BGuthrie Photos: AL -- Athens -- Court House

AL -- Athens -- Court House:

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[1] ATHCH_140525_001_STITCH.JPG

[2] ATHCH_140525_036.JPG	[3] ATHCH_140525_040.JPG	[4] ATHCH_140525_043.JPG
[5] ATHCH_140525_048.JPG	[6] ATHCH_140525_051.JPG	[7] ATHCH_140525_055.JPG
[8] ATHCH_140525_061.JPG	[9] ATHCH_140525_064.JPG	[10] ATHCH_140525_067.JPG
[11] ATHCH_140525_071.JPG	[12] ATHCH_140525_074.JPG	[13] ATHCH_140525_077.JPG
[14] ATHCH_140525_079.JPG	[15] ATHCH_140525_084.JPG	[16] ATHCH_140525_087.JPG
[17] ATHCH_140525_089.JPG	[18] ATHCH_140525_092.JPG	[19] ATHCH_140525_094.JPG
[20] ATHCH_140525_098.JPG	[21] ATHCH_140525_104.JPG	[22] ATHCH_140525_108.JPG
[23] ATHCH_140525_111.JPG	[24] ATHCH_140525_120.JPG	[25] ATHCH_140525_121.JPG
[26] ATHCH_140525_124.JPG	[27] ATHCH_140525_129.JPG

Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. ATHCH_140525_043.JPG: In 1818 Robert Beaty and John D. Carriel, co-founders of the town of Athens, donated ground for all public buildings, including $8,000 toward the erection on this site of a log court house. Among their donations were the springs which supply Athens. Placed AD 1957
2. ATHCH_140525_048.JPG: Vietnam war memorial
3. ATHCH_140525_055.JPG: This stone marks the site of the surrender of Col. Wallace Campbell USA to Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, CSA Sept. 24, 1864 Erected by NB Forrest Chapter Alabama Div. UDC 1907 In commemoration of the triumph of their "Wizard of the Saddle."
4. ATHCH_140525_071.JPG: "The knightliest of the knightly race who since the days of old have kept the lamps of chivalry alight in hearts of gold."
5. ATHCH_140525_074.JPG: Ennobled by triumph exalted by defeat
6. ATHCH_140525_077.JPG: 1861 1865 Confederate Soldiers of Limestone County
7. ATHCH_140525_084.JPG: A County Older Than the State Limestone County created Feb. 6, 1818 by Alabama Territorial Legislature from lands ceded by Cherokee Nation 1806 and by Chickasaw Nation in 1816. Named for creek (and its limestone bed), which runs through county. Few settlers here until Indian treaties. Athens became county seat in 1818. Limestone was the first Alabama county to be occupied by Federal troops during the Civil War.
8. ATHCH_140525_104.JPG: Athens Sacked and Plundered On May 2, 1862, Union troops of the 19th and 24th Illinois and the 37th Indian Regiments commanded by Col. John Basil Turchin went on a rampage thought the town. They looted and plundered stores and homes, stealing clothing, jewelry and anything of value, destroying what they didn't want. For months afterward, the soldiers stabled their horses in some of the town's churches, burned the pews for firewood and destroyed the interiors. Col Turchin, born Ivan Vasillevich Turchinoff in Russia, was court martialed in Huntsville for encouraging these actions, but his wife appealed to Abraham Lincoln for clemency on his behalf. Turchin was promoted to Brig Gen. one day before the court martial.
9. ATHCH_140525_111.JPG: A section of the fence that surrounded the Court House grounds until 1916. When construction of the present building was planned, the fence was moved to the County Poor Farm on Elkton Rd, This section donated to the people of Limestone County by the estate of John H. McCurry. 2007
10. ATHCH_140525_121.JPG: Athens First Presbyterian Church This church was organized in 1829 as a Cumberland Presbyterian church by the Revs. Robert Donnell, John Morgan and Allen Gipson. After first using an interdenominational building, a church was built on West Washington street in 1852. This was badly damaged during the Civil War and worshippers met at the Baptist Church. Sufficient money was raised to begin the building of the present church, "On the Square", which was completed in 1895, less than ten years before this church joined the majority to merge into the United Presbyterian Church. In this church in 1982, commissioners form the UPC and the PCUS Presbyteries voted to merge in the first joint meeting of the two Presbyteries. The resulting Presbytery was called the North Alabama Union Presbytery.
Wikipedia Description: Athens, Alabama
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Athens is a city in Limestone County, in the State of Alabama. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city is 21,897. The city is the county seat of Limestone County and is included in the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area.

History

Founded in 1818 by John Coffee, Robert Beaty, John D. Carroll, and John Read, Athens is one of the oldest incorporated cities in the State of Alabama, having been incorporated one year prior to the state's admittance to the Union in 1819. Limestone County was also created by an act of the Alabama Territorial Legislature in 1818. The town was first called Athenson, then the name was then shortened to Athens, after the ancient city in Greece. The town's first mayor was Samuel Tanner, and the Tanner area, south of Athens, was named on his behalf.

The Athens area was the home of William Wyatt Bibb, the first Governor of Alabama, and of its second Governor, his brother Thomas Bibb, who succeeded him in office when he died in a fall from his horse.

In 1822, local residents purchased 5 acres (20,000 m2) of land and built a building to house the Athens Female Academy. The school became affiliated with the Methodist church in 1842, and was eventually renamed Athens Female College. After becoming coeducational in 1932, the school changed its name again to Athens College. After being taken over by the State of Alabama in 1974, the college was converted to a “reverse junior college,” offering the last two years of instruction for graduates of area community colleges. It is today known as Athens State University.

Many homes in the central part of modern Athens date to the antebellum period, and are part of historic preservation districts.

On May 2, 1862, during the Civil War, Athens was seized by Union forces under the command of Col. John Basil Turchin, a Russian �migr�. After occupying the town, Turchin assembled his men and told them: "I shut my eyes for two hours. I see nothing." Business were hit first, and anything of value that could be carried away were looted and anything that could not be was simply destroyed. After rampaging through stores the soldiers plundered private homes. A slave girl was raped. The soldiers also attempted to rape a servant girl. The violent behavior of the soldiers caused a pregnant woman to suffer a miscarriage and die. The townpeople estimated the damage to be fifty-five thousand dollars. The resulting pillage and plunder came to be known as the Rape of Athens.

Athens was the home of Governor George S. Houston, Alabama’s first post-Reconstruction Democratic governor served from 1874 through 1878. Houston was noted for reducing the debts incurred to benefit private railroad speculators and others by his Reconstruction Republican predecessors. During Reconstruction, Athens was the home of the Trinity School, a school founded for the children of former slaves by the American Missionary Association.

Athens was traditionally a cotton and railroad town, but since the local aerospace boom of the 1950s and 1960s it has increasingly entered the orbit of nearby industry center Huntsville as the area's cotton production has steadily declined.

In 1934, Athens became the first city to get its electricity from the Tennessee Valley Authority.

Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Station

Athens is the home of Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant, a Tennessee Valley Authority installation first operated in 1974, that was once the world's largest nuclear plant. It provides many jobs to the area and most of the electricity for the Huntsville-Decatur Metro Area. On March 22, 1975, the Browns Ferry plant became the scene of what was, with the exception of the Three Mile Island accident, the most serious nuclear accident in United States history. A worker using a candle to check for air leaks started a fire among control wires, causing a temporary threat to operational control of the reactor (see Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant article on Unit One Fire).
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