The
History of Lauderdale CountyLauderdale County was named in
honor of Col. James Lauderdale who was born in Virginia about
1780. In the early 1800's, Lauderdale, who moved to West
Tennessee, became a major in General John Coffee's cavalry of
volunteers. Later promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, he
commanded a brigade of mounted riflemen, serving under Andrew
Jackson in many battles against the Indians. According to
reliable historians, Col. Lauderdale did not die in the Battle
of New Orleans, but was wounded in the Battle of Talladega and
dies on December 23, 1814, seventeen days before Jackson's
crushing defeat of the British at New Orleans. Several
towns and counties in the southern states were named in his
honor, though it is said that he never set foot in Lauderdale
County.
Lauderdale County was established
in 1818, a year before Alabama became a state, by an act of the
General Assembly of Alabama Territory. A Superior Court
and County Court were set up in this act and Section 7 of the
act reads as follows:
"And be it further enacted,
that for the time being, the said courts in and for said county
of Lauderdale, shall be holden at the house commonly called
"Col. Puler's place," east of Cypress and near the
creek, and may at the discretion of said Courts, for want of
necessary buildings, be adjourned to some convenient place
contiguous thereto."
Florence, the county seat of
Lauderdale County, was also established in 1818. At this
time a group of investors, under the name of Cypress Land
Company purchased from the government 5,515 acres of land
comprising of the original town site, for $85,235.24
Following a survey of the site by
the Italian Engineer Ferdiannad Sonnoner, who was in the employ
of Gen. John Coffee, then Surveyor General of Alabama Territory
with offices in Huntsville, lot sales were held and the Cypress
Land Company realized $319,513 on its investment.
Lauderdale County's first
newspaper was the Gazette, established in 1819, the same year
Alabama became a state. W.S. Fulton, the county's first
judge was also editor and publisher of this early weekly that
survived until the 1890's. It's motto was "Do Right
and Fear Not."
The first courthouse was built in
1822 and was used by the county until 1899 when it was remodeled
and enlarged. The remodeling was completed in 1902 and the
dedication of the Confederate Monument, (since moved to the
front of the new courthouse) was held shortly thereafter.
After the cession of Indian lands
in North Alabama in 1816 to white settlement, the United States
began selling the lands at the public auction and many new towns
were started. In the Muscle Shoals area, Bainbridge was
located six miles up river on the Colbert County side of the
river and connected by ferry from the Lauderdale side near the
mouth of Shoals Creek. A bridge was later built at this
location but was destroyed by high winds. Marion, a little
farther down was located near what is now the south end of
Wilson Dam.
Other towns in Lauderdale County
competing for early settlers because of their proximity to the
river were Savage's Spring, nine miles below Florence and
Waterloo, some 20 miles downriver. The river was indeed
the highway of that day and most towns of consequence were
necessarily on the river. Bainbridge did not survive
because it was too far upstream in the turbulent shoals for
boats to reach.
Waterloo, established in 1819 was
settled by people for the Carolinas and was presumably named for
the Belgian town, the scene of Napolean's defeat.
In its early history, the post
office was removed to Barton, across the river in Franklin (now
Colbert) County, but was later re-established in Waterloo in
August 1828. Waterloo became incorporated in 1832 and is
one of the oldest incorporated towns in the state. It was
a regular port of call, as was Florence, for many of the old
river boats, some coming from as far as St. Louis with cargoes
and passengers and others carrying cotton from Lauderdale farms
to the port of New Orleans.
There were few routes to travel
in those days, the pioneers using the river as their main mode
of transportation even though the way was fraught with
perils. Some came overland by the Natchez Trace, then
little more than an Indian trail, later on by the Military Road
that was cleared by the troops of Andrew Jackson in 1816.
It was later officially named Jackson Highway.
The first steamboat brought a
cargo of freight and passengers to Florence in 1821 and from
that time on , boats became increasingly important to the
prosperity of the town and county. It is not actually
known who the first settler's were, however, such trail blazers
like Major Dillahunty were sent by President Monroe "to
prepare the minds of the Indians for the ceding for their
lands." The Major married Nancy, the daughter of John
Johnson who, history relates, leased the first land in
Lauderdale County from the Cherokee Chief Doublehead.
The first store in Florence was
probably that of James Sample built in 1818. His home,
erected in 1828, still stands on North Court Street. The
first house built in Florence, was said to have been erected by
Thomas Cheatham on the corner of Military Road and Seminary Street
in about 1811. It was built for a stage stop by Cheatham for
Leroy Pope and Thomas Bibb, and was known for many years as Pope's
Tavern. During the Civil War the house served as a
Confederate hospital.
Among the early settlers of
Lauderdale County was Joseph Hough, who had been awarded 3,000
acres of land for his services in the War of 1812. Hough
came to Alabama from South Carolina prior to 1818, and sold a
tract of his acreage to another settler, Jonathan Bailey, who had
established a small settlement on Sycamore River, known today as
Shoals Creek.
Among the older settlements in the
county is Center Star, located between Killen and
Rogersville. This area was once claimed by both the
Chickasaw's and Cherokees, necessitating a cession of territory
from each tribe before the settlement could be established.
The remains of an old Indian village could be seen at one time
southwest of Center Star. Other old settlements included
Middleton and Elgin, the latter known first as Ingram's Elgin
Cross Roads.
Rogersville, lying some 23 miles to
the east of Florence, was named for John Rogers, an Indian
Trader, whose sons were fast friends of the great Sam
Houston. The late Will Rogers is said to have been a
descendant of this same family. An early ferry that operated
for many years was Lamb's Ferry near Rogersville.
Lexington, Springfield, and
Anderson lie to the north of the Lee Highway, the town of
Lexington being a part of the territory once claimed by the
Cherokees. Many of the settlers of that area came from
Tennessee and the Carolinas. The first post office of record
at Lexington was on the Loretto Road, north of town, in
1880. Mail at that time was brought in from Loretto,
Tennessee, by horseback and carts.
The town of St. Florian was
established in 1872 on the Jackson Highway and named by its German
Catholic founders for their patron saint. Hugh McVay, one of
four Alabama governors from Lauderdale County is buried in the
family cemetery at Mars Hill. The other three governors from
Lauderdale County were Edward A. O'Neal, Robert M. Patton, and
Emmett O'Neal.
A number of important industries
used Lauderdale County's abundant waterpower, these including
cotton and cloth mills, one of these being operated both before
and after the Civil War on Cypress Creek near Florence.
Another mill made cloth for Confederate Army uniforms and still
another guns for the Southern cause. Both were destroyed by
Union soldiers, while another large mill was wrecked by flood
waters of the creek.
Today waterpower speaks
volumes. Coursing through the great turbines of the TVA
dams, the mighty waters of the Tennessee River are producing low
cost power, lighting the homes of thousands of citizens and
turning the wheels of industry in a region second to none in
natural and human resources.
Lauderdale County, boasting a $10
million yearly income from its farms and many additional millions
from its payrolls, stands on the threshold of a great era of
progress. No area in the entire nation holds greater promise
or offers more in good living, health, and contentment.
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