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Will our last stop on this swing through Alabama will be in Rhodes Ferry Landing, Decatur, New Decatur or Albany Alabama? The answer is YES because the circa 1908 postcard for today shows downtown New Decatur along Second Avenue and all four names have been applied to the town. In the early 1800s Dr. Henry W. Rhodes, who was an early landowner, operated a ferry there on the Tennessee River in North Alabama and in 1821 the town was incorporated and named Decatur. The city thrived due to its location on the Tennessee river and it was the eastern terminus of the Decatur Courtland Tuscumbia Railroad which was the first railroad built east of the Appalachian Mountains. But this strategic location was a liability during the Civil War and the town was leveled by fire in the Battle of Decatur in 1864 and was left with only three buildings still standing. Post war recovery brought the town of Decatur back east of the railroad tracks but the new town west of the tracks was incorporated in 1889 as New Decatur.
The two towns prospered but Decatur was not happy with New Decatur since it was settled mostly by Yankees. New Decatur was renamed Albany, after Albany New York, in 1916 and that did not improve feelings. It was the mutual need for a bridge over the Tennessee river to replace the ferry that brought the cities together in 1925 as one City of Decatur. To this day, the two sides have somewhat different cultures. This postcard can be found in my Alabama listings along with 10,000 additional postcards on my website Moody's Postcards.
CATCH POSTCARD FEVER!! A pictorial history awaits.
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