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 Alexander - Alabama - History

1698 - Captain Thomas Welch, a trader, marks out the Okfuskee Trail through Tallapoosa County. The English establish trading stations near Flint Hill, Young's Ferry and Kowaliga.

1814 - The Battle of Horseshoe Bend secures U.S. Government control of Tallapoosa County when Andrew Jackson defeats the Creek Indians in a decisive battle of the Indian Wars.

1830 - An unnamed trader from Georgia sets up a pine pole lodge trading post in a location near where Russell Corporation's main office is now. The spot was known as the "Georgia Store" or "Georgia Trading Post" for approximately six years.

1832 - The Creek Indian nation cedes its territory in Tallapoosa County to the U.S. Government.

1837 - James Young acquires 320 acres, which comprise a large portion of present-day southwest Alexander City, including Russell Corporation and much of the land along U.S. Highway 280.

1866 - Four Tallapoosa County townships are ceded when Elmore County is formed.

1872 - A revival on Herzfeld Hill, now Hillabee Street, spawns the first two congregations of the community, First Baptist Church and First United Methodist Church.

1873 - The Savannah and Memphis Railway comes to Youngsville, brought by S&M president Edward P. Alexander. The town is renamed in his honor and boundaries are extended to one mile from the center of the public square.

1874 - The first train arrives in Alexander City.

1879 - The first community school is organized and constructed with community funds.

1880 - Alexander City begins calling itself "The Gold City" when gold mining activity in the area increases.

1884 - B.F.C. Russell moves his family, including his youngest son, Ben, to Alexander City.

1889 - B.L. Dean, Alexander City mayor, spurs the movement to build a courthouse in Alexander City, paid for entirely by public subscription. Newspapers and a bottle of rum are put in the cornerstone and survive the 1902 fire.

1990 - J.C. Maxwell and Reuben Herzfeld convince builders of a cotton mill to locate in Alexander City, establishing the sporadically-operating Alexander City Cotton Mills.

1902 - Twenty-six-year-old Ben Russell begins today's international, Fortune 500 textile company, Russell Corporation, with a single knitting mill manufacturing women's and children's underwear.

1902 - "The Fire" destroys the entire downtown district, with losses totaling $400,000. By today's standards, the loss would have been several million dollars.

1905 - Russell Mills has tripled in size and employs more than 50 people.

1907 - T.C. Russell, Ben Russell's brother, is elected mayor for the first of 10 terms. The airport  is now named in his honor.

1909 - A train carrying William Howard Taft, president of the United States, stops in Alexander City and Taft speaks from the platform.

1919 - Avondale Mills purchases Alexander City Cotton Mills and begins production in Alexander City.

1923 - The Alabama Power Company begins construction on Martin Dam at Cherokee Bluffs.

1926 - Martin Dam is completed; Lake Martin Forms.

1941 - Ben Russell dies of a heart attack, nine days after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

1950 - Benjamin Russell High School is built with community funds.

1956 - Horseshoe Bend becomes a national military park, 57 years after the action is first proposed by Alexander City Outlook editor F.O. Hooton.

1965 - Alexander City State Junior College opens in an old hospital on Lee Street with 442 students.

1966 - Alexander City State Junior College relocates to the old Willow Point Country Club site, its present-day location.

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