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Alabama City Wall Street Historic District

Alabama Registered Historic Place stubsGadsden, AlabamaHistoric districts in Etowah County, AlabamaHistoric districts on the National Register of Historic Places in AlabamaNRHP infobox with nocat
National Register of Historic Places in Etowah County, AlabamaUse mdy dates from August 2023
Hoyt Warsham Alabama City Branch library Oct 2014 1
Hoyt Warsham Alabama City Branch library Oct 2014 1

The Alabama City Wall Street Historic District is a historic district in Gadsden, Alabama. Wall Street was the main commercial street in the town of Alabama City. The city was founded in 1891 halfway between Gadsden and Attalla, with intentions of becoming the major industrial hub of Northeast Alabama. In 1895 the town landed its first major concern, a cotton mill built by the Dwight Manufacturing Company of Chicopee, Massachusetts. Its second major factory, the Alabama Steel and Wire Company, was opened in 1902. By 1915, a thriving commercial district had grown up around 7th Avenue, which became known as "Little Wall Street". A fire in 1927 damaged or destroyed many structures along Wall Street and Meighan Avenue. The city would never recover from the loss, especially as neighboring Gadsden flourished; Alabama City voted to merge into Gadsden in 1932. The architecture of the district represent the changing commercial styles of the 1910s through the 1930s. Most are constructed in simple, brick styles with parapet roofs, some with more decorative brickwork. Art Deco-influenced features such as terra cotta coping and glass tile accents are present on later buildings. Other notable buildings are an Art Deco fire station (built 1936) and the Classical Revival library (built 1938). The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Alabama City Wall Street Historic District (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Alabama City Wall Street Historic District
Shahan Avenue, Gadsden

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Wikipedia: Alabama City Wall Street Historic DistrictContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 34.020555555556 ° E -86.045555555556 °
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Address

Shahan Avenue 2701
35904 Gadsden
Alabama, United States
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Hoyt Warsham Alabama City Branch library Oct 2014 1
Hoyt Warsham Alabama City Branch library Oct 2014 1
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Howard Gardner Nichols Memorial Library
Howard Gardner Nichols Memorial Library

The Howard Gardner Nichols Memorial Library (also called Alabama City Library) is a historic building in Gadsden, Alabama, United States. The library was built in 1902 by the Nichols family, owners of the Dwight Manufacturing Company. It is named in honor of their son, who was badly injured while supervising the construction of the company's mill in what was then Alabama City. He died several days later.The library is the home of NEAGS, the NorthEast Alabama Genealogical Society, and houses over 5,000 family files as well as family books and many references for the counties in northeast Alabama. Also found are Civil War and Revolutionary War references as well as books on genealogy and history of states close to Alabama. The building housed the first lending library in the state of Alabama. At one time it was a day care center for the mill workers' children. It also was a lawyer's office. Now the library is solely owned by NEAGS, dedicated to genealogy research. The building is similar in scale to the mill workers' houses that surround it, but its location on a corner lot and blend of Classical Revival and Victorian design make it a focal point of the neighborhood. It has a steeply pitched hip roof with deep, bracketed eaves. The façade is anchored by a semi-circular portico supported by six Ionic columns, flanked by windows with lancet arched upper sashes. It was purchased and restored in 1973 by the NorthEast Alabama Genealogical Society. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.