a degree in music. Teaming with a fellow ASC student, Calvin Scott, who was also blind, they formed the singing duo of Clarence & Calvin, later renamed the C & C Boys. Recording first for Fairlane Records, then Duke Records, their recordings failed to have much success. In 1965, they traveled to Muscle Shoals, Alabama to record at FAME Studios with owner/producer Rick Hall. The song “Step By Step” caught the ear of executives with Atlantic Records, who signed the duo and released the song as a single. While it, too, generated little buzz, “Step By Step” saw the beginning of a collaboration between Carter and Hall which would prove to be most successful. Shortly after the release of “Step By Step,” Scott was seriously injured in an auto accident, effectively ending the duo of Carter and Scott. Clarence continued as a solo act, recording albums for Hall’s Fame label at FAME Studios. 1967 saw Clarence release, “Tell Daddy,” his first hit, reaching #35 on the R&B chart. The song was recorded a year later, as “Tell Mama,” by Etta James, and was her biggest pop hit. The success of the song led to Clarence signing with Atlantic Records, and resulted in a string of hits, starting with “Slip Away” (#2-R&B, 1968), “Too Weak to Fight” (#3-R&B, 1968), and “Patches” (#2-R&B, 1970). By the mid-1970s, with disco coming on the scene, Clarence’s career be…
creator: John Griffin, University of North Alabama
source: “Clarence Carter” http://alamhof.org/inductees/timeline/2003/clarence-carter/ Accessed December 1, 2016 “Soul Blue Music – Clarence Carter” http://www.soulbluesmusic.com/clarencecarter.htm Accessed December 1, 2016 “FAME Studios history” http://www.fame2.com/our-history/ Accessed December 1, 2016 All images courtesy of Mr. George Lair and the Alabama Music Hall of Fame, unless otherwise noted.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 1936-2016
format: text, video, web, >jpeg

Cleophus Hobbs
subject: Selma student SNCC field organizer

Cleveland "Cleve" Eaton
subject: Fairfield, Jefferson County, Alabama Music Hall of Fame, Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame, Jazz music, Bass (instrument), Big Band music, Ike Cole Trio, Ramsey Lewis Trio, Count Basie
description: Cleveland "Cleve" Eaton (August 31, 1939 - ) In his long career in music, it is difficult to find a genre or an entertainer or act that Cleve Eaton has either not recorded or toured with. The man dubbed “the Count’s Bassist” because of his long association with Count Basie and his orchestra, Eaton has also worked with such artists as jazz pianist Ike Cole (Nat’s brother), pop artist Minnie Riperton, R&B group The Dells, as well as Julie London, Sammie David, Jr., Herbie Hancock, and The Temptations…and that just touches the surface. Born in Fairfield, Alabama on August 31, 1939, Cleveland Eaton grew up in a house full of musical influence. Between the ages of five to fifteen, Cleve mastered the piano, saxophone, trumpet, and tuba. But it was the string bass with captured Cleve’s interest and, as they say, the rest is history. After earning a degree in music at Tennessee A & I State University, Cleve first connected with Ike Cole in Chicago, become a part of his trio. In 1965, Cleve began a decade-long stint with the Ramsey Lewis Trio, playing bass on such albums as “Wade In The Water” (1966), “Goin’ Latin” (1967), and the number one jazz album “Sun Goddess” (1975). While the Ramsey Lewis Trio was where Cleve made his mark on the national scene, it was his 17-year association with The Count Basie Orchestra that cemented his spot as the preeminent bassist of his time. Eaton’s work with Basie began just two weeks after he left Lewis in a salary dispute. Cleve can be heard on such albums as “Kansas City Shout” (1980), “88 Basie Street” (1983), which won the 1984 Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Big Band, and on Basie’s last album, “Fancy Pants” (1983). Eaton continued his association with The Count Basie Orchestra after Basie’s death in 1984, including on “Big Boss Band” (1990), by George Benson, which featured the Basie orchestra. During this time, Cleve was also heading his own project, Cleve Eaton and Co., which evolved, in 2004, into Cleve Eaton and th…
creator: John Griffin, University of North Alabama
source: “Cleveland Eaton – Alabama Music Hall of Fame” http://alamhof.org/inductees/timeline/2008/cleveland-eaton/ Accessed December 1, 2016 “Cleveland Eaton Official Website” http://clevelandeatonmusic.com/home/ Accessed December 1, 2016 “Cleve Eaton Interview – The Birmingham Times 2/5/15” http://www.birminghamtimes.com/2015/02/the-cleve-eaton-story-god-is-in-control/ Accessed December 1, 2016 All images courtesy of Mr. George Lair and the Alabama Music Hall of Fame, unless otherwise noted.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 1939-2016
format: text, video, web, >jpeg, image

Cliffton Barker #131

Cloverdale Cemetery
subject: Cemeteries, Lauderdale County
description: Cloverdale Cemetery is located off of Cloverdale Rd. To reach this cemetery turn north off Cox Creek Parkway onto Ala 157 (Cloverdale Road); Go 10.9 miles to the cemetery. The cemetery is on the right side of the road, in back of the Cloverdale Church of Christ. A full description of graves can be viewed here: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~allauder/cem-cloverdale.htm
creator: Dylan Tucker, University of North Alabama
source: Irons, Olan. "Cloverdale Cemetery." Rootsweb. October 4, 1989. http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~allauder/cem-cloverdale.htm. Accessed April 28, 2015.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: Late 1800s.

Clyde Carter House
subject: Colbert County, Alabama; Ford City, Alabama; Clyde Carter House; Clyde Carter; Henry Ford; Wilson Dam; Rural Electrification Act; Agriculture; Architecture; National Register of Historic Places
description: Built between 1924 and 1930, the Clyde Carter House is a Spanish-Eclectic-style cottage located in what was (briefly) the Bernard Subdivision of Ford City. With its "fanciful," European-influenced design and stuccoed walls, the house stands out amongst the Bungalow-style dwellings which otherwise dominate its rural setting. The Carter residence was the first, and only, home built for the proposed Bernard Subdivision, envisioned as a planned community for nitrate-plant workers and their families after Henry Ford announced his intention to buy Wilson Dam from the federal government and remake the agricultural Shoals into "a modern industrial landscape." When Ford's plans fell through, development of a planned community at Ford City was scrapped, and construction of the Spanish Eclectic cottage was abandoned until Clyde Carter purchased the property in 1930. For a decade and a half, beginning in 1930, Carter and his family grew cotton and corn on the surrounding farmland, and the same two crops were still being farmed on the property as recently as 2004, when the house was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
creator: Brian Corrigan, University of North Alabama
source: National Register of Historic Places, Clyde Carter House, Ford City, Colbert County, Alabama, National Register #04000559.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: November 7, 2015
format: text, image

Coach Lawrence Huggins from R. B. Hudson High School (Volunteer #1)
description: Huggins was 29 years old at the time of Bloody Sunday.

Cobb House
subject: Architectural Drawings; Watercolors; Houses; Dwellings; Brickwork; Doors & Doorways; Windows; Shutters; Porches; Columns; Balconies; Hand Railings; Ironwork; Roofs; Chimneys; Moldings; Women; Trees; Landscapes (Representations); Tuskegee, AL; Macon County, AL
description: This image is a watercolor painting of the Cobb House in Tuskegee, Alabama done by Tom Brown Kirkland sometime between 1917 and 1942. The year the house was built in is unknown. The painting shows the front exterior of the house with its doors, windows, shutters, two story columned porch, steps, balcony, iron hand railing, brick walls, sloped roof, and two chimneys surrounded by trees and landscaping. There is a woman in period dress at the foot of the steps. The house is placed within framing art showing its architectural features including the molding under the roof and around the doors, the columns, the bricks, the iron railing from the balcony, various scales, and a floor plan of the porch. In the lower right corner, there is an Alabama Polytechnic Institute School of Architecture stamp. Above the stamp there is a stamped red star with a handwritten inscription "2nd Medal." At the top of the painting is the phrase: "Measured and drawn by Tom Brown Kirkland." The painting is in good condition, with four small spots of discoloration in the lower left corner, and is encapsulated.
creator: Kirkland, Tom Brown (rendering) ; Daniels, James (house)
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: 1855-01-01
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 (Historic American Buildings Survey): http://www.loc.gov/item/al0329/
format: PDF
language: English
type: Still image
coverage: Tuskegee -- Macon County -- Alabama ; 504 East Main Street, Tuskegee, Macon County, AL (Southwest corner of Main and Yancy Streets)

Coca-Cola Bottling Plant/Pratt Bottling Company
subject: Industry
description: In 1907, two men named Russell and Arthur Pratt of Huntsville, Alabama moved a Coca-Cola bottling facility from Sheffield to downtown Florence. The Pratt Bottling Company bottled Coca-Cola in addition to creating and manufacturing their own soft drinks and ice cream flavors. Two years later in 1909, Russell Pratt became the main distributor for Coca-Cola on the West Coast; meanwhile, Arthur Pratt left Florence to pursue Coca-Cola distribution in Newark, New Jersey and New York City, New York. Julia Pratt and manager Burt Snyder took over the operations at the Pratt Bottling Company until 1940 when the Pratt Bottling Company was sold to Walter Matthews Sr. in 1940. Eventually, the Coca-Cola bottling operations moved from downtown Florence to the Florence Industrial Park. Comcast Cable owns the old Pratt Bottling Company building located off of Court Street today.
creator: Matthew C. Fesmire, University of North Alabama
source: Text Source: Barske, Carolyn. "Images of America: Florence." Charleston: Arcadia Publishing, 2014. Picture Source: UNA Archives & Special Collection. William L. McDonald Collection. “Coca-Cola Bottling Plant/Pratt Bottling Company.” Florence, Alabama. Box 12: Florence Industry, 12-56.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: Early Twentieth-Mid to Late Twentieth Century
format: Image

Cody Cemetery
subject: Cemeteries; Florence, AL; Lauderdale County, AL
description: To reach Cody Cemetery from Florence take to Highway 20 County Road 8, take a right. The cemetery is located on the left side of the road a mile after the turn. The cemetery is located in a wooded area 50 feet off the road and is fenced. The cemetery has a total of seven recorded burials.
creator: Dylan Tucker, University of North Alabama
source: "Cody Cemetery." http://www.interment.net/data/us/al/lauderdale/cody/index.htm. Accessed August 24, 2015.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 08/24/2015
type: Text

Coffee Cemetery
subject: Cemeteries, Lauderdale County
description: From downtown Florence take Cloverdale Road (State Highway 157), go for about 2 miles, turn left about 50 yards after crossing Cox Creek. A historical marker can be seen here (about General John Coffee and the War of 1812) at the entrance to the property. Continue on Cloverdale Rd. until you pass a CVS Pharmacy. Take a left at the first red light and the cemetery will be on the left. The cemetery is enclosed by a brick wall about 4 feet high and is about 100 feet by 100 feet in area. As far as can be determined, there are 64 graves inside of the wall, 20 of these are of the marble vault type tombs, 4 are of marble slab type, 8 are marble vertical or perpendicular type, and 6 are stones with no engravings at all. Maintenance of the cemetery has increased (Florence Historical Board) and the trees have been cleared so it is now easily accessible. The cemetery is located next to recently constructed Walmart. General John Coffee lies among his family and close friends in this cemetery. The high brick wall that encloses the cemetery was constructed in 1924 to protect the site. On the marble stone above Coffee's grace are these words prepared by his friend, President Andrew Jackson: “Sacred to the Memory of General John Coffee who departed this life on the 7th day of July, 1833, age sixty-one years. As a husband, parent, and friend, he was affectionate, tender, and sincere. He was a brave, prompt, and skillful general, a disinterested and sagacious patriot, an unpretending and honest man. To complete his character, religion mingled with these virtues her serene and holy influence gave him that solid distinction among his fellow men which detraction cannot sully nor the grave conceal. Death could do no more than removed so excellent a being from the theatre he so much adorned in this world, to the bosom of the God who created him and who alone has the power to reward the immortal spirit with exhaustless bliss.” There are also over 130 slave burials outside of the walled cem…
creator: Dylan Tucker, University of North Alabama
source: Hill, William Q. "Coffee Cemetery." Rootsweb. March 22, 1969. http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~allauder/cem-coffee-John.htm. Accessed April 12, 2015. McDonald, William L. "A Walk Through the Past: People and Places of Florence and Lauderdale County, Alabama." Bluewater Publishing, 2003. 408.
date: Mid 1800s.
type: Text.

Coffee High School
subject: Education
description: Coffee High School opened in 1916, becoming the first public high school in Florence. The building cost $96,000, a very large amount for the early 1900's. The school was named Coffee High School after Mrs. A.D. Coffee, the daughter-in-law of General Coffee, donated the land the school was built on. The first graduating class consisted of 11 students. Coffee High School was moved from its original building in 1951 to new buildings on Hermitage. The school then was merged with Bradshaw high school in 2004 to form Florence High School.
creator: Claire Eagle, University of North Alabama
source: Elizabeth Womack McDonald. History of the Florence City schools, 1820-1967, 1900. UNA Library Catalog, EBSCOhost (accessed April 29, 2015).
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: 1916-2004
format: Text

Colbert County Colored Fair
subject: Colbert County, Alabama; African American History; Fairs; Colbert County Colored Fair
description: As far back as 1912 there is a record of a fair for African Americans taking place in Colbert County. The fair took place at a location called the Fair Grounds. The fair was popular, with a large turnout for the event. The event officially began on a Wednesday in October of 1912. The festival opened with a street parade that included a band and was followed by kids from the local schools. There were also several exhibits, talks, and displays during the course of the fair. The fair closed on Saturday night ending four days of fair activities. The fair, according to the newspaper the Alabama Dispatch was the only fair for African Americans to take place in the state. The paper also notes that by the end of the fair thousands of African Americans had attended this event. All signs point to this fair generating a large amount of interest in the African-American community.
creator: Sam Keiser, University of North Alabama
source: "Colored Fair in Progress Large Crowds In Attendance And Great Interest Being Manifested." Alabama Dispatch, October 17, 1912.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: December 1, 2015
format: text

Colbert County Courthouse
subject: Courthouses; Tuscumbia, Alabama, Colbert County, Alabama
description: 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 Tuscumbia. On March 7, 1870, an election took place to decide if Cherokee or Tuscumbia would be the permanent county seat. Tuscumbia would go on to win by a vote of 1367 to 794. On December 13, 1880, the county spent $2,000 and bought four lots in downtown Tuscumbia from Colonel J.F. Deshler. These lots would soon provide the location of the Colbert County Courthouse. Construction of the courthouse began on August 22, 1881. The architect chosen was a man named Mr. Edward Laurent of Nashville. Mr. William Dowling of Chattanooga was awarded the contract for the construction of the courthouse. Mr. Hornung was chosen to be the contractor for the laying the stone foundation. In the northern part of town, workers were expected to produce about 500,000 bricks for building material. This two-storied Italianate styled structure was finished by May of 1882 for a cost of $14,750. The building served the county well until a fire gutted the structure on May 14, 1908. With most of the brick walling undamaged, the county created a “special courthouse tax” to fund the reconstruction. This new Neo-Classical Revival styled courthouse was completed in 1909. Since then, a north wing has been added in 1948. Also, a $2,000,000 architecturally compatible west wing was built in 1975.
creator: John Grissom, University of North Alabama
source: Gamble, Robert. "Colbert County Courthouse Square Historic District." In Historic Muscle Shoals: Buildings and Sites., 43-44. Vol. 10. Florence, Ala.: Tennessee Valley Historical Society, 1983. Graves, Arthur D. Tuscumbia: America's First Frontier Railroad Town. Tuscumbia, Ala.: Tuscumbia Main Street Project [and] Preservation Incentive Project, 1989. 23-24.
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: November 24, 2015

Colbert County Courthouse Square Historic District
subject: Colbert County, Alabama; Tuscumbia, Alabama; Colbert County Courthouse Square Historic District; Architecture; National Register of Historic Places
description: The 22 buildings which comprise Tuscumbia's Colbert County Courthouse Square Historic District reflect a broad range of architectural styles, including Victorian, Gothic, and Greek Revival. The most distinctive architectural example is the courthouse itself, a Greek Revival structure designed by Nashville architect Edward Laurent, and built by William Dowling of Chattanooga in 1881. The seven buildings known collectively as Commercial Row date from the 1840s, and have been utilized by a wide variety of businesses over the years. One notable example was the North Alabamian newspaper, published by Captain A.H. Keller, father of Helen Keller, from an office on the corner of Main and Fifth Streets. In addition to the courthouse and seven commercial buildings, the Courthouse Square district encompasses four churches, eight historic homes, Spring Park and the Tuscumbia Railroad Depot. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.
creator: Brian Corrigan, University of North Alabama
source: National Register of Historic Places, Colbert County Courthouse Square Historic District, Tuscumbia, Colbert County, Alabama, National Register #73000338. "Colbert County Courthouse Square Historic District," Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Colbert_County_Courthouse_Square_Historic_District (accessed November 9, 2015).
publisher: Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
date: November 9, 2015
format: text, image