Marker Logo HMdb.org THE HISTORICAL
MARKER DATABASE
“Bite-Size Bits of Local, National, and Global History”
“Bite-Size Bits of Local, National, and Global History”
Florence in Lauderdale County, Alabama — The American South (East South Central)
 

Florence, Alabama

 
 
Florence, Alabama Marker - Side A image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Sandra Hughes, December 22, 2010
1. Florence, Alabama Marker - Side A
Remains of Forks of Cypress in background.
Inscription. The Forks of Cypress plantation was established in 1818 by James and Sarah Jackson. Its home, believed the design of William Nichols, was one of Alabama's great houses, featuring perhaps the earliest peristyle colonnades in America. Built by skilled African-American artisans in slavery, The Forks stood until June 6, 1966, when it was struck by lightning and burned to the ground. Its surrounding brick porch with twenty-three brick columns-once plastered with a mix of lime, horsehair and molasses and topped by cypress Ionic capitals-remains on limestone foundations.

Irish-born James Jackson, engineer, turfman, merchant, financier, planter, statesman, member of the Cypress Land Company, was a founding father of Florence. He was the major figure in establishing the local textile industry. As President of the Alabama Senate, he was its key advocate of the 1832 Treaty of Cusetta.

James Jackson's most enduring contribution was his legacy on the thoroughbred horse industry. With the purpose of improving American bloodstock. Jackson imported some of England's finest horses, most notably Leviathan, Gallopade, and Glencoe. Peytona, bred at the Forks, in 1843 won the Peyton Stakes, the flushest purse ever, and the Race between the North and South, for which she walked 1,200 miles to Long Island. Reel, the leading American broodmare
Paid Advertisement
Click on the ad for more information.
Please report objectionable advertising to the Editor.
Click or scan to see
this page online
of the 19th century, was another Forks-bred horse. Both were daughters of Glencoe, as was Pocahontas, England's all-time pre-eminent broodmare. Jackson's greatest horse was the immortal stallion Glencoe who led the Stud Book eight years, "a truly epochal animal such as appears only at rare intervals and with whom only a scattering few others of all time deserve to be ranked." -- James Hervey, Racing in America. His successful progeny insured such prevalence of the line that by mid-20th century virtually no thoroughbred in the world could be found who did not descend from Glencoe of the Forks of Cypress.
 
Erected 2010 by Erected by the Alabama Tourism Department and the City of Athens.
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Animals. A significant historical date for this entry is June 6, 1966.
 
Location. 34° 50.852′ N, 87° 43.504′ W. Marker is in Florence, Alabama, in Lauderdale County. Marker is on Jackson Road. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Florence AL 35633, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 4 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Forks of Cypress (here, next to this marker); Hickory Hill Plantation Slave Cemetery (approx. 1.9 miles away); John Coffee: 1772-1833 (approx. 2 miles away); General John Coffee (approx. 2.1 miles away); Florence's Early Water Tower 1890
Florence, Alabama Marker - Side B image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Sandra Hughes, December 22, 2010
2. Florence, Alabama Marker - Side B
(approx. 2˝ miles away); Ante-Bellum Cotton Mills 1840 (approx. 2.7 miles away); Capture of John A. Murrell (approx. 3.1 miles away); Gilbert Elementary School (approx. 3.2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Florence.
 
Also see . . .
1. Forks of Cypress - Wikipedia including photo of plantation house. (Submitted on January 1, 2011, by Bill Pfingsten of Bel Air, Maryland.)
2. Tour of The Forks of Cypress - YouTube. (Submitted on January 1, 2011, by Bill Pfingsten of Bel Air, Maryland.)
 
Florence, Alabama Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Sandra Hughes, December 22, 2010
3. Florence, Alabama Marker
Columns of the Forks of Cypress image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Sandra Hughes, June 27, 2009
4. Columns of the Forks of Cypress
The remains of the Forks of Cypress is on private property and a tour is given every year in June. This picture was taken while I was in a tour group given by the owner.
Glencoe (Jackson's Horse) image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Sandra Hughes, June 6, 2010
5. Glencoe (Jackson's Horse)
This picture and many other of Jackson, his wife Sarah, the Forks of Cypress can be seen at Pope's Tavern in Florence, AL.
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on September 29, 2020. It was originally submitted on December 22, 2010, by Sandra Hughes Tidwell of Killen, Alabama, USA. This page has been viewed 2,079 times since then and 33 times this year. Last updated on June 1, 2015, by J. Makali Bruton of Accra, Ghana. Photos:   1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on December 22, 2010, by Sandra Hughes Tidwell of Killen, Alabama, USA. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.

Share this page.  
Share on Tumblr
m=83975

CeraNet Cloud Computing sponsors the Historical Marker Database.
This website earns income from purchases you make after using our links to Amazon.com. We appreciate your support.
Paid Advertisements
Mar. 19, 2024