Tuscumbia Alabama Is One of The Oldest Towns in The State 

The town of Tuscumbia Alabama is one of the oldest in the state and has a rich heritage with Native Americans as well as some Civil War history.

It is located in Colbert County in the Northwestern part of the state, and its population is still under 10,000.

Tuscumbia AlabamaTuscumbia Alabama

It is considered part of the Muscle Shoals metropolitan area and has one very famous distinction; it is the home of Helen Keller.

It is also the home of Alabama’s Music Hall of Fame, which features several different genres of music.

The History of Tuscumbia Alabama

Sign telling the history of Tuscumbia AlabamaThe History Sign in Tuscumbia Alabama

Tuscumbia Alabama is nestled near a large spring located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, and the French built in this location in the 1700’s.

However, the town they established was destroyed in the year 1786, which opened the door for the Chickasaw Indians to settle in the area.

They were followed by the Michael Dixon Family, which settled in the area in the year 1815.

Shortly after that, the U.S. Government built a road through the town, between the years of 1817 through 1819.

Soon after their arrival, the Dixon family began to trade with the Chief of an Indian tribe, Chief Tucumseh.

He was the Chief for the Tuscumbia Valley, and once they settled, they built a home at the head of the large spring.

Before long, a village sprang to life, and it was named the Big Spring Community.

The Community requested that the State incorporate them, and in the year 1820, the town was incorporated but they named it Ococoposa.

This made it one of the first official towns in the State, where the name was changed again, back close to its original name of Big Spring, in 1821.

However, in December of 1822, it was changed one final time to Tuscumbia Alabama, in honor of the Chief of the Chickasaws.

The road that the U.S. government built was the result of the shoals making the nearby Tennessee River almost impossible to navigate.

These shoals were so loaded with sand and other material that the submerged banks and bars could not be seen, making it extremely dangerous.

The road that the U.S. Government built could be considered almost a superhighway in its time and before long, commerce began to develop.

It was not long before the town of Tuscumbia became the center for agriculture in the northern part of the State.

The Railroad Comes to Tuscumbia Alabama 

Downtown Tuscumbia AlabamaDowntown Tuscumbia

The Courtland and Decatur railroad opened a line into the town in 1832, and by the year 1850, it was a major hub for all rails traffic though the entire south.

Because of its huge success, another rail line was added, and this one ran from this new and thriving town to Decatur, Alabama, in the year 1834.

The reason for this new line was simple; to circumvent the 43 mile stretch of the very shallow rapids that existed in the Tennessee River known as Muscle Shoals.

Once completed, it was named the Tuscumbia Courtland and the Decatur Railroad.

This created another major advantage for the small town of Tuscumbia Alabama; it made it a major route to the exploding southwest.

With the combination of these new rail lines as well as the steamboats, this small town literally doubled in size in just a couple of years.

The post office in the town soon became one of the most important in the area, and a whopping 41 stagecoaches arrived and departed from the town each week.

The telegraph followed in the years between 1840 and 1850, and it followed virtually the same route.

There is another very interesting fact about Tuscumbia, Alabama; several of the buildings that were built in this time frame still exist today.

This gives it the distinction of having the oldest commercial building in the State.

However, all of this was about to change for one major reason: the Civil War.

During this war that torn apart America, it took its toll on this small but prosperous town.

The railroad hub that had made the town flourish became the target of the Union troops.

The Union troops totally destroyed not only the railroad shops, but other parts of the town as well, in the last year of the war.

It took the town over twenty years to even come close to growing again.

However, the town became the county seat for Colbert County in 1867, and fifteen years later the town built a beautiful courthouse.

Tragedy struck again, however, as fire destroyed the courthouse in 1908, but it was rebuilt only one year later and still stands to this day.

In the year 1880, Helen Keller was born to Captain A. H. Keller and Kate Keller, and before she was two years old, illness struck that left her deaf and blind.

However, she overcame these handicaps to become “America’s First Lady of Courage”.

Her home in Tuscumbia Alabama, called Ivy Green, is open daily for visitors to tour.

References

https://cityoftuscumbia.org/

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