The Shoals Chamber of Commerce recently held a Grand Opening Ribbon Cuttingย Ceremonyย at the ย new Tuscumbia City Municipal Building, a.k.a Tuscumbia City Hall, a.ka. The Old Tuscumbia Post Office Building. ย According to Mayor Shoemaker, the original plans were to replace the Post Office lettering above the entry way with the Tuscumbia City Municipal Building, but due to cost of each letter they settled on Tuscumbia City Hall. ย And then, after consideration for what the history of the building stood for and the undertaking to preserve and ย re-purpose the building, ย the final decision was made to leave the lettering as is with “Tuscumbia Post Office”, so that future generations would know of it’s history.
There were many localย dignitaries present for the celebration including former mayors of Tuscumbia, Mayor Shoemaker and the current City Council Members, Shoals Chamber of Commerce Representatives, City Department Heads, City Workers, the Interior Design ย Team, the Architect, and other guests. ย The Deshler High School Band was on hand to ย play the National Athem for the opening ceremony. ย In addition, there was a large crowd of localย citizensย who took the Open House tour of the new facility.
History of Tuscumbia City Hall (furnished by the City of Tuscumbia)
US. Treasury funding was secured and construction began in 1936 on aย new brick building to serve as the Post Office for Tuscumbia, Alabama,ย moving mail service from the former Young’s Carriage Factory,ย corner of Main and Fourth Streets.ย The design is typical of post offices built around the county at a time whenย the US. Postal Service was expanding. Emblems of transportation forย moving mail across land, sea and air are seen in the entablatures aboveย three portals of the facade.ย In 2004 the downtown Tuscumbia Post Office was closed and operationsย were moved to a new building on US. Hwy. 72. In 2005, the building wasย purchased by developerย Harvey Robbins, who in turn, generously agreed to sell it to the City atย cost. Renovation, completed in late 2012, converted the old post office toย serve as Tuscumbia City Hall. ย Tuscumbia, Alabama, a city that today boasts a vibrant and progressiveย citizenry, began when a group of settlers joined the Chickasaws aroundย 1817 at the source of fresh, cool water that bubbled from the limestoneย rocks, just a short distance south of the site on which today’s City Hallย stands. The town’s founding is illustrated in a mural painted in 1939 byย Texas artist Jack McMillan, one of many works of art commissioned forย post offices as part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) duringย The Great Depression. Chief Tuscumbia is depicted in the painting givingย welcome to the pioneer Dickson family. ย In tribute, the City bears his name. ย The preservation of the old post office building and its adaptive reuse asย municipal headquarters is emblematic of the city’s endurance. The newlyย designed interior holds the offices of the Mayor, City Clerk and the Cityย Judicial Hall. The impressive mural still graces the entry.
