Lauderdale County AlArchives History .....Lauderdale County 1888
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VI.
LAUDERDALE COUNTY.

    Population: White, 15.000; colored, 6,000. Area, 700 square miles. Woodland,
all; barrens, 400 square miles; Red Valley land and gravelly hills, 300 square
miles. Acres in cotton, approximately, 20,000; in corn, 43,000; in oats, 4,600;
in wheat, 8,500; in rye, 250; in tobacco, 100; in sweet potatoes, 450.
Approximate number of bales of cotton, 9,500.

    County Seat—Florence; population, 3,000; located on the North bank of the
Tennessee river; noted for its manufactures, elegant schools and superior class
of society. (See History of Florence, this vol.)

    Newspapers published at Florence, Banner, Gazette, Wave—all Democratic.

    Postoffices in the County — Anderson Creek, Arthur, Baily Springs, Centre
Star, Comer, Covington, Florence, Gravelly Springs, Green Hill, Lexington,
Oakland, Pruitton, Rawhide, Rogersville, Saint Florain, Smithsonia, Sugar,
Waterloo.

    Lauderdale is one of the most fertile counties in the State. It is situated
in the northwestern corner of Alabama, and is joined on two sides by the States
of Mississippi and Tennessee. It was one of the first sections of Alabama
settled by the whites, and was organized as a county before the State was
constituted. It was established in ISIS, and named for the famous Indian
fighter, Col. Lauderdale, of Tennessee, who fell in the battle of Talladga,
December 23, 1814.

    It has a diversity of soil, as is abundantly indicated in the variety of
crops grown. In the northern portion of the county the surface is somewhat more
uneven than is that in the southern end. The prevailing soil in the northern
portion is of a grayish hue, but yields quite readily. In the south the lands
are reddish in character. This is due to the presence of iron. These lands are
quite fertile, and though some of them have been in cultivation seventy-five
years, they are still productive without the aid of fertilizers. West of
Florence, in a great bend of the Tennessee river, is a large body of valley
lands known as the Colbert Reservation. It is overspread in different directions
by some of the finest farms found in this section of Alabama. These valley
lands, when fresh, will produce as much as one thousand pounds of seed cotton to
the acre. The most of the cotton grown in the county is raised upon the red
valley lands, and the product per acre is considerably above the average.

    The chief crops of the county are cotton, corn, wheat, oats, sorghum and
sweet potatoes. Apples and peaches are grown in vast quantities in the orchards.
These are the chief fruits, though other fruits are grown with success when they
receive proper attention. This is especially true of the grape. Wild fruits,
such as hickorynuts and berries grow in large quantities.

    The chief pursuits of the people are farming, stock-raising and
manufacturing, to all of which the county is admirably adapted. For many years
the single pursuit was that of planting; but the superb water power of the
county and the abundant fuel suggested the establishment of manufactories long
before the beginning of the war. Cotton and wool factories were accordingly
established, as well as manufactories of leather. At this period Lauderdale was,
perhaps, in advance of any other portion of the State in its manufactories. It
is believed to be the pioneer county in establishing manufacturing interests.
These industries perished amid the ravages of the. war, but are now rebuilt to
some extent, and in the town of Florence, particularly, manufacturing is
assuming important proportions.

    The country is abundantly supplied with perpetual streams of water. Shoal,
Cypress, Blue Water, Bluff and Second creeks flow through the county from the
north.

    Striking the southwestern boundary of the county is the Elk river. Besides
these there are many bold mountain springs, containing both limestone and
freestone water. There are springs in several parts of the county that have
medicinal properties, the most noted of these being Bailey's Springs, but a
short distance from the town of Florence: though Taylor's Springs have a local
reputation. In every part of the county are to be found local industries, such
as gins, and grist, and saw mills.

     There are forests of valuable timber in every part of Lauderdale County.
These comprise several varieties of oak, poplar, chestnut, beech, hickory,
walnut, cherry, and short leaf pine. The forests, in many places, are heavily
wooded with these valuable timbers. Facilities for transportation of products to
market arc already good, but are destined to be greatly increased at no remote
period. The Memphis & Charleston Railway runs a branch road into Florence from
Tuscumbia; the Louisville & Nashville taps the same town with a road known as
the Nashville & Florence, from Columbia, Tenn., and other roads are proposed and
in process of construction.

    The educational advantages of the county are superior. Throughout the entire
county there are good local schools, affording all the educational facilities
necessary for common school instruction. These schools are supported by all the
moral influence that comes of long established and well-regulated society. The
people are law-abiding and thrifty, and the tone of society is elevating.

    In the northern portion of the county, adjoining the State of Tennessee, are
to be found excellent deposits of iron ore. The extent of the prevalence of this
ore is not known, as it has been only partially developed. In the southeastern
part of Lauderdale, on Elk River, is a valuable cave of saltpetre.

    The chief towns of the county are Florence (the county seat), Lexington.
Rodgersville and Waterloo.

    With water power from the hills and mountains, with a climate, the brace of
which cannot be excelled, even in midsummer, with superior society and schools,
Lauderdale oilers rare advantages to those seeking homes. Land may be purchased
at prices ranging from $5 to $15 per acre.

    The population of the county has increased seventy per cent, in the past
decade, and is still more rapidly advancing.

    The cuneal artificial mound at Florence, is one of the largest and best
preserved of the many left by that mysterious and unknown pre-historic race in
so many parts of our country.

    In 1819, voting places were established at the houses of Wm. S. Barton and
Thomas Harnett, and in 1824, at the houses of Joel Harrows, Andrew McMicken and
William Howe.

    Haywood's History of Tennessee says that the portion of Alabama, north of
the Tennessee, was organized into a county by the Georgia Legislature in 1785
and called Houstonn, in honor of John Houstonn, governor of that state in 1778
and 1784. A party of eighty men came down the Tennessee shortly after, and
effected a settlement at a point on the Muscle Shoals within the present limits
of this county. They opened a land office, elected one of their number to the
Georgia legislature, and performed other right of citizenship. Hut within a
fortnight the settlement was abandoned in dread of the warlike Chicasas.

    The region now embraced within this country was the scene of several  bloody
skirmishes between the Tennesseeans and Chicasas about the years 1787-90.

     During the war between the States a cavalry fight occurred two miles east
of Florence, in which the cavalry regiment of Col. Wm. A. Johnson, of Colbert,
scattered a federal command with some loss to it.  Near the same spot the army
of Gen. Hood lay encamped for several weeks just before entering on the
disastrous campaign which culminated at Franklin and Nashville. Lauderdale, then
in  common with the other counties of the Tenessee valley, suffered fearfully in
consequence of its exposed position.

    Probably no single county in the State can boast a higher order of
citizenship than Lauderdale, while her past history is replete with the names of
men whose brilliant achievements illumine the annals of a nation. The brave old
soldier, Gen. John Coffee, Jackson's most trusted lieutenant, lived and died
here; Robt. Miller Patton, one of Alabama's greatest governors, made this his
home, while the distinguished soldier, statesman and citizen, Edward Asbury
O'Neal yet resides at Florence. Caroline Lee Hentz, whose memory is so dear to
every lover of a pure literature, spent nine years of her life here. Judge John
Edmund Moore, Wade Keys, Hugh McVay, Sidney C. Posey, James Jackson, James
Irvine, and many others whose names are identified with the history of Alabama,
were citizens of this county.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

Northern Alabama: Historical and Biographical
Birmingham, Ala.: Smith and De Land
1888

PART III.
HISTORICAL RESUME OF THE VARIOUS COUNTIES IN THE STATE.
CEREAL BELT.


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