Tuscumbia Railway
First Railroad
west of Alleghenies
1832 ~ begun here; completed to Decatur, 45 miles east, in 1834.
Cotton shipped by this line around nearby Muscle Shoals, then by boat down Tennessee ~ Mississippi R to world markets.
1851 ~ expanded to Memphis ~ Charleston RR.
A vital line in Civil War, it changed hands several times.
1898 ~ became part of Southern Railways.
Marker is at the intersection of West 5th Street and South Water Street, on the right when traveling west on West 5th Street.
Courtesy hmdb.org
