This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!
Decatur Boom Echoes Past Civil War Revival
Decatur faces a modern industrial surge akin to 1887 growth when the city leaped from 1,200 to about 7,000 residents after an iron and lumber boom. Reports list major plants, including Charcoal Company, Decatur Land Improvement and Furnace Co, American Oak Extract, Ohio Iron Wheelbarrow, and United States Rolling Stock plans. Mayor R. P. Baker and councilmen H. S. Freeman, H. A. Skeggs, P. J. Edwards, L. W. Falk, and C. P. Sykes led the city through the era of rapid expansion.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Decatur
James C. Vassar
Vassar
Alabama
Smith & Deland
Decatur Land Improvement and Furnace Co
Charcoal Company
Decatur Iron Bridge and Construction Co
American Oak Extract Company
Ivens & Son
New Orleans
Morse Cotton Compress
Decatur Lumber Company
Inman & Co
New York City
Blymeyer Artificial Ice Company
Jones, Poley & Co
Hoosier Mills Building Material Company
Gate City Sash and Door Company
Empey
Alabama Farmers’ Fence Company
Decaturifies Company
Natural Gas Company
Capital Stock
First National Bank
Capital
C. C. Harris
W. W. Littlejohn
Merchants’ Insurance Co
Decatur Building Association
The
Decatur Mineral Water and Bottling
B. F. Buchelt
Decatur Printing Company
H. G. Rising
B. W. Brigg
United States
Urbana
L & N Railroad Co
R. P. Baker
H. S. Freeman
H. A. Skeggs
P. J. Edwards
L. W. Falk
C. P. Sykes