Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area

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Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area is a federally designated National Heritage Area in the northwestern portion of the U.S. state of Alabama. It is centered on the portion of the Tennessee River around Muscle Shoals and interprets the region's history and culture. [1]

Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area comprises Lauderdale, Limestone, Colbert, Franklin, Lawrence and Morgan counties. [1] Significant features of the heritage area include Wheeler Dam, Wilson Dam, [2] Ivy Green, Rosenbaum House, Barton Hall and the northern end of the Natchez Trace. [3]

Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area was established by the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009, which was signed into law on 30 March 2009. It is administered by the University of North Alabama. [4]

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Colbert County is a county located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 census the county's population was 57,227. The county seat is Tuscumbia. The largest city is Muscle Shoals. The county is named in honor of brothers George and Levi Colbert, Chickasaw Indian chiefs.

Lauderdale County, Alabama County in Alabama, United States

Lauderdale County is a county located in the northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Alabama. At the 2020 census the population was 93,564. Its county seat is Florence. Its name is in honor of Colonel James Lauderdale, of Tennessee. Lauderdale is part of the Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL Metropolitan Statistical Area, also known as "The Shoals".

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Cherokee, Alabama Town in Alabama, United States

Cherokee is a town in west Colbert County, Alabama, United States. It is part of the Florence–Muscle Shoals metropolitan area, known as "The Shoals". As of the 2010 census, the population of the town was 1,048.

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Sheffield, Alabama City in Alabama, United States

Sheffield is a city in Colbert County, Alabama, United States, and is included in the Shoals metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city was 9,039. Sheffield is the birthplace of "country-soul pioneer" and songwriter Arthur Alexander, French horn player Willie Ruff, notable attorney, actor, former senator and presidential contender Fred Thompson, Watergate committee U.S. Senator Howell Heflin and U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell, whose father was working in nearby Athens when he was born. It sometimes is referred to as "the City of Senators" due to the births of Heflin, McConnell and Thompson within its borders. Col. Harland Sanders worked in the Sheffield depot for Southern Railway in the 1900s. It is also home to the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio where many popular 20th century musicians recorded their work, including Alexander and Ruff. It is the site of historic Helen Keller Hospital, formerly known as Colbert County Hospital and originally constructed in 1921. It was changed to Helen Keller Hospital in 1979, and Keller's birthplace Ivy Green is located less than one mile southwest of the hospital in adjacent Tuscumbia.

Tuscumbia, Alabama City in Alabama, United States

Tuscumbia is a city in and the county seat of Colbert County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 8,423. The city is part of The Shoals metropolitan area.

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Waterloo, Alabama Town in Alabama, United States

Waterloo is a town in Lauderdale County, Alabama, United States. It is part of the Florence–Muscle Shoals metropolitan area, known as "The Shoals". As of the 2010 census, the population of the town was 203, down from 208 in 2000. The town and surrounding area is served by Waterloo High School and by the Waterloo Volunteer Fire Department.

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Tennessee River River in the southeastern United States

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The Beech River is a 38.3-mile-long (61.6 km) stream draining the east-central portion of West Tennessee in the United States. The Beech rises about 5 miles (8 km) northwest of Lexington, Tennessee. In the same area are the headwaters of two other West Tennessee rivers, the Big Sandy River and the Middle Fork of the Forked Deer River. The Big Sandy, like the Beech, is part of the Tennessee River system, whereas the Forked Deer system drains into the Mississippi River.

Natchez Trace Trail

The Natchez Trace Trail is a designated National Scenic Trail in the United States, whose route generally follows sections of the 444-mile (715 km) Natchez Trace Parkway through the states of Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi. The Natchez Trace Trail is not a long, continuous footpath, as is the case with other national scenic trails ; rather, only a limited number of trail segments along the route, currently over 60 miles (97 km) of trail, have been developed for hiking and horseback riding. Moreover, the Natchez Trace Trail, unlike many others that rely heavily on volunteers for trail construction and maintenance, is managed and maintained by the National Park Service. Sections of the trail follow along the Natchez Trace Parkway road shoulder, and cross county and state roads. It was originally intended to be longer and follow most of the Natchez Trace Parkway, but only portion was built.

Tennessee Valley Drainage basin of the Tennessee River.

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North Alabama Region in Alabama

North Alabama is a region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Several geographic definitions for the area exist, with all descriptions including the nine counties of Alabama's Tennessee Valley region. The North Alabama Industrial Development Association also lists Cherokee, Cullman, Franklin, and Winston counties in the region. The Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association expands the definition further to include Blount, Etowah, and Marion counties.

Wheeler Dam Dam in Alabama, United States

Wheeler Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Tennessee River between Lauderdale County and Lawrence County in Alabama. It is one of nine dams on the river owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the mid-1930s as part of a New Deal-era initiative to improve navigation on the river and bring flood control and economic development to the region. The dam impounds the Wheeler Lake of 67,070 acres (27,140 ha) and its tailwaters feed into Wilson Lake.

Florence–Muscle Shoals metropolitan area

The Florence-Muscle Shoals Metropolitan Area, commonly known as The Shoals, is a metropolitan statistical area in northwestern Alabama including the cities of Florence, Muscle Shoals, Tuscumbia, and Sheffield, and the counties of Lauderdale and Colbert. The 2020 Census population for the Shoals is 148,779 and an additional 410,000 commute to the Shoals daily as the economic, social, and educational center of northwest Alabama. The Shoals has also been known as the Tri-Cities and the Quad-Cities by locals.

Pickwick Landing Dam Dam in Tennessee, United States

Pickwick Landing Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Tennessee River in Hardin County, in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The dam is one of nine dams on the river owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the 1930s as part of a New Deal-era initiative to create a continuous navigation channel between the river's mouth and Knoxville, and bring economic development to the area. The dam impounds the 43,100-acre (17,400 ha) Pickwick Lake and its tailwaters are part of Kentucky Lake.

Wilson Dam Dam in Shoals Area, Alabama

Wilson Dam is a dam spanning the Tennessee River between Lauderdale County and Colbert County in the U.S. state of Alabama. Completed in 1924 by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, it impounds Wilson Lake, and is one of nine Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) dams on the Tennessee River. The dam was declared a National Historic Landmark on November 13, 1966, for its role as the first dam to come under the TVA's administration. The dam is named for former President of the United States Woodrow Wilson.

References

  1. 1 2 "Welcome". Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area. Retrieved 23 April 2012.
  2. "Tennessee River Heritage". Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area. Retrieved 23 April 2012.
  3. "Natchez Trace Heritage". Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area. Retrieved 23 April 2012.
  4. "About MSNHA". Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area. Retrieved 23 April 2012.

Coordinates: 34°46′35″N87°37′26″W / 34.77639°N 87.62389°W / 34.77639; -87.62389