National Register of Historic Places

Tuscumbia Historic District

Tuscumbia, Colbert County, Alabama
Listed
May 22, 1985
Type
District
Period
Listed
Ref No.
85001158

About this property

The Tuscumbia Historic District is a historic district in Tuscumbia, Alabama, United States. The district contains 461 contributing properties and covers about 232 acres (94 ha) of the town's original area. The first white settlers in Tuscumbia built a village next to Big Spring, at the site of what is today Spring Park. Many settlers, many from Virginia and Maryland, began to emigrate to The Shoals in the 1820s and 1830s. The oldest houses in the district are Tidewater-type cottages, a style native to the Middle Atlantic. Also built during the town's early period are some of the oldest commercial buildings in Alabama, including the Morgan-Donilan Building (built 1825) and a seven-building block known as Commercial Row (built in the mid-1830s). The town's economy declined in the 1840s, when many farmers left seeking more fertile soil, through the Civil War and Reconstruction. Recovery came in the 1880s and 1890s, driven by industrial development in neighboring Sheffield. The majority of commercial buildings date from the 1880s through the 1930s, while residential buildings of the period display styles such as Queen Anne, Folk Victorian, Bungalow, and Tudor Revival. Other notable buildings in the district include the Colbert County Courthouse, built in 1909; St. John's Episcopal Church, built in 1852 as one of the earliest Carpenter Gothic churches in Alabama; and Deshler Stadium, a Works Projects Administration project completed in 1941. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

Location

Tuscumbia, Colbert County, Alabama
34.73303, -87.70209

Categories

COMMERCEPOLITICS/GOVERNMENTARCHITECTURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Everything a full report reveals about Tuscumbia Historic District

This page lists Tuscumbia Historic District. A full Aubrey report for an address near it pulls together this listing alongside battlefield records, land patents, and every other historical record within a chosen radius:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with historic sites, battles and Native heritage plotted, and its full story era by era.
The Land
The historic sites and place names around the location, and how this land was settled and used.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back millions of years.
LiDAR Terrain
Laser-scanned terrain that reveals earthworks and old features hidden in the landscape.
Conflict & War
The battles, raids and skirmishes fought near here, across every era of American conflict.
The Civil War
The Civil War on this ground, 1861 to 1865: who held it, and the battles, camps and regiments nearby.
The Soldiers
The men who marched from here in the Civil War, named and traced where the record allows.
Native Heritage
The Native nations who held this land, mapped across time from before European contact to today.
Settlement
Who claimed and held this ground, from Indigenous homelands through the colonial powers to the United States.
The Community
How the town grew, who came, and what kind of place it became, traced through the census record.
Rivers & Rail
The rivers, canals and railroads that connected this place between 1830 and 1911.
Notable People
The people born, buried or genuinely tied to this exact place, with their stories.
Historical Maps
Historic maps of the location layered over how it looks today.
Finds & Access
Museum objects tied to the area, and the laws on searching, collecting and access here.
Literature
The old books, county histories and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Points of Interest
The most significant historic sites and landmarks near the location, and why they matter.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from first peoples to the present day.
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Nearby Historic Sites

Colbert County Courthouse Square Historic District
Industrial
0.1 mi
St. John's Episcopal Church
Industrial
0.1 mi
Norman, Felix Grundy, House
Industrial
0.2 mi
Rather, John Daniel, House
Industrial
0.3 mi
Winston, William, House
Industrial
0.4 mi

Questions about this property

When was Tuscumbia Historic District listed on the National Register?

Tuscumbia Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 22, 1985.

What type of historic resource is Tuscumbia Historic District?

Tuscumbia Historic District is classified as a district in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Tuscumbia Historic District?

The period of significance for Tuscumbia Historic District is recorded as the listed era.

Can I research the history near Tuscumbia Historic District?

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