Tuscumbia is a city in and the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US ...

of Colbert County,

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = " Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...

, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 8,423. The city is part of The Shoals metropolitan area. Tuscumbia was the hometown of Helen Keller, who lived at Ivy Green. Several sites in the city are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

, especially in the

Tuscumbia Historic District The Tuscumbia Historic District is a historic district in Tuscumbia, Alabama. 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 villa ...

. The city is also the site of the Alabama Music Hall of Fame.

History

When the Michael Dixon family arrived about 1816, they were the first European Americans to settle here. It was traditional territory of the Chickasaw people. The settlers traded with Chief Tucumseh for the Tuscumbia Valley and built their home at the head of the big spring. Other settlers joined them and there developed a village known as the Big Spring Community. The men of the community requested that the state legislature incorporate them as a city.''Deshler High School Yearbook, Tiger's Roar 1996'', Volume LXVI, 175 Years Ago by John McWilliams. pg. 51 The town was incorporated in 1820 as Ococoposa, a Chickasaw word meaning 'dry watermelon'.Acts Passed at the Second Session of the General Assembly of the State of Alabama. Ococoposa, Chickasaw which means dry watermelon Begun and held in the Town of Cahawba, on the first Monday in November, one thousand eight hundred and twenty (1820). Cahawba, Alabama: Printed by Allen & Brickell, State Printers in 1820. Page 94
"An Act to incorporate the town of Ococoposo in the County of Franklin...Approved, December 20, 1820.
It is one of Alabama's oldest towns. In 1821, its name was changed to Big SpringActs Passed at the Called Session of the General Assembly of the State of Alabama Begun and Held in the Town of Cahawba, on the First Monday in June, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Twenty One (1821). Cahawba, Alabama: Printed by Allen & Brickell, State Printers. Reprint by Statute Law Book Co., Washington, D.C. Nov. 1913. Page 40

and on December 22, 1822, to Tuscumbia, after the Chief Rainmaker of the

Chickasaw The Chickasaw ( ) are an indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands. Their traditional territory was in the Southeastern United States of Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee as well in southwestern Kentucky. Their language is classif ...

.Acts Passed at the Fourth Annual Session of the General Assembly of the State of Alabama, Begun and Held at the Town of Cahawba, On the third Monday of November, one thousand eight hundred and twenty two (1822). Cahawba, Alabama. Printed by William B. Allen and Co., Printers to the State. Jan. 1823. Page 131
"Act - Changing the name of Big-Spring in Franklin County...Approved, Dec. 31, 1822."
/ref> Although

shoals In oceanography, geomorphology, and geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material and rises from the bed of a body of water to near the surface. It ...

on the nearby

Tennessee River The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other name ...

made the river nearly impassable, a federal road completed in 1820 provided the area with good access to markets. Tuscumbia soon became the center for agriculture in northern Alabama. A line to the town on the

Tuscumbia, Courtland and Decatur Railroad Incorporated on January 13, 1832, the Tuscumbia, Courtland and Decatur Railroad was a railroad in Alabama, the United States. The Tuscumbia, Courtland and Decatur Railroad ran from Decatur in Morgan County through the northern half of Lawrence ...

was completed in 1832, and by 1850 Tuscumbia was a major railroad hub for train traffic throughout the South. From 1826 to the 1860s, the

Tuscumbia Female Academy Tuscumbia Female Academy was a female seminary in Tuscumbia, Alabama which operated from 1826 until the 1860s. The Academy was one of the oldest schools for women established in Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = " Alabama" , im ...

operated in Tuscumbia.Isabella Margaret Elizabeth Blandin, ''History of Higher Education of Women in the South Prior to 1860'', (New York: Washington, Neale Pub. Co., 1909), 64-65. It was one of a number of private schools founded by planters and others wealthy enough to pay for the education of their sons and daughters. There were no public schools until During the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...

, the railroad hub made Tuscumbia a target of the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

, which destroyed the railroad shops and other parts of the town. The Civil War resulted in the permanent closure of the Tuscumbia Female Academy. Tuscumbia was designated as the county seat for Colbert County in 1867. A

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, alt ...

, estimated at F4 intensity on the

Fujita scale The Fujita scale (F-Scale; ), or Fujita–Pearson scale (FPP scale), is a scale for rating tornado intensity, based primarily on the damage tornadoes inflict on human-built structures and vegetation. The official Fujita scale category is deter ...

, struck Tuscumbia on November 22, 1874, damaging or destroying about a third of the town and killing 14 people. In April 1894, three African Americans accused of planning to commit arson were taken from the Tuscumbia jail by a mob of 200 men and

lynched Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged transgressor, punish a convicted transgressor, or intimidate people. It can also be an ex ...

, hanged from the bridge over the Tennessee River. The turn of the century period was the nadir of race relations in the South, with frequent violence by whites against African Americans to maintain white supremacy.

21st century

The 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic resulted in the temporary closure of two tourist destinations: The Alabama Music Hall of Fame and Ivy Green at the beginning of the month of April 2020 to reduce social contact and help curb the spread of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quick ...

Geography

Tuscumbia is located northeast of the center of Colbert County at (34.730839, -87.702854). It is bordered to the north by the city of

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire ...

and to the northeast by the city of Muscle Shoals. The

is to the northwest. According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the city has a total area of , of which is land and , or 0.50%, is water.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the

2020 United States census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to off ...

, there were 9,054 people, 3,304 households, and 2,207 families residing in the city.

2010 census

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

of 2010, there were 8,423 people, 3,704 households, and 2,279 families residing in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopu ...

was . There were 4,120 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 75.91%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

, 21.16%

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.39% Native American, 0.33% Asian, 0.48% from other races, and 1.70% from two or more races. 1.37% of the population were

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

or Latino of any race. There were 3,704 households, out of which 25.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.2% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

living together, 14.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.6% were non-families. 34.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.19 and the average family size was 2.81. In the city, the population was spread out, with 21.64% under the age of 18, 6.20% from 18 to 24, 30.15% from 25 to 44, 19.50% from 45 to 64, and 21.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 83.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 78.6 males. The median income for a household in the city was $28,793, and the median income for a family was $39,831. Males had a median income of $32,159 versus $18,860 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the city was $18,302. About 11.1% of families and 15.1% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 21.7% of those under age 18 and 19.92% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Tuscumbia City Schools and the Colbert County Board of Education provide public education for Tuscumbia. The following public schools are located in Tuscumbia: *Deshler Area Vocational Center (grades 9 through 12) *Deshler High School (grades 9 through 12) *Colbert Heights High School (grades 7 through 12) *Deshler Middle School (grades 6 through 8) *Colbert Heights Elementary School (grades K through 6) *New Bethel Elementary (grades K through 6) *R. E. Thompson Intermediate School (grades 3 through 5) *G. W. Trenholm Primary School (grades K through 2) Private schools in Tuscumbia include Covenant Christian School (grades K through 12).

Media

Radio stations: * WVNA 1590 AM (

News News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different media: word of mouth, printing, postal systems, broadcasting, electronic communication, or through the testimony of observers and witnesses to event ...

/ Talk) * WZZA 1410 AM (

Urban contemporary Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, hip hop, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban conte ...

)

Major highways

* U.S. Highway 43 *

U.S. Highway 72 U.S. Route 72 (US 72) is an east–west United States highway that travels for from southwestern Tennessee, throughout North Mississippi, North Alabama, and southeastern Tennessee. The highway's western terminus is in Memphis, Tennessee ...

Notable people

* Cynthia Bailey, model, actress, entrepreneur, and cast member of '' The Real Housewives of Atlanta'' *

Beverly Barton Beverly Marie Beaver (née Inman; December 23, 1946 – April 21, 2011), better known as Beverly Barton, was an American author, known for her romantic suspense novels. She has written over thirty contemporary romance novels and created the p ...

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire ...

* Deion Belue,

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...

Archibald Hill Carmichael Archibald Hill Carmichael (June 17, 1864 – July 15, 1947) was an American Democratic politician who represented Alabama's 8th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from November 1933 to January 1937. Early lif ...

, politician and U.S. Representative from 1933 to 1937 * Mike Cooley, guitarist for the

alt-country Alternative country, or alternative country rock (sometimes alt-country, insurgent country, Americana, or y'allternative), is a loosely defined subgenre of country music and/or country rock that includes acts that differ significantly in style ...

/ rock band

Drive-By Truckers Drive-By Truckers are an American rock band based in Athens, Georgia. Two of five current members ( Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley) are originally from The Shoals region of northern Alabama and met as roommates at the University of North Alab ...

James Deshler James Deshler (February 18, 1833 – September 20, 1863) was a career United States Army officer and a graduate of West Point who later joined the Confederate States Army. During the American Civil War he fought at Cheat Mountain, Camp Allegheny, ...

, Confederate

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointe ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

* Al Gamble,

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

* Howell Thomas Heflin,

U.S. senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and power ...

from Alabama (1979–97),

Alabama Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Alabama is the highest court in the state of Alabama. The court consists of a chief justice and eight associate justices. Each justice is elected in partisan elections for staggered six-year terms. The Supreme Court is hou ...

Chief Justice (1971–77) * Richard H. Jackson, former four-star

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet ...

in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

* Helen Keller, deafblind author,

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...

, and

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

* Robert B. Lindsay, 22nd

Governor of Alabama A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Frank Manush Frank Henry Benjamin Manush (September 18, 1883 – January 5, 1965) was a Major League Baseball third baseman. Manush played for the Philadelphia Athletics in . In 23 career games, he had 12 hits in 77 at-bats, with a .156 batting average. He bat ...

, former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system u ...

for the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oakla ...

* Heinie Manush, professional baseball player, elected to the

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...

Jimmy Orr Jimmy Orr (October 4, 1935 – October 27, 2020) was an American professional football player who was a wide receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Colts for 13 seasons from 1958 to 1970 in the National Football League (NFL). Orr wa ...

, former

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...

wide receiver * Margaret Pellegrini, played one of the Munchkins in the movie ''The Wizard of Oz'' *

Billy Pettinger Billy Pettinger (born February 1, 1982) is a Canadian-born singer and songwriter who performs under the moniker Billy the Kid. She also fronts the rock band Billy and the Lost Boys and played drums in Vancouver's longest surviving Ramones cover ...

, songwriter, painter and author *

Will Reynolds William Reynolds was an American mass murderer who shot nine people, seven of them fatally, in Tuscumbia, Alabama, United States on April 6, 1902, before being shot dead himself. Police arrived at Reynolds' home in Tuscumbia's black neighborhoo ...

mass murder Mass murder is the act of murdering a number of people, typically simultaneously or over a relatively short period of time and in close geographic proximity. The United States Congress defines mass killings as the killings of three or more pe ...

er * William Henry Sawtelle,

United States federal judge In the United States, federal judges are judges who serve on courts established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. They include the chief justice and the associate justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, the circuit judges of the U.S ...

from 1931 to 1934 * William H. Steele, member of the

United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama The United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama (in case citations, S.D. Ala.) is a federal court in the Eleventh Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appe ...

* Larry Stutts,

State Senator A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. Description A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of ...

whose patient's death inspired "Rose's Law" *

Wilson D. Watson Wilson Douglas Watson (February 16, 1922 – December 19, 1994) was a United States Marine Corps private who received the Medal of Honor for his actions on Iwo Jima during World War II. He single-handedly killed 60 enemy soldiers, thus enabling hi ...

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through c ...

private who received the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of val ...

for his actions on

Iwo Jima Iwo Jima (, also ), known in Japan as , is one of the Japanese Volcano Islands and lies south of the Bonin Islands. Together with other islands, they form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The highest point of Iwo Jima is Mount Suribachi at high. ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

References

External links

*
Virtual Tour of Tuscumbia

American Memory's Built in America Collection
which has drawings, photographs, and descriptions of old homes and buildings in Tuscumbia
Tuscumbia City Schools
{{authority control Cities in Alabama Cities in Colbert County, Alabama Florence–Muscle Shoals metropolitan area County seats in Alabama Populated places established in 1820 1820 establishments in Alabama Alabama populated places on the Tennessee River