The Vagabond

April 16, 2026

February 27, 2026

By Danny Crownover When Gadsden was first surveyed and platted into 260 lots by W. S. Brown, the engineer who first surveyed the Tennessee & Coosa Railro...

Wild reception for first steamboat here

February 27, 2026

By Danny K. Crownover Legend has it that the wild reception of the first steamboat on the Coosa River when it reached Gadsden on July Fourth, 184...

Runaway train in Gadsden and a heroic stop

February 16, 2026

By Danny Crownover Back in the early 1890s Gadsden was startled when a wild locomotive came dashing through town going east at full speed, heading for the L....

Beginning of the Meighan Bridge

January 18, 2026

By Danny Crownover Back in 1947, shortly after James E. Folsom took over as governor of Alabama, he made a tour of the state. He went with director Ward McF...

Gadsden City Hall locations of the past

January 7, 2026

By Danny Crownover Prior to 1897, city hall was at the Hollingsworth Building, in a rented room over what became the present office of the Stringer Realty...

Parking problems in horse and buggy days

November 25, 2025

By Danny Crownover Gadsden had its parking problems back in the horse and buggy days, but they were not as acute and as dif...

The real story on how Gadsden got its name

October 30, 2025

By Danny Crownover Gadsden was named after Col. James Gadsden, distinguished soldier, diplomat, railroad president and businessman of Charles...