[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 135 (Thursday, September 26, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11417-S11418]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             GADSDEN, AL, CELEBRATES ITS 150TH ANNIVERSARY

  Mr. HEFLIN. Mr. President, on October 12, 1996, Gadsden, AL, will 
celebrate its sesquicentennial. The city will mark its 150th birthday 
with a large parade, sidewalk sale, dedications, awards, ceremonies, 
fireworks, and other activities. The theme of Gadsden's celebration is 
``Proud of Our Past, Confident of Our Future.'' Under the guidance of 
the Etowah County Historical Society, the Turrentine Avenue Historical 
District and the Aryle Circle Historical District have been 
established. Efforts are currently under way to designate downtown 
Gadsden a historical district.
  Gadsden's rich and colorful history goes all the way back to the 
early 1800's, when the Cherokee Indians occupied most of the territory 
in what is today northeast Alabama. In 1825, John Riley and his 
Cherokee Indian wife

[[Page S11418]]

moved from Turkeytown, AL, to a place near the Coosa River called 
Double Springs where they built a log cabin. This structure, the first 
to be built in what is now the city of Gadsden, still stands near the 
intersection of Third Street and Tuscaloosa Avenue, its original wall 
enclosed in an outer frame structure. This house was later used as a 
stage coach stop and post office on the route from Huntsville, Alabama 
to Rome, Georgia.
  After the Indians were pushed west of the Mississippi River in 1838, 
many pioneers began moving into the expansive Cherokee Country from 
North Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee. One of the earliest of these, 
John S. Moragne, began buying property on the west side of the Coosa 
River. Another, Joel C. Lewis, settled with his family on the east 
side. General D.C. Turrentine and his wife moved into the area in 1842, 
purchased some land at the lower end of what is now Broad Street, and 
built a hotal called the Turrentine Inn. Surrounding this tract was the 
land which was to become the actual town site, owned by three of the 
earliest pioneers: Moragne, Joseph Hughes, and Lewis Rhea. On these 120 
acres, the original survey of Gadsden was made in 1846, consisting of 
260 lots. Its boundaries were First, Locust, Chestnut, and Sixth 
Streets.
  Shortly before this, a steamboat landing had been located at the foot 
of Broad Street, then known as Railroad Street. The first steam boat to 
sail up the river into Gadsden was the Coosa, built by Captain Lafferty 
on the banks of the Ohio River in Cincinnati and brought to Gadsden on 
July 4, 1845. The city founders wanted to name their new town Lafferty, 
but the captain objected. The name Gadsden was instead chosen to honor 
General James Gadsden, a soldier and diplomat who negotiated the 
Gadsden Purchase from Mexico.
  John Lay, who moved from Virginia to Cherokee Country, was a pioneer 
in flatboat commerce. His grandson, William Patrick Lay, was later the 
founder of the Alabama Power Company and the first hydroelectric plant 
in the world.
  General Turrentine organized a group of children into the county's 
first Sunday School, and from this core grew the 
religious denominations of the growing town. The First Methodist Church 
was organized in 1845; the First Baptist Church in 1855; and the First 
Presbyterian Church in 1860.

  By September 1857, the young village of Gadsden had a total of 150 
residents. The young, energetic North Carolinian named Robert Benjamin 
Kyle was typical of those moving into the area round this time. He had 
already enjoyed a successful business career as a merchant and railroad 
contractor in Columbus, GA. When he came to Gadsden, his dynamic 
personal energy, resourcefulness, and capital made him a catalyst for 
the rapid growth to follow. He saw the need for a lumber business there 
and worked diligently to make Gadsden a railroad and steamboat center. 
At the outbreak of the Civil War, he was commissioned as the first 
recruiting agent for the Confederate Army. In 1862, he and Isaac P. 
Moragne organized a Gadsden volunteer infantry company which later 
became Company A, 31st Alabama Volunteers. During the war, the county 
furnished five companies of soldiers.
  After the war and during the Reconstruction Period, Kyle continued to 
develop Gadsden's natural advantages through lumber manufacturing, 
railroad construction, and mercantile business. One of his proudest 
accomplishments was the opening of Kyle's Opera House in 1881. Other 
churches were established, including Catholic, Episcopalian, Jewish, 
Christian Scientist, and Lutheran congregations.
  In 1867, Etowah County had been carved out of Cherokee, Saint Clair, 
Marshall, Calhoun, Blount, and DeKalb counties and given the name 
``Baine,'' in honor of Colonel D.W. Baine, who had been killed in 1862 
with the 14th Alabama Regiment. When the Reconstruction's military 
government was established in 1868, officials protested so vigorously 
that the county's name was changed to ``Etowah,'' which is a Cherokee 
word meaning ``good tree,'' in 1869.
  Ten years after the war, Gadsden was no longer a small village: It 
had over 2,000 inhabitants. Nineteen businesses boasted a trade of more 
than one million dollars each and the first public school opened in 
1877. The 1880's saw the organization of the first fire department, 
erection of street lamps, and a garbage department. It had become a 
center for coal, iron ore, timber, and cotton.
  By the turn of the century, Gadsden was fast becoming the ``Queen 
City of the Coosa.'' Industry was looking at and coming its way. In 
1895, the Dwight Manufacturing Co. opened a plant in nearby Alabama 
City. The first steel plant was erected in Gadsden in 1905, the Alabama 
Power Co. in 1906, and Goodyear in 1929.
  During World War I, men from Gadsden fought with the famous 
``Rainbow'' division from the area. Nearby Rainbow City, Rainbow 
Memorial Bridge, and Rainbow Drive were all named in honor of these 
servicemen. This division had been raised and coordinated by a young 
Douglas McArthur.
  In 1925, East Gadsden merged with Gadsden, the same year the Alabama 
School of Trades was built. In 1926, the Noccalula Falls lands were 
purchased by the city. Today, these grounds are among the most popular 
and beautiful tourist attractions in Alabama. The Etowah County 
Memorial Bridge was built and dedicated in 1927. In 1932, Alabama City 
and Gadsden merged into one city. In 1937, the third largest steel 
company in the U.S., Republic, came to Gadsden. This plant has been in 
continuous operation since then.
  During World War II, major construction occurred as the Gadsden 
Ordnance Plant was built and the Gadsden Air Force Depot was completed. 
It was closed in 1958.
  During the Korean Conflict, the Congressional Medal of Honor was 
awarded to Gadsden native Ola Lee Mize for bravery during this war. He 
was later a Green Beret in Vietnam.
  Gadsden Mall opened in 1974, the same year that the Nichols Library 
was added to the National Register. It was the first library in Alabama 
to issue books to the public. In 1986, Gadsden changed its form of 
government from a commission type to a mayor-council form.
  Today, the city's factories, churches, businesses, schools, and 
tourism industry stand as testimonials to a heritage of which the 
citizens of modern Gadsden may be justifiably proud. As it celebrates 
its 150th anniversary, Gadsden will prove itself once again a ``City of 
Champions'' and an ``All-American City.''

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