Tuscumbia, Alabama

This week, the General Land Office is taking a trip to Tuscumbia, Alabama, located in the state's northwestern region and on the banks of the Tennessee River.

As the county seat for Colbert County, Tuscumbia is known for its historic courthouse. Originally built in 1882, the courthouse was destroyed by a fire and rebuilt in 1909.

Nearby is the city of Muscle Shoals, which may be familiar to Lynyrd Skynyrd fans from its reference in their 1970s rock anthem "Sweet Home Alabama." Muscle Shoals is home to two recording studios, where notable artists have made recordings with help from the "Swampers," a group of musicians known as the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section.

The General Land Office first surveyed the area around Tuscumbia in the early 1800s. The survey plat for Township 4 South, Range 11 West of the Huntsville Meridian is undated. However, there are several clues to the general age of the plat. The survey was approved by John Coffee, who served as Surveyor General of Alabama from 1817 to 1833. There is also a notation in sections 4, 5, 8, & 9 of the plat stating that the area was "To be laid off for a town see letter of the Sec'y of Treasury 4th Feb'y, 1819." The area reserved for the town has a reference to Cold Water Spring, with a later notation in red ink "now Tuscumbia."

An undated Townsite Survey also bears the name of John Coffee. The survey, entitled "Plan of a Town at the Cold Water Spring in Township No. 4 in Range 11 West, Alabama Territory," shows the numbered lots that were to be offered for sale on March 6, 1820. A military road that was built by the Federal Government between 1817 and 1819 can be seen running in a north-south direction through the platted lots and close to the Cold Water Spring.

If you draw the slider across the surveys depicted below, you can see how the Townsite Survey lines up with the area that was reserved in the original Survey.

Elbert Woodward received a Cash Entry Patent dated November 26, 1822, for Lot 527 in the town of Cold Water. A closeup of Lot 527 from the Townsite Survey shows that the lot that Mr. Woodward purchased is located near what is now Spring Park in downtown Tuscumbia.

Although the surveys appear to refer to the town as Cold Water Spring, it is possible that the documents were simply referencing the location of the townsite near a spring as the town was originally incorporated in 1820 under the name "Ococoposa." The name was soon changed to Big Spring and then finally changed in 1822 to Tuscumbia in honor of a Chickasaw Indian Chief who was a resident of the area.

If you visit the Smithsonian Institution's National Postal Museum for Virtual Exhibitions, you can view a mural that depicts Chief Tuscumbia greeting a family of settlers and also read about the Indian tribes whose traditional lands surrounded the area that was to become Tuscumbia.

Did you also know that Tuscumbia is the birthplace of Helen Keller? You can learn more about Helen Keller by checking out our  GLO Record of the Week for October 3, 2021.