What is the history of Decatur, Alabama?
Initially the area was known as Rhodes Ferry, named after a ferry that crossed the Tennessee River in the 1810s at the present day location of Rhodes Ferry Park. The city was incorporated as Albany in the year 1821. It was named Decatur in honor of Stephen Decatur. After Decatur was killed in a duel in 1820, President Monroe directed that the Alabama town be named for him. Decatur was a very important point in North Alabama during its earliest days. Decatur was the Eastern Terminous of the Decatur-Courtland-Tuscumbia Railroad (in the late 1820s and early 1830s), the first railway built west of the Appalachian Mountains. Because of its location on the strategic Memphis & Charleston Railroad, Decatur was the site of several encounters during the American Civil War. All but three buildings were burned down during the 1864 Battle of Decatur, when Decatur was referred to as A Tough Nut To Crack. The three that remained are the State Bank Building, Decatur Branch (Old State Bank)Old State Ba
