Browse Items (1493 total)

After Union General Williams T. Sherman captured Atlanta in September of 1864, Confederate General John Bell Hood devised a plan to aide General Lee in Virginia by going through Ohio. The plan necessitated a crossing of the Tennessee River. Hood’s…

Sterling Wood was a Brigadier General for the Confederate Army from Lauderdale County. Wood passed the bar to become a practicing lawyer in 1845 and joined his brother’s practice in Florence, Alabama. Wood was elected to represent Lauderdale County…

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…

The Cow Pen Factory was a water powered mill on Cow Pen Creek near Green Hill, Alabama. The factory had been founded in 1850. In 1860, the factory employed sixty-eight men and sixteen women and produced 117,600 yards of cloth. In the early years of…

The Greek revival mansion built in 1855 by George Washington Foster required an act of the Alabama legislature to close Court Street. Foster’s daughter Sarah Independence McDonald and her family lived there until 1900, when it was purchased by Emmet…

The residence of Mapleton was built in the Federalist style under the direction of a South American architect. During the Civil War it was known as Todd’s Hill because it was the home of local physician Levi Todd. When the Union occupied Florence in…

Wilson Dam is a gravity dam spanning the Tennessee River between Lauderdale and Colbert counties in the quad cities area. The dam was originally constructed by the US Army Corps of Engineers between 1918 and 1924. The project was envisioned as a part…

President elect Franklin Roosevelt visited Florence on January 21 and 22, 1933. The President was in the area touring Wilson Dam as a model for his proposal of a Tennessee Valley Authority. The design of the program, drafted by Senator George Norris…

Robin Lightfoot, a mixed blood slave, help to organize the first church of African Americans at Florence, Church Spring, in 1837. Reverend Lightfoot preached on the hope for eventual emancipation for his people. While Union General Don Carlos Buell…

Bridget Blessing Morrison lived on the southeast corner of Wood Avenue and Mobile Street. She was born in Montreal, Canada. Her father brought his family to Florence during the early 1830s to work as an engineer on the first Muscle Shoals Canal. She…

The Union Gunboat raid on Florence, by vessels under the command of Commander Andrew H. Foote began on February 7, 1862. The USS Conestoga, Tyler, and Lexington had steamed up the river on February 6, in pursuit of Confederate steamers. The CSS…

After the fall of Fort Henry at the mouth of the Tennessee River, the USS Contestoga, Tyler, and Lexington steamed up the river on February 6, in pursuit of Confederate steamers. The Union forces under the command of Commander Andrew H. Foote…

One of the most notorious outlaws in the Tennessee Valley moved to Lauderdale County in late 1862 or early 1863. He was known as Mountain Tom Clark because he was known to have been from the “mountain counties.” This moniker helped to distinguish…

The most contested ground in the Lauderdale County during the Civil War was most probably the area known as Happy Hollow. This engagement occurred in and around the area that Jackson’s Military Road crossed Shoal Creek in the area then known as…

The Wright and Rice Foundry was located where the Mars Hill Church of Christ is located on Cox Creek. The foundry was built in 1835 by Williams Johnson but was sold to James Wright and William Rice. The foundry produced steam engines, mill saws,…

After the Union forces captured Florence in 1862, the Union military officials issued an edict that forbade praying for the Confederacy. The pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Florence was arrested for violating this decree on Sunday, July…

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

This is a picture of Toomer's Corner and the surrounding area. Toomer's is located to the right of the tree at center frame.

A War Eagle Special taking Auburn fans to Atlanta for the 1939 Georgia Tech football game.

1907 Interior

This is a photo of a student gathering at Toomer's Corner. They are celebrating the wi

Pictured is a 1985 celebration, probably after Auburn's 17-14 victory over Georgia Tech in Atlanta.

Photograph that shows the landscape of Auburn in the late 19th century

A picture of Toomer's Corner at the turn of the 20th century.

A picture of Toomer's Drugs. The water tower behind the drug stor is being taken down.

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…

National Register of Historic Places - Rogers Department Store 117 Court Street Florence, Alabama
Rogers Department Store began on the site in 1894 as the Surprise Store founded by B.A. Rogers and his sons T.M. and B.A. Jr. The early business was…

National Register of Historic Places - F.T. Appleby Junior High School – originally Coffee High School – 319 Hermitage Drive Florence, AL
Nomination still listed with the state and on the NPS data base –building destroyed in the 1980s. Now part of…

Southall Drug is significant to the history of Florence for its architectural style and as a leading business in the downtown area owned and operated by the same family for over 50 years. The 1900 building is a prime example of a late 19th century…

National Register of Historic Places property - William Kroger House - south side of Smithsonia – Rhodesville Road about 4 miles northeast of Smithsonia

The actual construction date of the William Kroger House is unknown but stylistic details…

The Peter Fontaine Armistead Sr. House is significant to Lauderdale County and northern Alabama as an excellent example of migration and settlement patterns in the area in terms of population, plantation economy, and architectural styles. Peter and…

The William Bowen House at 1145 Wildwood Park Road was built in 1949 and nominated to the National Register for its significance to architecture. The one story two bedroom Lustron House is a metal prefabricated house clad in enameled steel in two…

The E.H. Darby Lustron House at 321 Beverly Avenue was built in 1949. The one story 2 bedroom house is a Westchester model and features 2 bedrooms, one bathroom, a galley kitchen with large utility space, a dining alcove and front living room with a…

Also known as Mapleton, the two and a half story frame house was placed on the National Register in 1981 for its significance in terms of architecture. The Federal style house sits on one of the highest lots in Florence overlooking both the central…

The James Martin House was listed on the National Register in 1981 for its significance in architecture and its association with James Martin, an early Florence industrialist. The story and a half frame cottage was a common form in its time period…

The Karsner-Kennedy House at 303 North Pine Street is located on lot 7 of the original Florence plat purchased by James Gadsden for $350. The house was built sometime before 1831 when it was purchased by Oscar Karsner. The Karsner family owned the…

The National Register nomination covers three houses facing Wilson Park, the only remaining houses from what was once a prominent Florence neighborhood. The houses were built between 1890 and 1918 and represent typical upper middle class residential…

Theophilus Brown Larimore constructed the two story frame house in 1870 to serve as a home and school. The house is significant for its association with religion, education, and social history. Larimore served as headmaster and Church of Christ…

Nashville architect Adolphus Heiman designed the Gothic Revival building and Zebulon Pike Morrison, a native of Virginia, who migrated to Lauderdale County constructed the building. Wesleyan Hall was reportedly his finest work. The three story…

Courtview was built as the two story brick townhouse of successful planter and businessman George Washington Foster. The 1854-55 Greek Revival house faces the Tennessee River (southwest) down the length of Court Street in Florence. According to the…

National Register property – Rosenbaum House

The Rosenbaum house was built for Stanley and Mildred Rosenbaum in 1940 from a late 1930s Usonian design by Frank Lloyd Wright, the only house designed by Wright in the state of Alabama. Usonian houses…

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…

National Register property – Forks of Cypress

Forks of Cypress plantation house is now a ruin. A fire resulting from lightning destroyed the home in 1966. However, the 23 remaining standing brick columns are still significant for what they can…

The 1976 National Register nomination of the Robert M. Patton house states that the property is significant in terms of architecture as a classic example of a North Alabama Georgian plantation house, and for political history as the home of the first…

The 1889 Florence Wagon Works was the largest wooden wagon manufacturer in the United States producing 15,000 wagons a year. The most popular, the Florence Light Running Wagon helped settle the West, especially Texas, and was important in France…

Looking west towards the old Union Station train shed in Montgomery, Alabama

Heber City Utah's Heber Creeper, No. 618 Steam Locomotive

Northbound on Chicago's Brown Line

Oral interviewed recorded by Christy Anderson, Montgomery County Historical Society at Pintlala Baptist Church on Saturday, April 29. You can listen to the entire interview here.

Viking ships were marine vessels of particular designs used and built by the Vikings during the Viking Age. The boat-types were quite varied, depending on what the ship was intended for, but they were generally characterized as being slender and…