Florence Machine Works/Company

Florence Machine Works/Company

Industry

This company was founded in the East Florence area of Sweetwater. The initial founders of the company were R.M. Martin, President, Colonel Noel F. Cherry, Vice-President (and founder of the Mountain Mills and Cherry Cotton Mill), and S.S. Broadus, Secretary and Treasurer (founder of the short lived Broadus [Cotton] Mill in the Sweetwater area located close to present day Veterans Drive and Wilson Dam Road, also treasurer of the Merchant’s Bank in Florence as well ). Located along the railroad tracks in Sweetwater, the Florence Machine Company served as a manufacturing spur along the railroad line through east Florence. When it was founded, the capital investment within the company was ten thousand dollars.

Matthew C. Fesmire, University of North Alabama

Text Sources:

McDonald, William Lindsey. "A Walk Through the Past: People and Places of Florence and Lauderdale County, Alabama." Killen, Ala., Bluewater Publications, 2003.

Picture Source:

UNA Archives & Special Collection. William L. McDonald Collection. “Florence Machine Works.” Florence, Alabama. Box 12: Florence Industry, 12-33.

Alabama Cultural Resource Survey

Early Twentieth Century

Image