Our Town
A very early account
Source: Northern Alabama Historical and Biographical. Illustrated. Smith & DeLand, Birmingham, Ala. 1888.
SHEFFIELD & COLBERT COUNTY HISTORY
Sheffield's history is somewhat unique in that it was originally planned by a notable figure in American history, a man who became president. It was not put on the map until the industrial revolution when it was created from the get-go to be an industrial center and did not undergo the typical rural, agricultural first beginnings that most towns in Alabama went through. This deserves some attention, too, and you will find a path to Sheffield's history and, in some instances, a bit of the more interesting history of Colbert County here.
In this regard, the Tennessee Valley Historical Society is a wonderful active current resource for the history of our area, offering not only books and articles on the rich history of the Shoals area, but also lectureships and seminars in ongoing programs of research and reporting of our past.
Classmates, if you don't already own a copy, get your copy of the centennial book, Sheffield, City on the Bluff, 1885-1985, published by Friends of Sheffield Public Library, Sheffield, Alabama. I've seen it every time I have visited the Coldwater Book Store in Tuscumbia. It has been a valuable source of tales and pictures of Sheffield's history on my website.
For an incredible description of the Tennessee River and the amazing series of canals and lifts that were created to navigate past the shoals of "Muscle Shoals," see Joshua Nicholas Winn III's book, Muscle Shoals Canal. . . Life With the Canalers, The Strode Publishers, Inc., Huntsville, Alabama.
How many of you remember the teas at Mrs. Leftwich's antique shop which were a ritual of our senior year in high school? Do you remember that she authored a history of Colbert County called Two Hundred Years at Muscle Shoals. It was written in 1935, and my copy says that it was reprinted by Colbert County Memorial Post No. 31, The American Legion, 1998 and 2003.
If you're interested in information about the buildings and structures of the Quad-Cities, the publication of the Tennessee Valley Historical Society, Historic Muscle Shoals: Buildings and Sites (Journal of Muscle Shoals History, Vol. X, 1983) catalogs all of the important places in the area.
An alumnus from the Class of 1955, Bill Gray writes:
"About fifteen years ago, I visited Anderson's Bookstore in Florence and bought a number of good books on the area:
1. Sheffield of To=Day, A Resume of Her Past, Present, and Great Future. It is a reprint of a book published in 1903 to mark the Centennial celebration of Sheffield --- and has a number of photos in it, of people and places. The printing was limited and says it must be ordered from P-Vine Press, Mrs. Polly C. Warren, Rt. 7, Box 264, Columbia, TN 38401.2. Several other good books I found then are: Journal of Muscle Shoals History, Historic Muscle Shoals: Buildings and Sites, and The Muscle Shoals Heritage. All of these books should be available from the Tennessee Valley Historical Society of Sheffield. Most likely they now have even more available.
3. Up Before Daylight, Life Histories From the Alabama Writer's Project, 1938-1939, edited by James Seay Brown, Jr., and published by The University of Alabama Press.
4. Stars Fell On Alabama, by Carl Carmer, and published by The University of Alabama Press.
5. And two books by William Lindsey McDonald: The Old North Field, published by Birmingham Printing & Publishing Co. and Paths In The Brier Patch, published by The Strode Publishers, Inc. of Huntsville. Both are a collection of short stories and essays where he shares his memories of growing up in Northern Alabama."
A response from a manpower supplier to help build Sheffield
The Henry Ford Wilson Dam Affair
How Places and Things Got Their Names
Satellite Maps of Sheffield
Google's color image of the Shoals
TerraServer aerial photos with zoom
The Google maps are in color and give amazing close-up photos. Until very recently, the Shoals area was not featured with the very high resolution photos, but now it is. The only problem with the new hi-res photos is the cloud cover that obscures many landmarks (like the north end of downtown Sheffield and practically all of Tuscumbia).
The TerraServer B&W photos are a bit older but zoom down to fairly close-up clean views of the Shoals area.
(a very comprehensive but concise history of the whole region with numerous stories about Sheffield. It is titled "Lauderdale County," but don't let that fool you.)
Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area
