Montgomery...in the beginning

The City of Montgomery dates back to the early days when the Alabamu Indians dominated this area. The forerunners of the tribes called Creek searched for a paradise with rich farming land, plentiful game, free-flowing water, and a pleasant climate. In their lore they found such a place on the banks of a great bend in the Alabama River .
Travelers have been lured to this area since 1540, when Spanish explorer Hernando DeSoto staked a Spanish flag on the banks of the Alabama River. Not to be outdone, French settlers made their presence known in 1717 when they established Fort Toulouse.
Although there were brief visits into Indian Territory, permanent settlers did not come until Andrew Jackson defeated the Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in 1814 and the resulting treaty pushed the Indians to the west. Ft. Jackson was built in a corner of an abandoned Ft. Toulouse. Both forts are now historically preserved.
In 1816, the Mississippi Territorial Legislature, which included Alabama, created Montgomery County, named for Major Lemuel Purnell Montgomery, who was killed at Horseshoe Bend. Lands in the new county were offered for sale by the United States land office in Milledgeville, Georgia in 1817. Of all the lands sold there, the highest prices were paid for Chunnanugga Chatty and the big bend directly across the river from the bluffs. Several purchasers of land were interested in locating a town on the high ground.
A Georgian, General John Scott, formed the Alabama Company and advertised lots in the town of Alabama. Andrew Dexter, a Massachusetts lawyer who had come south following the War of 1812, bid dollars an acre for another section of the bluff. The two men established two towns: one near the river, Alabama Town, with streets laid out parallel and perpendicular to Water Street that served the boat landing parallel to the big bend in the river. New Philadelphia, the other town, was laid out in a north-south pattern. When the two towns grew together, their streets were joined at the angles as seen today.
After about a year and a half of rivalry between the two towns as to which was to be the county seat, they joined to formed the new county seat, Montgomery, named for General Richard Montgomery, who was killed at Quebec during the Revolutionary War.
The growth of the cotton trade and the growth of Montgomery began when the first steamboat “Harriet” docked at the foot of Commerce Street on the river landing in 1821. The first church was established in 1824. Montgomery was incorporated as a city in 1837. To further enhance the business future of Montgomery, the first railroad began operations in 1840. Montgomery became the permanent state capitol in 1846, and the statehouse, as it was called then, was built. In 1849 the structure burned, and the center part of the present structure was completed in 1851.

Information provided by the Chamber of Commerce and the Montgomery Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Tweet this!