The Vagabond

By Danny Crownover The Duck Springs story begins with The Duck, a Cherokee Chieftain who some say was the brother of Chief Turkey, namesake of Turkeytown in Etowah County. Duck is buried above the springs named for him. Topping the list of Indian celebrities native to the Duck Springs area was Sequoyah, reputed to have

By Danny Crownover The supernatural is defined as things which defy scientific explanation, such as ghosts, ghouls, goblins, wizards or druids. What we can touch and feel is much more real to us as humans, but what of the physical apparitions? Are they any less a reality? As physically unimpaired humans, so many of us

By Danny Crownover A couple of weeks back, The Vagabond wrote on 414 Broad Street, the new home of the J.P. King Auction Company, and the building’s historical connections. Craig King and other King families had restored and preserved the old historical building with great results. The Etowah Historical Society is able to go back

By Danny Crownover A couple of weeks back, The Vagabond wrote on 414 Broad Street, the new home of the J.P. King Auction Company and all the building’s historical connections. Craig King and other King families restored and preserved the old historical building with great results. The Etowah Historical Society is able to locate old

By Danny Crownover Back during his younger days, The Vagabond remembered a tall booming figure at Rainbow Church of Christ by the name of Leslie Cooper King. This towering man would grab the young Vagabond and put him on his knee and talk to him. There are memories of when Mr. King and his wife,

By Danny Crownover The Vagabond recently did some historical research on some downtown Gadsden buildings and noted that many businesses in that area have not taken advantage of available tax credits for our designated historic downtowns of Gadsden, Alabama City and Attalla. Are you taking full tax advantage of your historic location? It is unbelievable

By Danny Crownover Author’s note: This article is of preserving history as it was written in the 1920s and not meant to offend anyone. “Back in 1910, the Holiness people, or Holy Rollers as they are sometimes termed were operating a most remarkable series of meetings on Kyle Avenue, which was the main road into

By Danny Crownover The Etowah Historical Society currently is hosting a traveling exhibit commemorating the centennial anniversary of Alabama’s involvement in World War I. “Remembering the Great War: Alabama and World War I” tells the story of the war from the perspectives of Alabamians whose lives were shaped by the conflict. The free exhibit runs

The First Baptist Church of Gadsden was first a wooden structure built at the northwest corner of Broad and Fifth streets. When erected, the church was said by many members to be “out in the woods and inaccessible.” At that time, the little village of Gadsden was centered around the blocks bounded by First, Fourth,

Think Etowah County crime is bad now? Turn back to the 1800s 1876 Terrible Tragedy – On Saturday evening last one of the saddest took place between John C. Latham and Benjamin F. Hodges, resulting in the shooting of Latham by Hodges in the bowels and from which he died at 3 o’clock Sunday morning. 

In 1884, store displays were quite different from today. While walking down Broad Street the other day, The Vagabond got to thinking of the difference in window displays by the stores of the good old days and the present time. As a matter of fact, there were no window displays in those days. Everything was

Perhaps the most fatal decision of the Civil War was made in Gadsden in October of 1864, when the Army of Tennessee, commanded by the dashing Gen. John Bell Hood, encamped here for two days. Recently driven out of Atlanta, Hood zigzagged his army up through northwest Georgia and northeast Alabama in an effort to

This week The Vagabond starts a series about the Civil War written by historian Betty Sue McElroy several years ago as a presentation to the Etowah Historical Society. The Vagabond talked to Betty Sue this week about her article. It was agreed that it would be worth repeating to the readers. Our Backyard, Gadsden, Ala.,

Recently at the Jerry B. Jones Library in the Elliott Community Center in Alabama City, a photo of Charlotte Peabody Kimball Nichols, mother of Howard Gardner Nichols, was found. Charlotte was born on April 24, 1839, in Bradford, Mass., and died on Aug. 4, 1908, in Newton, Mass. In 1870 she married John Howard Nichols.

This week the Vagabond continues with naming all the known mayors and officials of Gadsden through 1968. 1920 Mayor Clyde Stevenson Mayor: Clyde Stevenson President of Council: W.P. Archer Aldermen: Edwin W. Pickard and R.D. Stanfield, First Ward; I.S. Johnson and Berry Malone, Second Ward; I.M. Bensinger and B. Caldwell, Third Ward; R.W. Camp and Carl Whorton,

This week The Vagabond continues with naming all the known mayors and officials of Gadsden. 1899 Mayor L.L. Herzberg Mayor: L.L. Herzberg. Aldermen: J.R. Hughes, First Ward; J.H. Holcomb; Louis M. Smith; Otto Agricola; W.H. Sutton. 1901 Mayor E. Blackwood Mayor: E. Blackwood. Aldermen: Robert L. Miller, First Ward); C.H. Ritch, Second Ward (resigned Oct., 1901, W.L.

Robert Kyle, First Mayor – 1867. Officials as of June 9, 1876: Mayor: J. H. Disque; Aldermen: J. S. Paden, W. C. Liddell, W. T. Golightly, Jesse Mayne and W. N. Meeks; Town Marshall: M. M. Hughes; and City Clerk: D. B. Hicks. Officials as of 1877 (Fiscal yr. March 1 to Feb. 28): Mayor:

The Vagabond recently came across a rare document from the early 1930’s that is now at the Etowah Historical Society. Since the beginnings of the little town of Gadsden, there was different form of city government, what The Vagabond calls the pioneer form of governing, in which the mayor and other municipal officers was paid

  Gadsden has had a few booms that helped to build the city to its present prosperous stage, although some of them appeared to have caused some damage when they collapsed.

When the town was laid off into city lots, there was a boom in real estate, which was rather interesting, at least.

One year after the first steamboat on

Back in February of 1868, Gadsden suffered its most disastrous fire up at that time when what was called the Masonic Lodge block was entirely destroyed, along with some of the main stores of the little town. The Masonic Lodge Block was on Broad Street between Third and Fifth streets.

The blaze was discovered at 12

  One of the funniest things to happen in Gadsden during the so-called “Gay Nineties” (1890’s) was the purchase of a “dead man” by four of the leading farmers of Etowah County.

The local farmers were taken in by one of the slickest swindles of the day, but could not do anything but grin and bear it.

Right in the

It is very unlikely that few if any Gadsden residents can locate where the smallest brick business house on Broad Street or, for that matter the smallest building in the city was located. 

Yet, it is right in the center of the downtown district.

The building was a one-story structure wedged in by what is today’s Gadsden Museum of Arts,

  When there was much discussion of hydroelectric power over the country in the 1900’s, Gadsden was talking about the Coosa River as a potential asset in that direction, but there were other plans before the public. 

In this area there was much talk of harnessing Noccalula Falls for power, first by the old water wheel method and later by

 The Emma Sansom statue on Broad Street in Gadsden was dedicated back in 2007, and many locals celebrated the unveiling. 

This week The Vagabond once again has his nose stuck in the old history book. Sometime way back, Patsy Hanvey of Turkeytown and the late Hazel Oliver bought the dedication to my attention.

On July 4, 1907, a local

  The Ringling Brothers Circus made its first appearance in Gadsden on Nov. 8, 1899. The show had been in Birmingham and Anniston and left to Chattanooga and Huntsville. Everybody had heard of the great organization that was a rival of the Barnum & Bailey show, and equally as large and imposing.

Ringling Brothers Circus was founded in the United

Last week The Vagabond met a young lady from Huntsville, Sarah Belanger, who is writing a book about Prohibition in Northeast Alabama. The Vagabond in the past wrote about the local Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) and the little fountain that was built at the corner of Broad and First streets in front of Gadsden City Hall. There were

  Charles Reese recently spoke to the Etowah Historical Society about his father, Vernon “Toby” Reese, a famous country star from Gadsden. Charles discussed many things about his father and shared some of the photos of him. Charles wrote a book about his father and donated one to the historical society’s library. Last week we shared some of what he

Last week the Vagabond discussed the early streetcars in the Gadsden area, the first ones being drawn by horse and later ones by steam locomotion dummies. We continue this week to the electrified streetcars. The story continues...

As stipulated, Captain Elliott had agreed to extend a line to Noccalula Falls on Lookout Mountain. In 1891, the Hollingsworth estate granted

Although a precise detailed history cannot be written about Gadsden’s street railway and steam dummy systems, the following tentative history has been pieced together.

Sometime during 1886, Col. R.B. Kyle and Herman Herzberg and their associates petitioned the Gadsden City Council to grant the Gadsden Land & Improvement Company a franchise to build a horse car street railroad in the

Part II

The story of the naming of Attalla is often incorrect, and The Vagabond would like to tell the factual history on how Attalla was named and how the city was connected with the early railroad that went from Chattanooga, Tenn., to Meridian, Miss.

We continue the story…

An early employee of the railroad remembers that the