Legendary Locals of Huntsville

year.

INTRODUCTION

Nestled in the Tennessee Valley, in the drainage basin of the Tennessee River and surrounded by mountains associated with the Cumberland Plateau, Huntsville boasts a yearly canvas of seasonal color and breathtaking natural beauty as varied as the individuals who made and continue to make it the shining star of North Alabama. Huntsville, the county seat of Madison, is constantly named one of the most desirable cities in which to live, to do business, and to raise a family.

From its beginnings as a contested land between two Indian tribes to the pioneering spirit of its settlers, through siege during the Civil War to its steady evenness, and even growth, during the Great Depression, the spirit of Huntsvillians has never waned. Following a period during which cotton was king and the city had a number of functioning, prosperous mills, Huntsville landed on the national map when the federal government located a munitions plant here. Comprising over 38,000 acres, Redstone Arsenal today employees over 35,000 individuals and is home to NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, the US Missile Defense Agency, the US Army Aviation and Missile Command, and the headquarters of the US Army Materiel Command, among other organizations.

Huntsville is home to a number of technological endeavors that have made an impact on the national and international scene, including Sanmina Defense and Aerospace, Adtran, and HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology.

But the Rocket City is not one-sidedly technological. Its locals have always valued both education and the arts, and it boasts several highly regarded institutions of higher learning, as well as countless arts organizations, including an arts council, a symphony, and a ballet company. Two of the mills have been transformed—one into a performing arts center and the other into an arts and entertainment center, the largest of its kind in the Southeast.

Throughout its evolution, Huntsville remains a town of constant innovation, transition, and transformation, while maintaining its grace and friendliness with a touch of charm and a dash of pride as modest as the house John Hunt built under a bluff near the Big Spring in 1805.

Downtown Huntsville

Downtown Huntsville is seen in this south-facing photograph taken from the top of the Russel Erskine Hotel. In the background is Monte Sano Mountain. (Photograph by the author.)

CHAPTER ONE

The Land

Founding and Flourishing

At the beginning, what is now Madison County was the subject of rivalry between the Chickasaw and Cherokee tribes. The federal government eventually became involved, forcing the Indians to relinquish their rights to The Great Bend of the Tennessee River. Anglo settlers began to arrive, among them John Hunt, who had previously settled lands to the north in Tennessee, and who built his home near the Big Spring.

In the years that followed, those first settlers farmed cotton, connecting Huntsville to the rest of the nation by utilizing the Tennessee Valley waterways. Wealthy planters and speculators on the cotton economy built sprawling mansions in Huntsville. Architects like George Steele began to make statements on the architectural terrain of the town while simultaneously employing individuals in construction and supporting local businesses in pursuit of supplies. Statesmen from other parts of the country, such as Clement Comer Clay and William Wyatt Bibb, began to move to Huntsville and go about the work of establishing a government. Alabama was entered into the Union in 1819.

The infrastructure flourished—Dr. Thomas Fearn and his brother developed the Huntsville Water Works, using hydraulics to provide water to the city. Additionally, they built the Indian Creek Canal, the first canal in Alabama, to transport cotton from Huntsville to the Tennessee River. Rev. A.B. Jones and the Methodist Episcopal Church founded the Huntsville Female College. William Hooper Councill founded Alabama A&M University.

During the Civil War, Huntsville became a target for Union troops, who sought to seize the depot, home to the Memphis & Charleston Railroad—a lifeline for the Confederacy. Union troops successfully occupied Huntsville by the summer of 1863, though many did not make it through the winter. Mary Jane Chadick chronicled the experience in her diaries until the war ended in 1865.

After the war, artists such as Howard Weeden began to bring national attention to Huntsville. Jersey cow Lily Flagg won records for yearly butter production. United Charities opened the Huntsville Infirmary in 1895. Entrepreneurs like Robert and Daniel Harrison and Isaac Schiffman opened businesses on the square, and Dunnavant’s Department Store opened downtown. The city finally had its own newspaper, the Huntsville Daily Times.

Students of the Huntsville Female Seminary

The Huntsville Female Seminary opened in 1831, replacing the Huntsville Female Academy. Architect George Steele designed a facade for it in the mid-1850s. The seminary closed in 1862, and the building was used as a smallpox hospital during the Civil War. (Courtesy of the Huntsville–Madison County Public Library.)

John Hunt’s Cabin

John Hunt, an experienced explorer and pioneer, had settled lands in Tennessee prior to finding himself in present-day Huntsville. Hunt built his house under a bluff in 1805 near what is now known as Big Spring. He asserted his rights to the land through squatters’ rights and lived there until 1809, but lost the land because he had not paid the registration fee for it. By that time, the settlement was the obvious and ideal choice for the county seat. The town was incorporated two years later, on November 25, 1811. (Courtesy of the Huntsville–Madison County Public Library Archives.)

Leroy Pope

A wealthy planter from Petersburg, Georgia, Leroy Pope (1764–1845) is known as the Father of Huntsville. In 1810, he purchased 160 acres of land settled by John Hunt for $23.50 per acre; it was on this land that the plan for Huntsville was eventually laid. Pope suggested the settlement be called Twickenham, after Alexander Pope’s English home. Leroy Pope later handed over his land to the city, which was incorporated in 1811 as Huntsville.

Pope built his own home in 1825 on a bluff known as Echols Hill. He marveled that he could look out from his mansion to see the temporary capital of the state and thriving town he had helped create. (Courtesy of the Huntsville–Madison County Public Library Archives.)

George Gilliam Steele

Because of bricks stamped with his name, it is clear that land speculator George Steele (1798–1855) was in Huntsville by 1822 at the latest, and likely as early as 1818. The Virginia native married Eliza Ann Weaver in 1823 and bought 10 acres of land from Leroy Pope in 1824, in an area roughly bordered by Clinton, Randolph, Lincoln, and Calhoun Streets in downtown.

With the labor of his 74 slaves, many of whom were skilled bricklayers, masons, and stonecutters, Steele explored and executed his passion for architecture. Steele attended architectural lectures in New York City and most likely learned the art of architecture as an apprentice. He resorted often to the use of builder’s pattern books and embraced the Federal style just as it was falling out of favor in other parts of the country.

Steele later turned to the Classical Revival style, evident in his work as the leading architect of the second Madison County Courthouse (1836, pictured above right) and in his design of the State Bank of Alabama (1835) on the west side of the square. Both buildings have a signature temple form, as does his remodel of Dr. Thomas Fearn’s home on Franklin Street in downtown Huntsville. Steele’s elegant and simple style permeated other landmarks as well, including the Huntsville Female College (early 1850s), the Huntsville Female Seminary (1831), the Cumberland Presbyterian Church (1845), and the Leroy Pope mansion (1815). Of these structures, only the Pope mansion still stands today.

Steele employed many local bricklayers, painters, masons, and carpenters, and turned to local businesses for supplies, providing numerous local jobs. Steele Street, named after him, remains one of the most architecturally interesting streets in Huntsville, a perfect microcosm of architectural design and preservation in stunning tribute to its namesake. (Both, courtesy of the Huntsville–Madison County Public Library Archives.)

Thomas Bibb

Born