2009 ~ Saturday, August 1, Historic Markers in Waterloo, Alabama

We stopped along the side of the road to take a picture of the site of Wilson's Camp and the spring.

Both Union and Confederate soldiers were active in Florence during the Civil War.

Wilson's Headquarters and Camp

At this site from mid-January to mid-March 1865, Maj. Gen. James Harrison Wilson, U. S. Army, assembled the most significant cavalry force ever massed in the Western Hemisphere. Five divisions totaling 22,000 camped from Gravelly Springs westward to Waterloo. Wilson made headquarters a mile east of the springs at Wildwood plantation, the boyhood home of Alabama senator and governor George Houston. After intensive training, Wilson's Cavalry crossed Tennessee to invade South Alabama and Georgia. This campaign included burning the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa and the capture of President Jefferson Davis at Irwinville, Georgia, in May 1865, after Lee's surrender. Donated by C. L. Culver

Gravelly Springs

We traveled to Waterloo, where we saw a barge traveling down the Tennessee River.

Waterloo

Settled 1819~Incorporated 1832

One of Alabama's oldest incorporated towns. Waterloo was an important port on the Tennessee River during the steamboat era. In the low-water season, after large boats from Louisville, Cincinnati, and other places downriver unloaded here, smaller craft transported goods and passengers upriver to Florence at the foot of the Muscle Shoals. Following a disastrous flood in 1847, the town was moved from its location on the riverbank, now under Pickwick Lake, to present higher ground. Union gunboats shelled it in July 1862. Gen. William T. Sherman crossed the river here in November 1863 and made temporary headquarters in Dr. O. B. Sullivan's home.

A barge traveling on the Tennessee River 

Boaters on the Tennessee River

Trail of Tears

Thousands of Cherokee Indians passed through Waterloo in the 1830s when they were forced by the U. S. government to move west on the "Trail of Tears". Most came by boat from Tuscumbia and camped here to await transfer to larger steamboats. During the encampment, several births, deaths, and escapes occurred.

One party of 1,070 Cherokees traveled overland from Ross' Landing in Tennessee due to low water in the upper river. Following the general route of U. S. Hwy. 72 to Florence, they arrived here on July 10, 1838, in miserable condition after a 23-day journey.

About 17,000 Cherokees were driven from their homeland in the southern Appalachian Mountains. Most traveled by land through Tennessee and on to Oklahoma. Great suffering and about 4,000 deaths occurred along the trail, especially during the winter of 1838-39

Trail of Tears Marker overlooking the Tennessee River 

Edith Newman Culvert Memorial Museum 1872-1995 

 Main Street and County Road 45 on Main Street.

The Newman House was restored and presented to the citizens of Waterloo in 1995 by Ezra Lee Culver as a memorial to his wife, Edith Elizabeth Newman Culver. Built in 1872 by Hiram L. and Julia Ann Young Richardson. This house was purchased in 1918 by Joseph Newman, a native of Ohio and a U.S. Civil War veteran. His son, Clarkson Lytle Newman, with his wife, Eunice Lindsey Newman, became the subsequent owners. Their daughter, Edith, was reared here from her childhood until her marriage. The house remained in the Newman family until its dedication as a museum on October 14, 1995.

Capture of John A.Murrell

Natchez Trace Outlaw

— 1834 —

 John A. Murrell, known as the "Great Western Land Pirate," was captured near this site in the winter of 1834. He was said to have killed over 400 people, including many kidnapped slaves. His arrest was brought about by the clever maneuvering of Tom Brannon, a local African American slave. The outlaw had attempted to recruit Brannon as a contact man for his far-reaching criminal empire. Brannon was awarded $100 for his bravery, and his name was publicized nationwide.

Nelson Rivers Starkey Bridge City of Florence 

This is where the Capture of John Murrell marker is located. 

Nelson Rivers Starkey Bridge City of Florence 

This is where the Capture of John Murrell marker is located. 

Pestilence Before the 20th Century

Before the 20th Century, during its early history, this area faced periods of infectious epidemics. One of the most feared was smallpox. It became a serious threat at the end of the Civil War, believed to have resulted from frequent troop movements in the area. Yellow fever, a rare plague in the northern hemisphere, appeared here in the fall of 1878, resulting in 42 deaths in Florence. Four nurses from the Howard Association, a New Orleans charity organization, were sent here to assist with the sick and the dying.

Pesthouse and Cemetery 1866

Following an outbreak of the dreaded plague, smallpox (Variola), at Florence during the winter of 1865-66, the Board of Aldermen adopted a resolution on January 2, 1866, that a Pesthouse be "erected at the vineyard as soon as possible." According to tradition, this Pesthouse, believed to have been a simple two-room log structure, was located here to isolate people with infectious diseases from the community. Also located nearby is a small cemetery where victims of these diseases were sometimes buried in unmarked graves.

Macedonia Church of Christ 

 County Road 158 west of Road 5

Tracing its roots to the early 1800s, The Macedonia Baptist Church originally met in homes, with Joseph Fanning, a visiting evangelist, leading the meetings. In 1834, J. W. Smith supervised a building on this site. In 1880, T.B. Larimore, an evangelist among Churches of Christ, was asked to preach. The group then changed its name to Macedonia Church of Christ. This church has made a powerful local and worldwide impact. Its adjoining cemetery is the resting place for many of the country's beloved sons and daughters.

It started to rain,n so we finished up with the Macedonia marker

There are streaks of rain in the picture of the marker.

That afternoon, on the day after, dark, we took the grandkids to Heritage Park to watch the water show, and they all decided to get wet. 

When the water came up from the fountains, it was blue, pink, yellow, and white.