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]]>Noccalula Falls Park is a 250-acre public park located in Gadsden, Alabama.
Noccalula Falls Address:
1500 Noccalula Road
Gadsden, AL 35904
Phone: 256-549-4663
Noccalula Falls Directions:
Noccalula Falls Cabins
Noccalula Falls Park | Gadsden AL | Etowah County Alabama
The falls are located on land once owned by R.A. Mitchell, who gave the site to the city of Gadsden, so that the area could be improved, and the public could enjoy the falls. R.A. Mitchell Elementary School, named in his honor, is located across the street from the falls. The main feature of the park is a notable 90-foot (27-m) waterfall with a gorge trail winding through its basin and past caves, an aboriginal fort, an abandoned dam, pioneer homestead, and Civil War carvings. The park also features a petting zoo, mini-golf course, the Gilliland-Reese Covered Bridge (built 1899) and a replica 1863 C. P. Huntington train ride. It was listed on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage on May 12, 1976.
Noccalula Falls Story
Originally known as the Black Creek Falls, the Legend of Noccalula, as written by Mathilde Bilbro, says that “long ago, on a mountain summit within sight and sound of a rushing waterfall, lived a great Indian chief whose young daughter, Noccalula, was famed far and wide for her beauty and loveliness of character.”
Noccalula Falls Video
Video by Clark Stewart
The falls drop itself has been run successfully in whitewater kayaks at least once in late November 2011 by three expert kayakers. The water level was unusually high permitting a deep enough pool to form at the base of the falls. Ordinary water levels would not form enough of a pool to consider an attempt to run the drop.
Noccalula Falls Botanical Gardens
The Noccalula Falls Botanical Gardens is an extensive botanical garden displaying over 25,000 azaleas.
Noccalula Falls Petting Zoo
The Petting Zoo was started in 2000, as a small penned in area with a handful of animals: two llamas, several small goats and a giant tortoise. In 2006, the zoo moved into it new home with which now includes indoor habitats that house birds, fish, rabbits, hamsters, and more. The zoo also has a outdoor area laid out around the Barn .
The outdoor exhibit contains the park’s pride and joy, Shelia; an African lioness that has been a resident in the park since she was six months old. Other animals in the outdoor area are birds, coatimundis ‘ Jenks the Lynx’ Black and Arctic Foxes. The final area of the Petting Zoo is the Pasture which houses ‘Bam the Sheep’, ‘Zeus the Goa’t, and several other animals.
There is more information on zoos in Alabama here.
Noccalula Falls Hours
Park hours are 9 am to 5 pm Mon – Sat., 12 pm to 5 pm on Sunday. Last ticket sold at 4:30 pm.
Wikipedia contributors, “Noccalula Falls Park,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia,http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Noccalula_Falls_Park&oldid=622423120 (accessed September 1, 2014).
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Map of Alabama highlighting Etowah County
Etowah County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama. Etowah county is located in the northeastern section of the state, in the southern Appalachians. As of the 2010 census the population was 104,430. Its county seat is Gadsden. It is the smallest county in Alabama but one of the most densely populated. Its name is from a Cherokee word meaning “edible tree”.
Etowah County Alabama History
The Alabama legislature established Etowah County on December 7, 1866. The territory of Etowah County was originally split among the neighboring counties, with most of it belonging to DeKalb and Cherokee counties.In honor of the confederate soldier, General David W. Baine, Etowah County was originally named Baine County. Baine County officially became known as Etowah County on December 1, 1868. The county was abolished on 1868 Dec. 1 by the Constitutional Convention and re-established on the same day, under the name of Etowah, which is from the Cherokee language.
The first settlement in what is now Etowah County was located at a town called Double Springs on the Coosa River.
Etowah County Alabama Civil War Events
On May 2, 1863, during Union colonel Abel Streight’s raid through north Alabama, a local farmer named John Wisdom gained notoriety when he raced ahead of Streight’s troops, who were in turn being pursued by Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest, to Rome, Georgia, to warn the town’s citizens of the Union troops’ impending arrival. A young girl named Emma Sansom became a local heroine during the raid when she led Forrest and his men across Black Creek to capture Streight’s troops.
Etowah County Alabama WWII Events
In 1942, the U.S. took possession of 36,300 acres in Etowah and adjoining St. Clair County to establish Alabama’s first Chemical Warfare Center (CWC). Known as Camp Sibert, it served as a Unit Training Center and a Replacement Training Center for the CWC. Deactivated in 1945, Camp Sibert was the training site for more than 45 percent of all CWS troops who served in World War II.
Etowah County Alabama Contact Information
Etowah County Alabama Courthouse
Etowah County Alabama Quick Links
Etowah County Alabama Cities:
Attalla, Alabama
Neon Sign in Attalla Alabama. Alabama Power Co. Mascot: Reddy Kilowatt
Attalla is a city in Etowah County, Alabama. As of the 2010 census, the population was 6,048. The town occupies the site of an Indian village which was of considerable importance during the Creek War. It was in Attalla that David Brown, a Cherokee assisted by the Rev. D. S. Butterick, prepared the Cherokee Spelling Book.
Attalla was not founded until 1870, on land donated by W. C. Hammond, a plantation owner. It was incorporated as a city government on February 5, 1872. The town was officially named “Attalla” in 1893, from the Cherokee language word meaning “mountain”.
Attalla is the site of the first hydroelectric dam to provide electricity for a city, constructed in 1887. In 1903, Gadsden resident William Patrick Lay built his first hydroelectric plant on Big Wills Creek, which furnished the town of Attalla with electricity. He organized Alabama Power Company in 1906.
Attalla, Alabama Website
Attalla Alabama Festival
Heritage Day: Held the third Saturday in October each year. The City of Attalla and our sponsors are proud to present, Attalla Heritage Day. The festival features arts & crafts, car show, bands, food vendors and a large children’s area including free rides, games and activities. Heritage Day is a FREE fun filled family event!
The festival is located in a blocked off area of downtown Attalla which includes antiques, restaurants, boutiques and professional services. 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
Attalla Alabama Police Department
Chief of Police: Dennis Walker
(256) 538-7837
302 6th Ave NW, Attalla, AL 35954
Boaz, Alabama
Gadsden, Alabama
Gadsden is the county seat, named after Col. James Gadsden, distinguished soldier, diplomat, railroad president and famous for the Gadsden Purchase. Gadsden became an important military center during World War II, when the Gadsden Ordnance Plant was constructed to produce shells for cannons. By the end of the war in 1945, the plant had produced more than 16 million shells.
Glencoe, Alabama
Hokes Bluff, Alabama
Rainbow City, Alabama
Southside, Alabama
Etowah Cunty Alabama Towns:
Altoona, Alabama
Reece City, Alabama
Ridgeville, Alabama
Sardis City, Alabama
Walnut Grove, Alabama
Etowah County Alabama Communities:
Ballplay, Alabama
Bristow Cove, Alabama
Carlise-Rockledge, Alabama
Coasts Bend, Alabama
Egypt, Alabama
Galland, Alabama
Ivalee, Alabama
Lookout Mountain, Alabama
New Union, Alabama
Owassa, Alabama
Tidmore Bend, Alabama
Whitesboro, Alabama
Anderson, Alabama
Liberty Hill, Alabama
Pilgrims Rest, Alabama
Mountainboro, Alabama
Etowah County Alabama Notable Sights and Events
Sand Mountain and Lookout Mountain are located in Etowah County. Etowah County is the starting point for the annual World’s Longest Yard Sale, a multi-state, three-day event that stretches more than 690 miles and culminates in Addison, Michigan.
If you would like to become a sponsor, advertise a related location, service or vacation spot that would add to the usefulness of this site, please email us: staff@digitalalabama.com.
Etowah County Alabama Sites Of Interest
Embedded map - show in fullscreen mode
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]]>Gadsden is a city in and the county seat of Etowah County in the State ofAlabama, and it is located on the Coosa River about 56 miles northeast of Birmingham, Alabama. It is the primary city of the Gadsden Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a population of 103,931. As of the U.S. Census Bureau estimate in 2013, the population of the city was about 36,542.
Gadsden and Rome, Georgia are the largest cities in the triangular area defined by the Interstate highways between Atlanta, Birmingham and Chattanooga.
Gadsden was at one time in the 19th century Alabama’s second most important center of commerce and industry, trailing only the seaport of Mobile. The two cities were important shipping centers: Gadsden for riverboats and Mobile for international trade. Through the 1980s, Gadsden was a center on heavy industry, including the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company and the Republic Steel Corporation.
Gadsden Alabama Points of Interest:
Noccalula Falls Park
Gilliland-Reese Covered Bridge
Coosa River
James D. Martin Wildlife Park
Lookout Mountain
Mary G. Hardin Center for Cultural Arts
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