[LSyd]

i recently took the backroad (US 11) through northern Alabama while going to Knoxville; far more intersting than speeding by on the interstate. cities listed going north from Birmingham, along with their population

Springville - 2,521

leaving Springville

Attalla - 6,795; according to Wikipedia, home of the world's first working hydroelectric dam

leaving Attalla

Collinsville - 1,644

Fort Payne - 12,938

the county courthouse looks really cool from this angle

back to the interstate so i can save time and avoid Chattanooga's rush hour gridlock

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[jmancuso]

sweet home alabama

 

[Rail Claimore]

I know Fort Payne quite well. The town was once responsible for over 80% of all the sock manufacturing in the world. It's all going a bit downhill now thanks to globalization. Hopefully they will adapt. They'll be likely to capitalize off a new interstate link between Huntsville and Atlanta, that's for sure.

Attalla is one of those towns I didn't know existed on its own until a few years ago. I'd always thought it was part of Gadsden. I drive by it on my usual route to Atlanta, taking 431 south to I-20.

 

[DallasTexan]

Lots of antiques!

 

[Evan]

Attalla is actually the birthplace of Alabama Power. The original generator building is still intact, but it's used as an intake vent for the Gadsden Water Works now.

You guys that go out and about traveling and are ever up this way again, just exit I-59 at the airport, turn right on Hwy 77, and turn left at the first traffic light by the Days Inn. Just up ahead on the right, you will see the building, and it has one of those historic plaque signs telling about Alabama Powers founding.

Attalla proclaims itself the antiques capital of Alabama, and that may very well be true. I don't know if I have ever seen a town with so many freaking antique shops.

 

[Raleigh-NC]

I always thought that small towns are the heart of this country: always neglected, but still beating!!! You did a fantastic job, LSyd kay: Many thanks for sharing these wonderful pics with us.

 

[Matthew]

Try finding a small southern town without antique stores downtown. Anyone from a small town will tell you the locals like to go "antiquing" Saturday morning. Usually the bigger city antique stores don't have much worth looking at. I don't care much for the old furniture or replacement doors and windows. The small town antique stores have some of everything though.

http://www.pbase.com/lsyd/image/58897221.jpg

This (above link) is my favorite.

I wish you had close-up photos of some of the older signs, like the one on Day's Gone By Antiques or the old movie theatre sign. It is a great thread!

 

[Evan]

Try finding a small southern town without antique stores downtown. Anyone from a small town will tell you the locals like to go "antiquing" Saturday morning. .....!

heh! Yeah that's true. Attalla's downtown is only 2 blocks wide and 4 blocks long though, and there are a lot of antiques packed in that tiny bit of space. There are more shops though that line the roads into and out of town, not just downtown.

Every year during that 450 mile yard sale that starts in Kentucky and ends in Gadsden, Attalla is packed. They put up signs and lure people off the yard sale route, and it works. Downtown Attalla looks like City Stages in Birmingham that weekend. heh.

 

[Laseter]

Nice photos! I've been through all of those towns especially Attalla. That highway is very crowded during the big yard sale.

 

[I-275westcoastfl]

I remember driving through central Alabama, so gritty yet so cool.

 

[xzmattzx]

looks great. it's nice to see what southern towns look like.

 

[LSyd]

thanks y'all.

Matthew, i wish i would've done some close-ups, but i decided to work them into the larger shot.

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