Welcome to Popes Tavern. Find more information about the artifacts and the history of the building, as well as more about the history of Florence by scanning the QR codes throughout the Museum.

Popes Tavern has seen its share of myths over the years. Built in 1811. Operated as a tavern. Andrew Jackson stayed here. Abraham Lincoln stayed here. Nathan Bedford Forrest stayed here.

There is no evidence for any of these claims. So what was Popes Tavern and why was it built?

What are the Muscle Shoals?

The 1816 and 1818 treaties between the Chickasaw and the United States government opened up the Tennessee River Valley for European colonization.

While the Cypress Land Company's investors sought to get wealthy by selling newly-acquired land, the city of Florence benefited from thoughtful planning.

Ferdinand Sannoner was the Italian-born, French-educated surveyor who named the city of Florence.

John Coffee was a militia general, treaty negotiator, land surveyor, and enslaver who is considered one of Florence's founding fathers.

Jackson's Military Road

Pope's Tavern is on a road that was built to connect Nashville to New Orleans.

Loud and Brothers Upright Piano

One of four remaining models from the first upright piano maker in America.

The most iconic plantation near Florence was the Forks of Cypress.

Z.P. Morrison (1818-1895) served as mayor of Florence for ten years, an alderman for nearly 30, and worked as a cabinetmaker and undertaker.

Artistic designs--made from human hair--were popular ways of creating objects of mourning, giving tokens of friendship, and even recording family connections during the 1800s.

The story of Peter Still and his family is both inspiring and tragic. It helps to understand the lives of people enslaved in the Shoals area.

James T. Rapier

(1837-1883)

This flag was carried by Company H of the 4th Alabama Infantry, who were known as the "Lauderdale Volunteers."

Lauderdale County Confederate Soldiers Monument

The Confederate Monument that stands in front of the Lauderdale County Courthouse used to stand on the southwest corner of Court and Tennessee Streets, where the first two Lauderdale County Courthouses stood. Dedicated in 1903, the statue honors the men from Lauderdale County who served in the Confederate army during the Civil War.

Howe Sewing Machine

The invention of the sewing machine was an innovation that changed everyday life for many Americans.

Lawson Coffee is one of many Alabamians who escaped slavery to fight for their freedom.

Battles over the meaning of the Civil War lasted long after the war ended. Some continue today. The story of Reuben Patterson is one of these battles.

Ku Klux Klan

The original Ku Klux Klan operated in the post Civil War south as a terrorist organization. They attempted to bring the region back to a time of unchallenged white supremacy through intimidation and violence.

Edward Asbury O'Neal

Born in 1818 in Madison County, AL, O'Neal and his family were active in Alabama politics during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The Kentucky Long Rifle

--likely made in Green Hill, Alabama

The oldest pharmacy in Alabama was started in 1853 by Joseph Milner in downtown Florence

The Pie Safe was an important part of 19th Century middle-class households.

The Swing Churn:

A time saving contraption meant to use animal energy to make butter.

Born December 7, 1854 in Tuscumbia, Alabama

Parents: Jane Smoots from Baltimore, MD and Joe Towns from Huntsville, AL

Wife: Lizzie Anderson

Children: Two his sons became doctors; one son became a carpenter. Three daughters were school teachers; one was a nurse; another was a beautician.

Bill worked as a blacksmith on West 6th St in Tuscumbia after the war. He later became a carpenter’s apprentice and worked at that job the rest of his life.

Bill passed away on February 28, 1940.

Born ca. 1858 in Chester, South Carolina

Brought to Alabama at 5 years old

Wife: Kizzi Drumgoole

Children: Three sons

“The white folks was hard on us. They would whip us about the least little thing.

It wouldn’t have been so bad if we had any comforts,

but to live like we did was enough to make anybody soon as be dead.

The white folks told us that we were born to work for them.”

“I wasn’t nothing but a child during slavery,

but I had to work the same as any man.

I went to the field and hoed cotton with the rest of the hands.

I kept up too, to keep from getting any lashes that night when I got home.”

Born c. 1847 in Barton, Alabama

Parents: Adam Keller and Margaret Keller, from Richmond, VA

Siblings: Martha, Sarah, Harriet, Emma, Rosanna, Peter, Adam Jr., and William

Husband: Nelson Grandberry

Nelson worked as a quarryman during the construction of the Muscle Shoals Canal

Mary Ella was living in Sheffield in 1937 when she was interviewed by Levi D. Shelby as part of the Slave Narratives Project, a Works Progress Administration initiative.

Mary Ella passed away on July 23, 1942

Community Displacement