This is what Tuscaloosa, Alabama looked like around 1887 [vintage prints]

The information and illustrations below are excerpts from a book written in 1887 as a prospectus for future investors in Tuscaloosa.

The Tuskaloosa Coal, Iron and Land Company was formed to develop the valuable land in Tuskaloosa

On the 7th day of January, 1887, a party of some twenty-five citizens of Tuskaloosa, (Tuscaloosa) all of whom were owners of lands lying in and around the city of Tuskaloosa, met at the Washington Hotel and decided to organize a company, with the main object of developing their lands. At that meeting a committee of three of the number present was appointed by ballot to report upon the value of the lands to an adjourned meeting, with the understanding that if any person should be dissatisfied with the valuation placed upon his lands by this committee, he could appeal to a disinterested board of arbitration, the decision of which should be final.

It was further decided that books of subscription to the stock of the proposed company be opened, and, that persons not owning lands should be invited to join in the enterprise with their money, it being the spirit and sense of the meeting that the lands should be put into the Company, as near as might be, at their actual cash value. Immediately a subscription was raised of $1,000,000 in cash and in lands at the valuation fixed by the committee heretofore mentioned.

On the 15th day of January, 1887, the stockholders met in the rooms of the Oak City Club and organized The Tuskaloosa Coal, Iron, and Land Company, under a charter duly obtained from the Probate Judge of Tuskaloosa County, under the general incorporation laws of Alabama. Subsequently their charter was confirmed and amended by on Act of the General Assembly of the State of Alabama, approved February 26th, 18S7, entitled “An Act to Confirm the Incorporation and Organization of the Tuskaloosa Coal, Iron, and Land Company, and to Define and Declare the Powers of said Company.”

At the meeting of the stockholders just mentioned, the following Directors were elected: W. C. Jemison, B. Friedman, G. A. Searcy, W. G. Cochrane, and J. J. Harris, of Tuskaloosa; J. W. Castleman, of Brierfield; Robert Jemison, of Birmingham, and H. H. Peek, of Cincinnati.

At a meeting of the Directors, held immediately after the adjournment of the stockholders’ meeting, the following officers were elected: W. C. Jemison, President; B, Friedman, Vice-President; G. A. Searcy, Treasurer; and J. W. Castleman, Secretary……

The principal object in the organization of The Tuskaloosa Coal, Iron, and Land Company was to develop the valuable lands owned by the Company in and around the city of Tuskaloosa, by mapping thereon an addition to the present city, and inducing the location on or near these lands of all manner of industrial enterprises. In furtherance of this main object, the Company purchased the mineral lands, before mentioned, in order that they might be able to offer to manufacturers cheap fuel in the greatest abundance. To accomplish this last object the Company has effected an arrangement with the Tuskaloosa Northern Railroad Company, by which the building of this road is secured. It will extend from Tuskaloosa northward through the heart of the Warrior Coal Field, and of the Company’s coal and timber lands to the Georgia Pacific Railroad, developing the Company’s property and assuring to all industries an abundant supply of cheap fuel.

The Company’s coal and timber lands will be reached on this line in eight or ten miles. When this road is completed it is believed that no other point in the State will be able to furnish coal as cheap as Tuskaloosa.

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Alabama Footprints Confrontation is a collection of lost and forgotten stories that reveals why and how the confrontation between the Native American population and settlers developed into the Creek-Indian War as well as stories of the bravery and heroism of participants from both sides.

Some stores include:

Tecumseh Causes Earthquake
Terrified Settlers Abandon Farms
Survivor Stories From Fort Mims Massacre
Hillabee Massacre
Threat of Starvation Men Turn To Mutiny
Red Eagle After The War

About Donna R Causey

Donna R. Causey, resident of Alabama, was a teacher in the public school system for twenty years. When she retired, Donna found time to focus on her lifetime passion for historical writing. She developed the websites www.alabamapioneers and www.daysgoneby.me All her books can be purchased at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble. She has authored numerous genealogy books. RIBBON OF LOVE: A Novel Of Colonial America (TAPESTRY OF LOVE) is her first novel in the Tapestry of Love about her family where she uses actual characters, facts, dates and places to create a story about life as it might have happened in colonial Virginia. Faith and Courage: Tapestry of Love (Volume 2) is the second book and the third FreeHearts: A Novel of Colonial America (Book 3 in the Tapestry of Love Series) Discordance: The Cottinghams (Volume 1) is the continuation of the story. . For a complete list of books, visit Donna R Causey