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    Muscle Shoals
    Muscle Shoals
    Muscle Shoals
    Ebook150 pages38 minutes

    Muscle Shoals

    By Laura Flynn Tapia and Yoshie Lewis

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    About this ebook

    Long known as the Shoals, Muscle Shoals saw its formal birth as an incorporated city in 1923. It really sprang to life in 1933, when the Tennessee Valley Authority took shape on the Tennessee River and became the nation s largest public power company. The construction crew for the Wilson Dam and power plant was one of the region s first racially integrated workforces. Some truly influential figures of the 20th century came to Muscle Shoals to witness firsthand what was unfolding
    in this tiny corner of the world. Thomas Edison and Henry Ford found themselves drawn to Wilson Dam and the nitrate plants in the early 1920s, as did the French existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre. At one time,
    Muscle Shoals was regarded as the hit recording capital of the world. FAME studio musicians referred to as the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section gained notoriety as a result of the studio s success and are part of the legacy of the Muscle Shoals sound.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateSep 12, 2007
    ISBN9781439635278
    Muscle Shoals
    Author

    Laura Flynn Tapia

    Laura Flynn Tapia�s family roots run deep in Muscle Shoals. Her greatgreat-grandfather helped to build Wilson Dam, and her grandfather worked for Reynolds Metals Company for 25 years. She possesses a bachelor of arts degree in English from Stephen F. Austin University and works as a freelance writer and editor. Yoshie Lewis was previously published with Arcadia in 2005 with Then & Now: Lorton. She holds a bachelor of arts degree in art history from University of California, Riverside, and a master�s degree in producing film and video from American University.

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      Book preview

      Muscle Shoals - Laura Flynn Tapia

      Festival.

      INTRODUCTION

      As early as 1769, and many times since, the words muscle (mussel) and shoals (meaning low water) were used in reference to the local area. This ideal location, chosen by Native Americans for settlement, offered an abundant supply of mussels, fresh-water streams, forest, and wild game for sustenance. Phrases like the Muscle Shoals, at the Muscle Shoals, or the Shoals were used by many historians for years to define the area, but it would not be until April 4, 1923, that the words Muscle Shoals were used for the name of a city.

      Early records indicate that the shoals of the Tennessee River extend upstream a distance of 36 miles. Without this natural phenomenon, it is possible that the Township of Muscle Shoals might never have been established.

      There are three legends concerning the origin of the name Muscle Shoals. One is that the interpretation of the Native American language as it took many muscle to cross shoals. Second is the fact that many mussel shells were found at the shoals. The third is that, while looking at a map of the area, an arm and muscle of a man is quite evident in the shape of the Tennessee River at the shoals.

      I am prone to believe the first legend. If the second were correct, then we would have Mussel Shoals as the name of the city. While the shape of a man’s arm can be seen in maps prior to the existence of Pickwick Lake, the third reason was made more visible after the construction of Pickwick Dam, which was after the words Muscle Shoals were already used as the city name.

      Born a few years after the incorporation of Muscle Shoals as a township, I witnessed first hand the amazing growth of my city. Growing up on my grandfather’s farm during the Depression years of the 1930s, I was unaware that I was actually living within the city limits of Muscle Shoals. I have retired to the site of my birthplace and stand in awe of the changes that surround me. I was part of the families comprising the population around Houston Crossroads, the site of Okolona Church and School (the first to be organized within what is now known as Muscle Shoals). Early records indicate the involvement of many of my family members during the formative years of the city. As of this writing, there are many relatives in its employ.

      Presently city planners are encouraging the development of the city along Avalon Avenue, which currently houses city hall, the public library, the $5 million high school complex, the police and fire departments, and churches, banks, and other businesses. It is interesting that Avalon was never a designated street in the original plans for the town, much like Muscle Shoals was never intended to become a town.

      —Jesse Bradford

      One

      BEFORE THERE WAS A TOWN

      A diary entry from DeSoto’s campaign through what is now Alabama records him passing the River of Chicasa (the Tennessee River at Muscle Shoals), on December 14, 1540. The river was flowing out of its bed. (Photograph courtesy of Library of Congress.)

      William McIntosh, a Creek Indian, gained the enmity of Alabama’s Upper Creeks by leading Andrew Jackson’s troops during the Creek War of 1813–1814. The Upper Creeks were defeated. Some years later, a party of some 200 Creeks killed McIntosh in a raid of retaliation on his plantation. (Photograph courtesy of Library of Congress.)

      In addition to the infamy of the wars he campaigned and the 1830 Indian Removal Bill, Andrew Jackson made speculative land purchases in the area dating to 1816. This would not be the last of the many speculative purchases made in the Shoals area over the years. (Photograph courtesy of Library of Congress.)

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