While I was in Huntsville back in October, I met Dr. Jack Ellis at The Poppy & Parliament pub on the courthouse square for lunch. Jack is a scholar and gentleman who taught at UAH for a number of years. We have a mutual interest--the history of black physicians in Alabama. That topic occupied much of our conversation over a great lunch.
As we finished, Jack suggested a walk around the square and down to Big Spring Park. So off we went...
I only discuss a few of the many sights and history below that you can see in downtown Huntsville.
First, we walked down to Big Spring. Here are the "ugliest ducks in the park" as Jack put it, posing beside the Indian Creek Canal, the first in the state according to this marker. That canal was developed to move cotton all the way to the Tennessee River.
Actually, there is a canal in Gulf Shores that's a bit older.
Archaeologists Dig Up 1,400-Year-Old Native American Canal in Alabama
The nearly mile-long structure allowed inhabitants to paddle to rich fishing grounds and access trade routes
http://tinyurl.com/23twwnhu
"Sitting near the actual spring in Big Spring Park is an often over-looked Huntsville landmark. The Little Lion of Big Spring Park was gifted to the city by J.F. Hummel for the opening of Big Spring Park in 1900.
The marble lion was meant to stay in the park “as long as children play in the park”. Sadly, the statue was defaced and damaged in the 1960’s but the Historic Huntsville Foundation refurbished and restored the little lion to the park in 1995."
Holger Toftoy was instrumental in bringing German V-2 rockets and parts back to the U.S. in the immediate aftermath of World War II. He was also involved in Operation Paperclip which brought scientists here as well. He directed the Ordnance Missile Laboratories at Redstone Arsenal from 1952 until 1958.
Holger Toftoy [1902-1967]
Source: Wikipedia
The Alabama Territory was officially established on December 10, 1817, so this bank had been operating in the Mississippi Territory since chartered. As noted, the bank operated until February 1825, more than five years after Alabama became a state.
This building opened in 1836 and served as a bank until 2010, when Regions moved its branch there to another location. The structure was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. The architect was George Steele, who also designed the building for the Huntsville Female College. I've written about that institution here.
A postcard view of Big Spring Park, ca. 1950
