Browse Items (1566 total)

Edward A. O’Neal was born on September 20, 1818, in Madison County, Alabama. His parents were Edward and Rebecca Wheat O’Neal. O’Neal graduated from La Grange College and worked as a lawyer in Florence. He served as a solicitor of the Fourth…

Interviewed in 2015.

Edwin L.D. Moss was "one of Selma's most prominent black businessmen." Not only that, but he was an active participant in the Civil Rights Movement. He helped start demonstrations in Selma, and also was part of a Supreme Court case against Dallas…

Referred to by Alice Moore
Lives in Savannah

Sardis, Alabama

Photograph of Emma Gover next to a Christmas tree

Ernie Ashworth (December 15, 1928 - March 2, 2009)

Even though he had written songs for some of country music’s biggest stars, and that he himself had scored two top 10 hits, it wasn’t until after he had scored his one and only number-one single…

The main goal of the TVA was to produce fertilizer to help the Tennessee Valley residents improve their soil. The fertilizer was made in Nitrate Plant No. 2 in Colbert County. By having a steady source of fertilizer the TVA was able to start…

Erskine Hawkins (July 26, 1914 - November 11, 1993)

When philanthropists donate money to various organizations, schools and charities, most often the result is either a building named in in their honor, or a scholarship, or even a seat on a board…

This image is a watercolor painting of Eslava House in Spring Hill, Alabama done by C.W. Thompson in 1939. The house was built in 1840. The painting shows the front exterior of the house with its doors, windows, shutters, columned porches, two sets…

SCLC

Keith High School.
Football player.
US Coast Guard veteran.

Located on Talladega Street.

Coordinated: 32.6331897, -85.3955022

To reach Evergreen Cemetery, travel Highway 20 to County Road 2, take a left, and continue for 3 miles. The cemetery will be located on the left side of the road and on the west side of the church.

A full list of records can be viewed in the…

F.H. Foster Manufacturing served a multitude of roles in manufacturing in the Florence area. The F.H. Foster complex was built in between Sweetwater Creek and the Tennessee River along the Louisville and Nashville railroad tracks that ran through…

Louis M. Faulk, who was born in 1839 in Prussia, who died in 1871, and who is buried in Cincinnati, Ohio, established a store and named the town for himself.

Falk's brother, Alexander, is the only Jewish individual buried in the Florence,…

During the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s (years generally known as the “recording years”), the success of FAME Recording Studio in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, brought national attention to the region. Musicians such as the Swampers, Joe Tex, Aretha Franklin,…

Photograph of Emma Gover’s Funeral, Larry Ledford, Annette Ledford , Ollie Collin’s, Jennifer Gover (left to right)

Marion, Alabama resident during Bloody Sunday

Located in Loachapoka along East Farmville Road.

Coordinates: 32.665104, -85.4896719

Federal Tax Paper for Calvester Wallace

Situated on the corner of North Main Street and Second Street in Tuscumbia, the Felix Grundy Norman House is one of the few single-story Greek-revival-style cottages remaining in a city where such structures were once commonplace. The house was…

Ferdinand Sannoner was born in Leghorn, Italy, in 1793. He graduated from the French Polytechnic Institute at Paris. Sannoner worked as a surveyor for Napoleon in France. He came to America around 1816. In 1818, John Coffee appointed him to…

J.T. "Fess" Whatley (c. 1895 - January 12, 1972)

If Alabama's musical heritage were to have a conductor, a teacher, that person would have to be J.T. “Fess” Whatley. In his tutelage of musicians, first at The Tuggle Institute in Birmingham, of…

The First Baptist Church of Tuscumbia was originally formed by a small group of African American worshipers. The church was established in 1866 shortly after the Civil War under the guidance of Elder W.E. Northcross. The church members did not have…

First Baptist Missionary Church was originally founded in 1886. The first church consisted of two wooden buildings. These buildings would later be destroyed in a fire. The congregation was then forced to use the Masonic Hall as their new meeting…

Photo of the first Sigma Alpha Epsilon pledge class; the first fraternity on Auburn's campus founded in 1878

On the first Friday of each month from March through December, Florence residents come together at historic downtown Florence to celebrate the town’s rich culture in the arts. The scene is a festive atmosphere and the admission is free. Streets are…

The First National Bank in downtown Florence had connections to one of the more powerful Northern transplants to the Florence area in founder, Nial C. Elting. Elting, one of the founding partners of the Cherry Cotton Mill in Sweetwater, was a…

The First Presbyterian Church of Florence is the oldest continually operating congregation in Florence, Alabama. Early Presbyterian settlers of Florence bought land lot 84 from the Cypress Land Company in 1818 for a total of $1,600 and built a…

Chi Omega was founded at Auburn as the first sorority on campus in 1921

First United Methodist Church is one of Florence’s oldest congregations. The congregation’s first meeting took place in a log home on September 8, 1822, and consisted of eight people. The log home was the property of the congregation’s first…

The present building of the First United Methodist Church was built in 1914 although the congregation dates back almost a hundred years prior. The Methodist church is the oldest church in Jasper, Alabama with the first formal organization occurring…

This historic marker is located at the church on the corner of East Tuscaloosa and North Seminary Streets, Florence, Alabama.

The text on the marker reads: "Established September 8, 1822 in a log house on the west side of town by Revs. John Cox…

A golden eagle purchased for 10 dollars in 1930, this was Auburn's first ever live eagle

Samuel Gideon Flanagan opened a sawmill in the community of Pleasant Hill in 1904. The sawmill operated as S.G. Flanagan Lumber until 1940, when it became more of a retail lumberyard. In 1960, the company was eventually incorporated as Flanagan…

The Flat Creek Cemetery is a church cemetery maintained by the Flat Creek Missionary Baptist Church. The cemetery is accessible by car. From Decatur, travel 2.4 miles on Highway 24. Turn right on to County Road 354. The cemetery is behind the…

Located in Smiths Station along Lee Road 254.

Coordinates: 32.648746, -85.174384

This historic marker is located on E, Alabama Street, Florence, Alabama.

The text on the marker reads: "The "Mother Church" of the Presbytery, Florence Cumberland Colored Presbyterian Church originated in 1898 on property deeded by the city. Led,…

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

Established in 1818, Florence Cemetery was the first city cemetery. The marker reads, "When the city was surveyed, this land described as 'outside city limits' was designated as the burying grounds for the new town. It contains the graves of early…

This historic marker is located on East College Street, Florence, Alabama.

The text on this marker reads: "When the city was surveyed this land described as "outside the city limits" was designated as the burying grounds for the new town. It…

The Ashcraft Cotton Mill began not as a cotton mill for the weaving of textiles, but as a refinery for cotton oil. In the spring of 1898, C.W. and Erister Ashcraft founded and incorporated the Florence Cotton Oil Company. The distance of other…

The Florence Main Street Program, a non-profit organization, strives to renovate the downtown sector of Florence, Alabama. One of the organization’s recent projects is the beautiful mural located on the exterior wall of Fred’s Super Dollar store…

This company was the leader in fuel production for the people of Florence. The old Florence Gas Light and Fuel Company/Florence Gas Works operated on Old Huntsville Road, west of the Florence Steam Laundry in Sweetwater. The main office of the…