August 15, 1891 Gentlemen: We have been digging up prehistoric men for about a week, thick skulled fellows. Today we discovered a skull in place that ante-dates the others by a “long spell.” I have been making measurements but am…
Sanborn Fire Insurance maps are some of the most useful records available for researching old houses, businesses, neighborhoods, and entire towns. They can show what buildings once stood on a property, what they were made of, how many stories they…
Now housing the Abstract Company, this downtown Florence building is full of historic ‘firsts’ for Florence. As seen in this late 1940’s picture, the Lamar Furniture store resided here and was the first to be fully air-conditioned and electrically heated…
Florence Fire Department was founded on April 25, 1828 as a volunteer fire company made up of every male in Florence between the ages of 18 and 50. It decreed that each house must have its own ladder and its…
“The Father of Florence” – Florence Times, August 1, 1890 WILLIAM BASIL WOOD – A leading citizen of the Early day of Florence. Born Oct 20, 1820 in Nashville. Died April 3, 1891 in Florence. A quote from the Florence Times upon…
Notice in the above 1896 map of Colbert County, that there is a “South Florence” on the other side of the river near the current TVA Nature Loop/old Railroad Bridge. Also, this section from an even older 1863 map shows a “South Florence”…
CIRCA 1900 —Beginning at the Southern Railway depot at the foot of Court street the line ran: This route was about eight miles in length.
Original 1876 land lottery ticket from the founding of St. Florian, Alabama. Saint Florian was established in the 1870’s when the Homestead Society of Cincinnati, Ohio strived to develop a Catholic presence in northwest Alabama. Reverend J.H. Hueser, director of…
Crosby-Lambert House A color rendering of the Crosby-Lambert House. Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1958 at a proposed cost of $35,000. Though construction never began, the house was destined for Colbert County, Alabama. A single-story, flat-roofed one-bedroom residence of…
During the 1820s, increasing numbers of steamboats were beginning to arrive from New Orleans. Businesses and the merchants in Tuscumbia, Alabama knew that developing a steamboat landing at the bottom of the Muscle Shoals was of utmost importance to the…