Pathways: Walk through the History of Muscle Shoals
Muscle Shoals; Colbert County; Alabama; Museums; City Hall; Muscle Shoals Music; Muscle Shoals Sound; FAME Studios; Natchez Trace Parkway; Shoals; Tennessee River; Wilson Dam; Tennessee Valley Authority
“Pathways: Walk through the History of Muscle Shoals” is a corridor of historic displays in the Muscle Shoals City Hall. It covers the history of the city of Muscle Shoals, the Wilson Dam and Lock, and Muscle Shoals Music with exhibits of original documents and photographs. Admission is free and it is open from 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m Monday-Friday.
Jacob Grandstaff, University of North Alabama
“Natchez Trace Parkway,” Accessed November 17, 2015, http://www.scenictrace.com/pathways-walk-through-the-history-of-muscle-shoals/.
“Muscle Shoals Music,” Muscle Shoals Area, Alabama, Accessed November 17, 2015, http://www.colbertcountytourism.org/index.php/2012-11-08-15-06-08/2012-11-12-01-58-07.
“Pathways: Walk through the History of Muscle Shoals,” Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area, Accessed November 17, 2015, http://msnha.una.edu/plan-a-visit/?a=18.
Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
November 27, 2015
Tennessee Valley Museum of Art
Museums, Art Museums; Shoals; Muscle Shoals; Colbert County; Alabama; Tuscumbia; Tennessee Valley; Tennessee River; Native Americans; Petroglyphs
The Tennessee Valley Art Association was incorporated in 1964 in order to create an art museum and develop public programming related to the arts. The Tennessee Valley Art Center was constructed in 1972 on property provided by the city of Tuscumbia. The Association began a series of concerts at local churches in the late 1970s and founded two music schools and two theater programs in the 80s. For five years, these programs rehearsed in the Art Center before they incorporated separately as the Shoals Symphony. In 1998, the Art Center added an extension which doubled exhibition space, providing a workshop and art storage. The permanent exhibition of the Martin Petroglyph , a 3,000 pound boulder depicts human footprints and snakes carved by the prehistoric people of northwest Alabama. Objects include shell and stone carvings, pottery, and projectile points of the earliest people of the area. A plaza honoring TVAA founder, Ethel Davis, was constructed in 2008. The museum's name was changed to The Tennessee Valley Museum of Art in 2009.
The museum is open Monday – Friday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. and Sundays 1 p.m. - 3 p.m. Admission is free on Sundays. It is closed on Saturdays and all major holidays. It is located at 511 N Water Street, Tuscumbia, AL and is adjacent to the Helen Keller Birthplace and behind the Helen Keller Public Library. Parking is available on the east side of the museum on Water Street, but one must enter the museum from the west side of the building.
Jacob Grandstaff, University of North Alabama
“Tennessee Valley Art Association,” Accessed November 17, 2015, http://www.tvaa.net/.
Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
November 27, 2015
Sheffield Water Tower
Colbert County, Alabama; Sheffield, Alabama; Montgomery Avenue, Sheffield, Alabama; Water Tower; Tennessee River
Montgomery Avenue, in Sheffield, Alabama, has maintained several spots along the street for the citizens of the area to enjoy the natural beauty of North Alabama. A water tower marks the end of the street and a small park with an overlook allows residents and visitors an unobstructed view of the Tennessee River and the city of Florence.
Pam Kingsbury, University of North Alabama
Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
Pam Kingsbury, University of North Alabama
Photograph by Pam Kingsbury
Still Image and Text
Sheffield, Alabama; Tennessee River; public spaces
Muscle Shoals
Muscle Shoals, Alabama; Colbert County; Tennessee River
The Muscle Shoals is a section of the Tennessee River in North Alabama. This is the shoals that gives the surrounding area its name. The section on the river totals 37 miles in length. This was once an impassable barrier along the river. It made navigation extremely difficult for people. The Shoals was named after either the mussels found along the banks or the muscles needed to canoe across the river there. Both are disputed explanations for the naming of the shoals. Along this stretch the river had shoals, reefs, gravel, sand bars, swift currents, and uncertain depths. Until the canal was built in the early 1800s the area could only be navigated by small man-propelled crafts, such as canoes and rafts. <br /><br />The increasing problem of navigation through the area eventually gained the notice of Congress and they provided land for sale to generate funds to build a canal. This original canal was little help and was never intended to be used as a high traffic waterway. Coal barges could barely, if at all, fit down the canal. It was also a very slow option to naviagte along the river, as it could take up to 11 hours to fully travel down the river.
Carrie Keener, University of North Alabama
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.
Peyton, John Howe. 1916. 'America's Gibraltar Muscle Shoals'. Paper. Florence. William Lindsey McDonald Collection. UNA Special Archives.
'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.
Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
December 1, 2015
image