Burrell Normal School

McFarland Heights, a neighborhood in Florence in Lauderdale County, Alabama, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017 as a historic district.According to the Alabama Historical Commission: "McFarland Heights Historic District in Florence, Lauderdale County, is located on a bluff overlooking the Tennessee River. The neighborhood developed as Florence's first exclusive suburban development. Built over a period of about 45 years, (1920-1966) McFarland Heights has a wealth of high style buildings, most of which maintain their historic integrity. The houses reflect the transition from pre- to post-World War II suburban American architecture, with one notable dwelling designed by Frank Lloyd Wright."The Rosenbaum House is the Wright work.

The Rosenbaum House is a single-family house designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright and built for Stanley and Mildred Rosenbaum in Florence, Alabama. A noted example of his Usonian house concept, it is the only Wright building in Alabama, and is one of only 26 pre-World War II Usonian houses. Wright scholar John Sergeant called it "the purest example of the Usonian."

The Karsner-Carroll House (also known as the Oscar Kennedy House) is a historic residence in Florence, Alabama. The lot on which the house sits was purchased in 1818 by James Gadsden; the lot to the west was purchased by his commanding officer in the War of 1812, Andrew Jackson. The house was built sometime before 1830 by B. F. Karsner. In 1902 it was purchased by Dr. George W. Carroll, whose daughter Bertha later lived in the house with her husband Oscar Y. Kennedy. The house is a rare example of small-form, early 19th-century Federal architecture in the Tennessee Valley. The 1+1⁄2-story cottage is built with 13-inch (33-cm) thick brick exterior walls. On the three-bay façade, the entry door with fanlight occupies the left side, with two large six-over-six sash windows to the right. A pair of arched dormers project from the steeply pitched gable roof. The main block of the house is square, with a covered porch occupying the area behind the entry hall. Two rooms on the other side of the house lead to a narrow wing, containing three rooms, off the rear of the house. A smokehouse still stands behind the house.The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.

The Locust Street Historic District is a historic district in Florence, Alabama. Situated to the northwest of downtown, the residential neighborhood began to develop during Florence's manufacturing-fueled economic boom of the late 1880s. Several large Victorian houses were built in the area around Thimbleton which was built before Tuscaloosa St.. was laid out in the design of Florence by Sannoner. In deference to Thimbleton, Tuscaloosa St. has less width than the other streets. Renowned historical architect, Harvey Jones described Thimbleton as having 3 well done restorations, the original structure being built between 1820 and 1825 with Federalist Architecture, facing Pine St..The last restoration was late 1800s with French Second Empire Period Architecture, adding 2 rooms, attaching the kitchen, and changing the mansion to face Tuscsloosa St. Other smaller Victorian cottages were also built, many by middle-class residents who moved to Florence looking for work or to take advantage of the city's schools. The next wave of construction began in the 1920s, when two potassium nitrate plants and the construction of Wilson Dam drove the city's growth. Over 85 Craftsman-style bungalows (representing over half of the district's 168 contributing properties) were built. Other larger Craftsman houses were constructed, as well as the only Prairie-style house in the district. Other styles of homes were built in smaller numbers later in the century, including Tudor Revival, Minimalist Traditional, and Colonial Revival.The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.

The George Coulter House (also known as Mapleton) is a historic house located at 420 South Pine Street in Florence, Alabama.

Rogers Department Store was a department store chain based in Florence, Alabama. Founded in 1894, the company grew to include locations across the Tennessee Valley. The original building, constructed in 1910, was listed on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage in 1994 and the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.

Southall Drugs is a historic commercial building in Florence, Alabama. It was built in 1900 to house the pharmacy of Charles Morton Southall. The pharmacy operated until 1979, and was renovated in 1982 to have loft apartments on the second floor and retail on the ground floor.The Italianate building sits at the corner of Court and Mobile Streets in the Downtown Florence Historic District. The Rogers Department Store building sits across Mobile Street. The building has a distinctive rounded corner, with a raised parapet containing arched letters "SOUTHALL" mimicking a corner turret. The storefront has a heavy metal cornice supported by four round, fluted columns. Four large display windows and the recessed entry are covered by canvas awnings. The side of the building on the first floor has eight arched windows, the first five of which are shorter and higher to clear the display racks inside. The second floor features arched one-over-one sash windows, one in each bay over the storefront and in every other bay along the side. The bays are separated by brick pilasters, resting on limestone plinths and capped with stamped metal Corinthian capitals. The pilasters support a projecting course of brick, with corbels between the pilasters.The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

The Florence Downtown Historic District is a historic district in Florence, Alabama. Florence was founded in 1818 by the Cypress Land Company, who counted among its trustees Creek War General John Coffee, future Governor of Alabama Thomas Bibb, early Huntsville settler LeRoy Pope, and future United States Senator and Supreme Court Justice John McKinley. The company hired Italian surveyor Ferdinand Sannoner, who divided the land into over 400 lots and named the town after Florence, Italy. The first Lauderdale County Courthouse was completed in 1822, and the oldest extant building in the district, the Gothic Revival First Presbyterian Church, was completed two years later. Most of the early buildings was destroyed by a fire in 1866. Development resumed in earnest in the 1880s as Florence's industrial economy developed with the addition of several cotton mills, and the Florence Wagon Works, among others. Other booms occurred in the 1920s with the construction of Wilson Dam, the establishment of the Tennessee Valley Authority in the 1930s, and during World War II as metals and chemical plants were drawn to the area. The majority of buildings in the district are either one- or two-story brick commercial blocks, the older buildings having Italianate and Classical Revival detailing. Notable buildings in the district include the Art Deco Rogers Department Store, the Italianate Southall Drugs, the U.S. Post Office and Courthouse built in 1913, and the Art Moderne old Public Library, built in 1944. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995 and was extensively expanded in 2001.

The Sannoner Historic District is a historic district in Florence, Alabama. The district lies between downtown Florence and the University of North Alabama and is named for Ferdinand Sannoner, who surveyed the new town in 1818. In the first half of the 19th century, many wealthy merchants, planters, and lawyers built their homes in the neighborhood. Wakefield, believed to be the first brick house in Florence, was built in 1825 in Federal style by an operator of a brick yard. Governors Edward A. O'Neal and Emmet O'Neal, as well as the son of Governor Hugh McVay all made their homes in the district. Emmet O'Neal's house, Courtview, is the centerpiece of the district; the Greek Revival mansion is situated on a hill at the end of Court Street. After the Civil War and Reconstruction, Florence underwent a series of economic booms in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Several Victorian houses were built before the turn of the century, as well as the Gothic Revival Trinity Episcopal Church. 20th century structures include houses in the bungalow, Neoclassical, and Tudor Revival styles, as well as a Spanish Colonial Revival office building at the downtown end of the district.The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

The E. H. Darby Lustron House (also known as the Price Irons House) is a historic residence in Florence, Alabama. The house was built in 1949 by Elton H. Darby, one of the co-owners of Southern Sash, the Lustron house dealer in The Shoals. It is one of five remaining Lustron houses in the Shoals area and one of three in Florence. The prefabricated house has a side-gable roof covered with metal shingles. One corner of the house is recessed to form an entry porch. The house is clad in square porcelain enamel panels painted grey. The house is Lustron's two-bedroom Westchester Deluxe model, which features a shallow bay window in the living room. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.

Coby Hall is an antebellum Georgian Revival former residence in Florence, Alabama, that now serves as a learning and cultural center for the University of North Alabama.

The Alabama Renaissance Faire is a Renaissance fair held annually in downtown Florence, Alabama on the fourth full weekend in October each year.