Historic photographs and records from the Gadsden Public Library Digital Archive — the businesses, schools, churches, and people that made this city.
3,669Historic Records
10Districts
130+Years of History
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🏛
179 Records
Broad Street
The heart of downtown Gadsden — storefronts, theaters, banks, and street scenes spanning over a century.
🎭
48 Records
Theaters & Entertainment
The Princess Theater, performance halls, beauty pageants, and the entertainment life of downtown Gadsden.
🎓
507 Records
Schools & Education
Gadsden's classrooms, students, and educators from the early 1900s through the mid-century.
⛪
153 Records
Churches
The congregations and sanctuaries that anchored neighborhoods across Gadsden and Etowah County.
🏭
345 Records
Industry & Manufacturing
The mills, foundries, and factories that built Gadsden — Republic Steel, Goodyear, Dwight Manufacturing, and more.
🏘
393 Records
Neighborhoods
Alabama City, Attalla, Chestnut Street, and the distinct communities that shaped the greater Gadsden area.
🌳
127 Records
Scenic & Natural
Noccalula Falls, the Coosa River, ferries, Lookout Mountain, and the natural landscape of Etowah County.
🎖
130 Records
Military & Service
Gadsden's veterans, military units, and the community's service across two World Wars and beyond.
🏥
31 Records
Medical & Community
Hospitals, sanitariums, and the institutions that served the health of Gadsden.
🏆
56 Records
Sports & Recreation
Local teams, athletes, and recreational life in Gadsden over the decades.
🍴
155 Records
Restaurants, Bars & Soda Fountains
Diners, drive-ins, soda counters, and watering holes that fed and watered Gadsden for over a century — from the Printup Hotel dining room to Runt’s Place on Broad Street.
📯
52 Records
Postcards & Aerial Views
Vintage postcards, souvenir folders, and aerial photographs from the Troy University postcard collection — Noccalula Falls, Broad Street, Goodyear, the Coosa River, and more.
📷
920 Records
Photographs & Negatives
Press photographs from the Alabama Media Group, Alabama Photographs Collection, and Jim Peppler Southern Courier — Republic Steel, Goodyear, Broad Street, and civil rights era Gadsden.
🗺
78 Records
Maps & Plans
Historic maps, city plans, and pictorial views of Gadsden and Etowah County — from early town surveys to mid-century pictorial maps.
⚔
283 Records
Civil War & Regiments
Gadsden Light Guards militia records, Gadsden Times newspapers from the Reconstruction era, and Civil War governor correspondence touching Etowah County.
⭐
42 Records
Gold Star
World War II Gold Star service records honoring Etowah County soldiers who gave their lives in service to their country.
🎻
132 Records
Folklife & Community
Alabama Folklife collection, John Burton's 1930s scrapbook, and The Mustang school yearbooks — everyday life and community memory from Etowah County.
