In the late Spring of 1926, a new creamery called the Florence Milk Company was established. Organized out of five separate dairies which were: Clear Creek Dairy Farms, Springdale Dairy, Sweetwater Dairy, Meadow Brook Dairy, and Young Bros. Dairy.
In 1888, noted engineer and builder, J.W. Nichols, was awarded the contract for erecting the Florence Shoe Factory. The company has a capital stock of thirty thousand dollars (equivalent to over $750,000 in today’s dollars), and built a first-class factory.
The Florence Gas Light and Fuel Company was incorporated in 1891, under the laws of the state, with a capital of $55,000 ($1,447,368 in 2015) The plant was most admirably located on Water Street, adjoining the property of the Leftwich Lumber company on the banks of Sweetwater
Built as a roller-grain mill (as opposed to a millstone-based mill) that specialized in milling both wheat and corn, the Florence Milling Company had storage enough to keep 25,000 bushels of grain and their facility was three stories of the most technologically advanced milling techniques available at the time.
The story of John A. Murrell is one of those pieces of Southern history where fact, folklore, and outright sensationalism have become so tangled together that separating one from another is nearly impossible. Known in later accounts as the “Great…
At 652 North Wood Avenue in Florence, Alabama, stands one of the city’s finest surviving examples of Queen Anne architecture. Built around 1900 for John Hall, the Hall-Westmoreland-Colburn House dates from a period when Florence was expanding and some of…
At 221 West Tuscaloosa Street in Florence, Alabama, stands one of downtown Florence’s more unusual historic homes. Known as Thimbelton, the house dates to around 1830, but the building we see today looks considerably different from the one that stood…
The Shoals region is rich with history, filled with fascinating stories of innovation, tragedy, and perseverance. Whether you’re captivated by the mysterious past of Native American tribes, the pioneering spirit of early settlers, or the darker tales of outlaws and…
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…