Cherokee is a town in west

Colbert County, Alabama Colbert County () is a county located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 census the county's population was 57,227. The county seat is Tuscumbia. The largest city is Muscle Shoals. The county is named ...

, United States. Located near the

Tennessee River The Tennessee River is a long river located in the Southern United States, southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. Flowing through the states of Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, it begins at the confluence of Fren ...

, it is part of the

Florence–Muscle Shoals metropolitan area Florence is a city in, and the county seat of, Lauderdale County, Alabama, United States, in the state's northwestern corner, and had a population of 40,184 in the 2020 census. Florence is located along the Tennessee River and is home to the U ...

, known as "The Shoals". As of the 2010 census, the population of the town was 1,048.

History

Cherokee was incorporated December 7, 1871. While located along the Tennessee River, the town was started as a stop along the

Memphis and Charleston Railroad The Memphis and Charleston Railroad, completed in 1857, was the first railroad in the United States to link the Atlantic Ocean with the Mississippi River. Chartered in 1846, the gauge railroad ran from Memphis, Tennessee, to Stevenson, Alabama ...

during the late 1850s and early 1860s.

Geography

Cherokee is situated along

U.S. Route 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 a ...

west of

Muscle Shoals Muscle Shoals is the largest city in Colbert County, Alabama, United States. It is located on the left bank of the Tennessee River in the northern part of the state and, as of the 2010 census, its population was 13,146. The estimated popula ...

and a few miles east of the Alabama-

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

state line. The

passes to the northeast. Via US-72, Tuscumbia, the county seat of Colbert County, is 18 mi (29 km) east, and

Iuka, Mississippi Iuka is a city in and the county seat of Tishomingo County, Mississippi, United States. Its population was 3,028 at the 2010 census. Woodall Mountain, the highest point in Mississippi, is located just south of Iuka. History Iuka is built o ...

is 14 mi (23 km) northwest. According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, 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 U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, Cherokee has a total area of , all land.

Climate

*Annual

Precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls from clouds due to gravitational pull. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, rain and snow mixed ("sleet" in Commonwe ...

60.6 inches

Demographics

2000 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 1,237 people, 510 households, and 370 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 557 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 78.33%

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

, 20.21%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.32% Native American, and 1.13% from two or more races. 0.49% of the population were

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race. There were 510 households, out of which 30.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.8% were

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

living together, 16.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.3% were non-families. 25.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 2.88. In the town, the population was spread out, with 24.7% under the age of 18, 7.0% from 18 to 24, 25.9% from 25 to 44, 24.6% from 45 to 64, and 17.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.2 males. The median income for a household in the town was $24,597, and the median income for a family was $28,839. Males had a median income of $26,667 versus $20,096 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the town was $12,431. About 18.6% of families and 22.6% 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 31.7% of those under age 18 and 15.7% of those age 65 or over.

2010 census

As of the

of 2010, there were 1,048 people, 452 households, and 315 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 529 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 77.6%

, 18.3%

, 0.5% Native American, and 2.3% from two or more races. 1.7% of the population were

or Latino of any race. There were 452 households, out of which 25.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.6% were

living together, 16.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.3% were non-families. 26.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.32 and the average family size was 2.78. In the town, the population was spread out, with 21.3% under the age of 18, 7.2% from 18 to 24, 22.8% from 25 to 44, 27.1% from 45 to 64, and 21.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44.1 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.0 males. The median income for a household in the town was $36,875, and the median income for a family was $41,250. Males had a median income of $37,581 versus $23,421 for females. The

for the town was $18,038. About 20.5% of families and 20.9% of the population were below the

, including 36.1% of those under age 18 and 12.2% of those age 65 or over.

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 970 people, 364 households, and 242 families residing in the town.

Education

Schools in Cherokee are part of the Colbert County School System and serve rural western Colbert County. Cherokee Elementary School and Cherokee High School are located on the northern side of town along North Pike. The land for this complex, including the football field, was donated by the Harris family of Cherokee. The population in western Colbert County has declined in recent years. Cherokee Middle School closed after the 2006 / 2007 year and was consolidated into Cherokee Elementary and Cherokee High Schools. The site was once home to one of the original

Rosenwald School The Rosenwald School project built more than 5,000 schools, shops, and teacher homes in the United States primarily for the education of African-American children in the South during the early 20th century. The project was the product of the partn ...

s. The former middle school is now empty, while it is still owned by the Colbert County Board of Education.

Transportation

Major highways

U.S. Highway 72

US Highway 72 is the major corridor through Cherokee. This important highway followed the railroad and was once known as the Memphis Pike. U.S. Highway 72 is still part of the

Lee Highway The Lee Highway was a United States auto trail initially connecting from an eastern zero mile marker on the Ellipse in Washington DC to a western zero marker, the Pacific Milestone, in the center of San Diego, California — via the Ame ...

Natchez Trace Parkway

The

Natchez Trace Parkway The Natchez Trace Parkway is a limited-access national parkway in the Southeastern United States that commemorates the historic Natchez Trace and preserves sections of that original trail. Its central feature is a two-lane road that extends 44 ...

passes north and west of Cherokee and is part of the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

. This highway provides a vital source of tourism for the area.

Rail

The

was vital to the founding of present-day Cherokee. Once a vital passenger carrier for the area, the railroad is an important artery for the

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The comp ...

system, connecting

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...

and Memphis. The railroad has a spur to Cherokee Nitrogen to transport

ammonia Ammonia is an inorganic chemical compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the chemical formula, formula . A Binary compounds of hydrogen, stable binary hydride and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinctive pu ...

and

ammonium nitrate Ammonium nitrate is a chemical compound with the formula . It is a white crystalline salt consisting of ions of ammonium and nitrate. It is highly soluble in water and hygroscopic as a solid, but does not form hydrates. It is predominantly us ...

manufactured by the facility.

River

The

was a critical transportation corridor for the South during the

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

. The river provides recreation, continues to transport goods, and is an important factor in industrial activity in the area.

Air

Northwest Alabama Regional Airport Northwest Alabama Regional Airport is a public-use airport, located one mile east of Muscle Shoals, in Colbert County, Alabama. It is owned by the counties of Colbert and Lauderdale. The airport is serviced by Contour Airlines, and subsidized ...

is located east of Cherokee. It is served by Delta Connection - Mesaba Airlines, providing public transportation to

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Economy

Barton Riverfront Industrial Park

The Barton Riverfront Industrial Park is located in the Barton community east of Cherokee near the Tennessee River. The park was constructed to attract industry to western Colbert County and has become an important economical revitalization to the area. The first company to locate in the park was SCA Tissue North America which started operation in 2004.

Major employers

Cherokee Nitrogen

Cherokee Nitrogen, owned b
LSB Industries
is located on the north side of town. It was built in 1962 by Armour Agri-Chemicals and has been owned by USS Agri-Chemicals (a division of

United States Steel The United States Steel Corporation is an American steel company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It maintains production facilities at several additional locations in the U.S. and Central Europe. The company produces and sells steel products, ...

) and LaRoche Industries before being bought by LSB Industries. Cherokee Nitrogen provides nitrogen products, ammonia, and ammonia nitrate.
Nelson Brothers
is located adjacent to the facility. Nelson Brothers uses the ammonia nitrate in the production of dynamite.
Linde
sells Carbon Dioxide produced as a byproduct of the process at Cherokee Nitrogen. On the night of November 13, 2012, Cherokee Nitrogen was the scene of a devastating explosion heard away that left at least one employee injured. It was felt all across the "Shoals".

SCA Tissue North America

SCA Tissue North America
a division of

Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget () is a Sweden, Swedish wood industry, timber, pulp and paper industry, pulp and paper manufacturer with headquarters in Sundsvall. It has approximately 3,450 employees and a turnover of approximately Swedish krona ...

, was the first tenant of the Barton Riverfront Industrial Park located east of town in the Barton community. As of 2010 it has undergone several expansions and is Cherokee's largest employer.

Vulcan Materials

Vulcan Materials' Cherokee Facility
has been located on the east edge of town for many years. Crushed

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

from this

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mining, open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock (geology), rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some juri ...

is used throughout Alabama and Mississippi.

UCM Magnesia

UCM Magnesia
was an industry located in the Barton area. Originally Muscle Shoals ElectroChemical Corp, it was also owned by Glasrock and later Muscle Shoals Minerals. This facility was an important supplier of high quality magnesia

powder A powder is a dry solid composed of many very fine particles that may flow freely when shaken or tilted. Powders are a special sub-class of granular materials, although the terms ''powder'' and ''granular'' are sometimes used to distinguish se ...

. It closed in late 2012.

National Alabama

In July 2007 National Steel Car announced a decision to locate a new manufacturing facility in the industrial park, the largest new employer in Colbert County in the prior 40 years. The CEO, Gregory Aziz, was caught up in a legal case over securities fraud related to the facility and the facility was turned over to Retirement Systems of Alabama. The facility has become an independent entity of its former parent and is now named National Alabama Corporation. Retirement Systems of Alabama is the primary shareholder. National Alabama is designed to provide steel

railcars A railcar (not to be confused with the generic term railroad car, railroad car or railway car) is a self-propelled Rail transport, railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a trai ...

and was expected to be the largest employer in the area. In 2010 the depressed economy was blamed for delayed full production at the facility and the company said it was looking for alternative products to produce. Navistar and FreightCar America facilities are now unoccupied.

Navistar

As of 2022, the facility is no longer in operation and sits unoccupied. As of 2011 Navistar is the primary lease holder at the National Alabama facility which is currently owned by the Retirement Systems of Alabama. Navistar fabricates parts for

produced by Freightcar America. Together the two companies are the largest employer in the area.

FreightCar America (FCA)

FreightCar America is the sub lease holder at the National Alabama Facility, which is currently owned by the Retirement Systems of Alabama. FreightCar America produces

. However, the facility is now unoccupied as the company moved production to Mexico.

Local attractions

Natchez Trace Parkway

The

is one of the most significant historical attractions in the area. The section of the Natchez Trace near Cherokee includes the Colbert Ferry site, the home of

George Colbert George Colbert (November 7, 1839) was an early 19th century, 19th-century Chickasaw leader who commanded 350 Chickasaw auxiliary troops who fought under Major General Andrew Jackson during the Creek War. He also served as an Officer (armed forc ...

and of

Levi Colbert Levi Colbert (June 2, 1834) was an early 19th-century Chickasaw leader and the namesake of Itawamba County, Mississippi. Early life and education Levi Colbert was born around 1759 in the Chickasaw Nation (present-day Alabama). He was the ...

. The Colbert family were leaders of the

Chickasaw Nation The Chickasaw Nation () is a federally recognized Indigenous nation with headquarters in Ada, Oklahoma, in the United States. The Chickasaw Nation descends from an Indigenous population historically located in the southeastern United States, in ...

that resided in this area before they were forcibly relocated in the 19th century.

Key Underwood Coon Dog Memorial Graveyard

Key Underwood Coon Dog Memorial Graveyard The Key Underwood Coon Dog Memorial Graveyard is a specialized and restricted pet cemetery and memorial in rural Colbert County, Alabama, US. It is reserved specifically for the burials of Coonhound, coon dogs. The cemetery was established by Ke ...

is one of the world's most unusual cemeteries; it is dedicated to the burial of coon dogs. Each Labor Day a large celebration is held at the graveyard and is attended by many politicians seeking office.

Stanfield-Worley Bluff Shelter

Stanfield-Worley Bluff Shelter, located near Cherokee, is a significant find of early human life in North America.

Barton Hall

Barton Hall Barton Hall is an on-campus field house on the campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. It is the site of the school's indoor track facilities, ROTC offices and classes, and Cornell Police. For a long time, Barton Hall was the larges ...

is located southwest of town and was a significant

plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

prior to and during the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, 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 policies.J ...

. The residence is on the National Register of Historic Places but is privately owned and not open to the public.

Bear Creek Watershed

Buzzard Roost and Bear Creek, located west of Cherokee, provide excellent locations for fishing and water sports. One of the state's oldest wooden

covered bridge A covered bridge is a timber-truss bridge with a roof, decking, and siding, which in most covered bridges create an almost complete enclosure. The purpose of the covering is to protect the wooden structural members from the weather. Uncovered woo ...

s once crossed Buzzard Roost but was burned in 1972.

Riverton Rose Trail

Riverton Rose Trail winds along Bear Creek from U.S. 72 to Riverton, Alabama. Before the

Tennessee Valley Authority The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolin ...

closed the gates on Pickwick Dam this town was an important transportation location on the Tennessee River as it marked the beginning of the treacherous shoals that hampered transportation in the Shoals Area until the opening of Riverton Lock in 1911. Today most of the town is flooded by the waters of

Pickwick Lake Pickwick Lake is the reservoir created by Pickwick Landing Dam as part of the Tennessee Valley Authority. The lake stretches from Pickwick Landing Dam in Counce, Tennessee, to Wilson Dam in Florence, Alabama, and is one of the few lakes in the ...

on the Tennessee River.

Colbert Ferry

Colbert Ferry is located by the Tennessee River on the Natchez Trace Parkway.Natchez Trace Parkway - Tupelo to Tennessee Line
/ref> It was the home of George Colbert who ran a

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

to carry passengers traveling the Natchez Trace across the Tennessee River.

Notable people

* Dominique Croom,

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

* Bobby E. Denton, member of the

Alabama Senate The Alabama State Senate is the upper house of the Alabama Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alabama. The body is composed of 35 members representing an equal number of districts across the state, with each district con ...

, representing the 1st District since 1978

References

External links

* {{authority control Alabama placenames of Native American origin Towns in Colbert County, Alabama Towns in Alabama Florence–Muscle Shoals metropolitan area