We decided to stay another day here in Florence and explore the town a little better. We visited Pope's Tavern, which is a building which has been used as an inn, stagecoach stop and tavern. It also served as a hospital for Confederate and Union troops during the Civil War. Today it is a museum containing memorabilia nd artifacts from the 18th and 19 centuries. It is situated on a military road that connected with the Natchez Trace, which extended from Natchez to Jackson, Mississippi, then northeastward to Nashville, Tennessee. General Andrew Jackson is known to have stayed at Pope's Tavern on his way to the Battle of New Orleans.
Florence itself is known as the Renaissance City. Ferdinand Sannoner, an Italian surveyor, laid out the city in 1818. He was given the honor of naming the new city, and chose Florence after the city in Italy where he had lived. Florence is one of four cities in the immediate area, Muscle Shoals, Sheffield, and Tuscumbia. The four cities have a combined population of 75,000. W.C. Handy, the 'father of the blues' was born here, as was Sam Phillips, the music producer who launched Elvis Presley, as well as Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, BB King, Carl Perkins and Roy Orbison.
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| A very nice former history teacher gave us a tour at Pope's Tavern. She is standing beside a cotton weasel. |
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| Eddie is demonstrating a small portable organ once carried from place to place by circuit preachers. |
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| An early version of an outboard motor. |
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| The Confederate flag |
Got together with some other loopers for drinks and snacks. Another Canadian boat, The Old Grouch, has come in. We are all headed for the Looper Rendezvous at Joe Wheeler State Park.
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