Browse Items (1569 total)

The house with the address of 318 Hill Avenue Guntersville Alabama of Marshall County was built in 1947; it is a one story brick veneer single dwelling-non-farm residence with a cross gable composition shingle roof. The building faces east, has a 5x2…

This Korean-owned company that produces injection molded parts for automotive heaters and blowers and employs around 400 people. The business opened in 2004, and still operates today. It is located at 764 W Veterans Blvd., Auburn, AL.

This manufacturing company produces automotive components. It is the first US based manufacturing operation for the Israeli owned Arkal company. This business opened in 2012 and still operates today. The Auburn branch of Akral is located at 2490…

CV Holdings owns a manufacturing facility operating under the name Capitol Cups. Capital Cups produces high-qulaity plastic cups commonly found at reatil stores or sporting events. CV Holdings was recently linked to the misappropriations scandal…

Thermo Fisher produces high-quality plastic vials used primarily by reference laboratories for drug and diagnostic and industrial testing. Originally Capitol Vial, the plant was purchased by Thermo Fisher Scientific in 2006. The business opened in…

Donaldson Company produces air filtration systems (mufflers) for truck manufacturers and is located at 2268 Pumphrey Ave, Auburn, AL, 36832. The business opened in 1999 and still operates today.

This Korean-owned company that produces air-conditioning and heater pipe assemblies for automobiles and employs around 100 people. The business opened in 2004, and still operates today. Pyongsan America is located at 760 W Veterans Blvd., Auburn, AL.

Sweden-based Gambro Renal owns this plant, which produces dialyzers for patients with kidney failure. A large expansion has been planned for 2016. The business opened in 2008, and still operates today. The factory currently employs around 150 people…

This Korean-owned company that manufactures front axles and rear carrier assemblies for automobiles and currently employs around 300 people. The business opened in 2007, and still operates today. It is located at 246 Teague Ct., Auburn, AL.

This business produces cabinets and employs roughly 600 people, making it one of the largest employers in Lee County. The business opened in 1999, and still operates today. Masterbrand Cabinets is located at 300 Webster Rd., Auburn, AL.

Rexnord Industries ,anufactures lubricated and non-lubricated flexible steel couplings and Thomas Brand Couplings for automotive transmissions. This plant was formerly known as Falk and employs around 175 people. The business opened in 1995, and…

This plant produces light metal alloy wheels for the automotive industry. Formerly ATS Light Alloy Wheels Alabama, it was acquired by the German firm Borbet in 2008 and employs around 150. The business opened in 2001, and still operates today. Borbet…

Briggs and Stratton produces V-twin engines for riding mowers sold under Ariens, Craftsman, Cub Cadet, Husqvarna, John Deere, Simplicity, and Snapper brands. The business opened in 1995, and still operates today. The plant is located at 150…

South-Korean-based Daewon America produces suspension bars and coils to supply the automotive industry including Hyundai, Kia, GM and Chrysler. The business opened in 2007, and still operates today. Daewon America's Alabama branch is located at 4600…

South-Korean-based Mando produces brake corner modules, brake calipers, suspension modules and steering systems. The business opened in 1996, and still operates today. The facility employs around 700 people, and is located at 4201 Northpark Dr.,…

Pharmavite manufactures soft-gel vitamin tablets under the Nature Made name. The business opened in 2013 and still operates today. The plant employs around 250 people, and is located at 4701 Northpark Dr., Opelika, AL.

General Electric Aviation produces machined parts for jet engines. The business opened in 2013, and is still operating today. In 2014, a $50 million expansion was announced that will allow the factory to mass produce, via 3D printing, fuel nozzles…

First opened by W.H. "Bud" Ingram in the Clement Hotel in Opelika in 1910, it moved to the Montgomery Brothers' Building in 1911 and to its own building on S 8th St. in 1914. Ingram sold the business to Jim Tom Hamilton in 1923 who moved the…

Carter's Mill was an early non-permitted mill. Sam Carter received his land from the U.S. government and built his mill on that property. In 1840, the property was sold to Mark Golden Jr. who later died 1845. Golden's will listed only grist mill…

Built by Rev. Michael Thomas sometime between 1830 and 1835, it was the first mill erected on Little Uchee Creek. Ownership of the mill is unknown until 1909 when G.W. McKinnon deeded the propert known as McKinnon Mill to his wife and children. The…

James Mitchell purchased 400 acres along Chewacla Creek and built a dam and sawmill in 1837. Mr. Collins bought the mill in 1880, but it was washed away during a flood in 1889 and would not be rebuilt until 1905. J. Milton Whatley bought the property…

This grist mill was originally built in 1834 by Sam Carter and Henry Byrd as a sawmill. In 1848 John "Jack" Floyd purchased the property and in 1852 Floyd's Mill Rd (now US 29) was established. During the Civil War, the mill provided supplies to the…

Orradio produced magnetic tape. Major John Herbert Orr founded Orradio in 1949 using information given to him by German scientists during World War II. This business became the first producer of commercially available audio, video, and computer tape.…

Diversified Products opened in 1963. The company specialized in fitness equipment and is credited with revolutionizing the fitness industry. This business was an important component of America's emerging fitness movement for four decades. Corporate…

After opening in 1963, this plant produced automobile tires for the BF Goodrich company. The business was forced to close in 2009 after shifting workforce to non-unionized labor. It was located at 1800 Crawford Rd., Opelika, AL.

Constructed in 1925, allegedly after Opelika city officials paid the company a significant sum in bribes, the Pepperell Mill would become one of Opelika's most iconic industrial sites. The mill produced cotton textiles under a number of names until…

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…

West Fraser operates a sawmill near Opelika located at 2100 Industrial Blvd., Opelika, AL.

John M. Jones wrote to his cousin to Thomas to express his regret for having to decline an invitation to Thomas and Louisa's wedding, as well as an invitation to be a groomsman. 3 handwritten pages.

Two men riding a three-wheeled hand-operated velocipede (also called a Handcar or draisine) on a railroad track. They are conducting a level survey in Oklahoma's Indian Territory. Early mechanized level party with hand-velocipede. Observer riding…

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…

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…

Candi Staton (March 13, 1940 - )

For many within the African-American community, the line between gospel and soul music is a thin one. A rhythm that pushes the music along, soaring vocals that inspire and lift the crowds out of their seats,…

Billy Sherrill (November 5, 1936 - August 4, 2015)

If at any point during the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s you listened to a song by George Jones, Tammy Wynette, or Charlie Rich, chances are very good that song was either written, produced, or both,…

Spooner Oldham (June 14, 1943 - )

The writing credits of Spooner Oldham read like a jukebox selection. From Percy Sledge to Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett to Janis Joplin, Spooner is at the heart of what has come to be called “The Muscle Shoals…

Buddy Killen (November 13, 1932 - November 1, 2006)

There are countless musicians, singers and entertainers in the world that, for lack of that big break, never reach the pinnacle, in spite of the fact that they may have just as much, if not more,…

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…

Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay (August 22, 1947 - )

If anyone can lay claim to having lived a life that was marked by being in the right place at the right, Donna Jean Godchaux (pronounced “God-show) can. From growing up in the Florence/Muscle Shoals,…

Eddie Floyd (June 27, 1937 - )

The “Memphis sound” that mixed Southern soul with R&B, jazz, with a little country and gospel thrown in, was an important and influential sound in the 1960s. Led by such singers as Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, and…

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…

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,…

Buddy Buie (January 23, 1941 - July 18, 2015)

Buddy Buie may not be a name that most folks recognize, but his impact on the music scene of the 1960s to the 1990s is one that transcends name recognition. As a songwriter, producer, and concert…

David Briggs (March 16, 1943 - )

David Briggs has had a career that can best be described as impressive, topped off by working with Elvis Presley as his studio keyboardist, and later going out on tour with the King. But lest one think that he…

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…

Nat "King" Cole (March 17. 1919 - February 15, 1965)

Born Nathaniel Adams Coles, on March 17, 1919, in Montgomery, Alabama, crooner Nat Cole was known for his smooth, soft baritone and easygoing nature. When Nat was four years old, his father,…

4 handwritten pages, this letter is torn in the center and the author wrote vertically over the first page of the letter when concluding. This letter, while difficult to read, chronicles the general affairs of the family, including recent…

The Shoals Theatre, located in historic downtown Florence, Alabama at 123 North Seminary Street, first opened in 1948. At the time of its grand opening, the art deco style theatre was one of the finest in the Southeast. It originally sat 1,350 people…

William Christopher Handy, born in Florence, Alabama, on November 16, 1873 and is considered to be the “Father of the Blues.” His musical legacy is a prime part of the music culture in the Shoals region, especially in his home town of Florence. To…

Florence, Alabama, established on March 12, 1818, is nicknamed the “Renaissance City.” It is named after Florence, Italy, the birthplace of the Renaissance (a time period in which a cultural movement in the arts, religion, science, and politics…

One of the most talented wood craftsman in northwest Alabama is Robin Wade. His furniture studio in Lexington, Alabama, produces organic “American” wood furniture. Wade attended the University of North Alabama as a young man, and started his wood…