Incorporated on January 13, 1832, the Tuscumbia, Courtland and Decatur Railroad was a

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

, the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The Tuscumbia, Courtland and Decatur Railroad ran from Decatur in Morgan County through the northern half of Lawrence County through Courtland, then into Colbert County and ended in

Tuscumbia, Alabama Tuscumbia is a city in, and the county seat of Colbert County, Alabama, Colbert County, Alabama, United States. The population was 9,054 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, and was estimated to be 9,169 in 2023. The city is part of ...

where it connected to the

Tuscumbia Railway Company The Tuscumbia Railway was chartered on January 16, 1830, and a 2.1 mile railroad was built from downtown Tuscumbia, Alabama, to the docks on the Tennessee River, west of Sheffield, Alabama, Sheffield. This was the first railroad chartered or constr ...

. Construction began in mid-1832, the first segment between Tuscumbia and

Leighton Leighton may refer to: Places In Australia: * Leighton, Western Australia, a beachside locality In the United Kingdom: * Leighton, Cambridgeshire * Leighton, Cheshire * Leighton, North Yorkshire ** Leighton Reservoir * Leighton, Shropshire *Lei ...

was completed in November of that year. Traffic between those two cities began at the day of completion. The second segment between Leighton and Decatur was completed in June 1834. Construction was speedy because of the large cotton industry in

North Alabama North Alabama is a region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Several geographic definitions for the area exist, with all descriptions including the nine counties of Alabama's Tennessee Valley region. The North Alabama Industrial Development Associ ...

. Barges could not pass through the rapids caused by the Shoals along 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 ...

between Florence, and Decatur. The Shoals Canal was congested and the state pursued funding for a railroad between The Shoals and the calmer waters in Decatur. In 1850 it was incorporated into 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 ...

which eventually merged into the Southern Railway, a predecessor of Norfolk Southern. The line is still operated by

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 ...

and serves as a vital railroad link between

The Shoals 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 ...

, and the city of Decatur.

References

External links

Old Rail History Website listing with details and mapNational Transportation Enhancements Clearinghouse - Tuscumbia Landing
Defunct Alabama railroads Landmarks in Alabama Transportation in Morgan County, Alabama Transportation in Lawrence County, Alabama Transportation in Colbert County, Alabama Huntsville-Decatur, AL Combined Statistical Area Decatur, Alabama Decatur metropolitan area, Alabama Tuscumbia, Alabama Predecessors of the Southern Railway (U.S.) Railway companies established in 1832 Railway companies disestablished in 1847 5 ft gauge railways in the United States American companies established in 1832 {{US-rail-company-stub

See also

References

External links