Florence, AL Summary

Florence is located on the northern bank of the Tennessee River in the northwestern corner of Alabama 102 miles northwest of Birmingham. This area is home to the picturesque Wilson Dam, which brought electricity to the area, thus facilitating the development of local industry.

Florence was laid out in 1818. Since 1855 it has been home to the University of North Alabama.

The university features a lovely campus on Wesleyan Avenue designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, who was responsible for Manhattan’s Central Park. Florence is also the birthplace of W.C. Handy, the self-proclaimed “Father of the Blues.” Handy did much to bring the blues to wider public attention and he also wrote such early famous tunes as “St Louis Blues” (1914) and “Beale Street Blues” (1916). The basic two-room wood cabin in which he was born and raised is now a museum.

Rosenbaum House (1940) is the only building in the state designed by famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright, while the 300-foot Renaissance Tower provides the city’s best views of the Tennessee River, Muscle Shoals, and Wilson Dam. The Indian Mound Museum is situated adjacent to a 42-foot-high pre-Columbian ceremonial mound. It houses artifacts drawn from the mound and the surrounding area. Some date back more than 10,000 years.

Florence is connected to Muscle Shoals, Tuscumbia, and Sheffield by Hwy 133. In the 1960s Muscle Shoals became a major music-recording center where the likes of Aretha Franklin, Percy Sledge, the Staple Singers, Etta James, Sam and Dave, Wilson Pickett, Duane Allman, the Rolling Stones, J.J. Cale, and Paul Simon all recorded their hit songs.

Tuscumbia is home to the excellent Alabama Music Hall of Fame, which honors the music and artists of Alabama. Memorabilia includes the stage clothes of Emmylou Harris and Jimmy Buffet, Jim Nabors’ Gomer Pyle uniform, and Toni Tenille’s bell-bottom jeans.

One of Tuscumbia’s most famous daughters was the remarkable Helen Keller. Her childhood home, Ivy Green, is now a museum.

A regular shuttle service connects Florence with Huntsville International Airport.