Tuscumbia Depot and Roundhouse

ested near a bountiful big spring in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains is the city of Tuscumbia, Alabama. The French first settled the area near the Tennessee River in the 1700’s only to have their town destroyed in 1786. The Chickasaw Indians moved here next, building their town near the spring. They were soon followed by the Michael Dickson Family, circa 1815. The Federal Government built a military road through the town in 1817-1819.

The introduction of steamboats on the Tennessee River offered a new opportunity. Tuscumbia built a landing on the river in 1824 just two miles from town. An immense trade business grew and the river landing soon became too small. The merchants decided to build another landing, up river, connected to the town by rail. In 1830, the Tuscumbia Railway Co. was formed. This was the first railroad on the American frontier. The success of this line gave many of these same men another vision – to build another railroad from Tuscumbia to Decatur, Alabama. This was to transverse around a forty-three mile stretch of shallow rapids in the Tennessee River known as the Muscle Shoals. This line, the Tuscumbia, Courtland and Decatur Railroad, was completed in 1834.

City of Tuscumbia

he combination of rail and steamboats put Tuscumbia on the main route from the East to the American Southwest. Tuscumbia doubled in size in just two years. The Tuscumbia post office grew to be one of the most important in the southwest with 41 stage arrivals and departures each week. The telegraph followed much of the same route in the 1840’s and 1850’s. Many of the buildings built during the town growth are still occupied with businesses today, giving Tuscumbia the oldest commercial building district in Alabama. The TC&D Railroad became a major part of the Memphis & Charleston Railroad in the 1850’s. The M&C was a supply line for the Confederacy during the War for Southern Independence, known to Southerners as the ‘WAH’. Union raids along the river and railroad took its toll on the city. It would be over 20 years before Tuscumbia began to grow again from the ashes of war.

City of Tuscumbia / image RWH