Tallassee, Alabama

Hello all! I am very excited to get this blog back up and going and to have my first actual blog post of the semester. This blog I decided to keep closer to where I am from. Quite literally. This post is about a smaller town in Alabama called Tallassee located 20 minutes outside of Montgomery, Alabama. Not to be confused with Tallahassee, Florida.

Before Tallassee was formed, the area was inhabited by Creek Indians who were believed to have descended from the Mississippian culture (mainly in the Mississippi and Ohio river regions). The original spelling of the town name was Talisi, which means “old town” in Creek language. The area was also home to the Creek capital of Tuckabatchee. Traveler Hernando de Soto actually paid them a visit in 1540 when he was travelling through the Southeast. The Creeks had a tree called the Council Tree where they would have meetings with the tribe. This was also located in Tallassee.

When the Creek Wars began in 1813, there was a lot of tension between the Indians and the Americans. This war led many Creek Indians to leave the area and move out of state. Some of the Creeks from Talisi moved to Oklahoma and named the new settlement Talisia. This would later become Tulsa, Oklahoma.

A very well-known mark in the Tallassee are the old mills that are located on the Tallapoosa River that runs in the middle of the town. Originally old cotton mills, it was turned into an armory in June of 1864 when a Confederate carbine (gas-operated semiautomatic rifle) factory moved to the old cotton mills from Richmond, Virginia during the Civil War. There was only one attempt from the Union Army to attack Tallassee and that was an attempt to destroy the Tallassee mill. It did not work. The Tallassee Armory was the only Confederate armory not destroyed during the war.

Continuing with the mills, in 1900 the Tallassee Falls Manufacturing Company merged with the Mount Vernon-Woodberry Cotton Duck Company. The name Mount Vernon stuck with the mill’s name. During World War II, the mills actually received awards of excellence from the U.S. Army for the production of war materials. In all they ran from 1864 to 2005. Making it the longest running mill of its kind in America. The mills deteriorated pretty badly afterwards because the owner did not care for them wel1. In 2016, one of the mills was being renovated to become a museum. It was tragically burned down on May 5, 2016.

Tallassee has a bridge called the Benjamin Fitzpatrick Bridge (dedicated December 10, 1940). It runs over the Tallapoosa bridge and connects the two counties of Elmore County and Tallapoosa County (the city is in two counties). This bridge cost $600,000 to build and with the way it is built (on a curve and a grade) it is one of the longest curved bridges in the world and also said to be one of a kind in the world as well. The bridge is 1,738 feet long. It is the state’s highest bridge as well at 143 feet above the river. It is the only way to get from the east to the west of the city and vice versa.

Tallassee also has a ‘haunted’ attraction. The Public Library which was opened in 1921. There was actually a ghost hunting show that shot an episode in it. With it once being a Confederate hospital there is no surprise there. Some common apparitions that are seen are of Civil War soldiers and a little girl. The children’s section is said to be the most active area of the ghosts.

The biggest business in Tallassee is the hydroelectric company that works below the bridge on the Thurlow Dam. There are two other dams on the Tallapoosa river called Martin Dam and Yates Dam. In all there is a 260,000 horsepower capacity.

In Tallassee, every morning at 4:30 am (except Sundays), since 1948, there has been a ‘long bell’ that has wrung. This was originally a bell for the mills but has remained long after they were closed.

I lived in Tallassee for pretty much all of my life. It is not my favorite place and I do not plan on living there again. But it is definitely a place I recommend seeing for the historical aspects of it. The river is also very beautiful.

I was able to interview two people who live in Tallassee as well! I was able to interview my dad and a long-time family friend as well. Here are their answers and the questions I asked:

1.     How long have you lived in Tallassee?

Nathan Ledbetter: “I moved to Tallassee in 1993. So 27 years.”

Linda Williams: “I have lived here for 4 years. I moved here in 2016.”

2.      What is your favorite part of Tallassee?

NL: “It’s a small city, not real big. There’s low crime, and nice people. Most of the shopping conveniences are here and the bigger cities are nearby. It’s also situated on the Tallapoosa River.”

LW: “I enjoy the churches.”

3.      What change has come about Tallassee since you first moved there?

NL: “Tallassee was born around the textile industry, but it shut down. The city has moved to other kinds of jobs. It reinvented itself.”

LW: “Mainly outsiders moving in.”

4.      What is your favorite part of Tallassee history?

NL: “The capital of the Creek Indian nation was located here. The Council Tree was still here when I was younger.”

LW: “The Jordanville history. How it was once a self-contained town of its own and its part of Tallassee now.”

5.      Would you recommend Tallassee to people? Why/Why not?

NL: “Yes. The location, low taxes, mostly friendly people. But there aren’t a lot of things to do. There are good schools, summer activities for kids, and the parents are very involved. Tight knit.”

LW: “Yes. Unless you have school-aged children. The schools are subpar.”


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