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THE PALACE
The
original building was a hotel
that opened in 1833 known as
Major Pope’s Railroad Hotel. In
1837 a tailor business moved
into the north half of the
building while a cabinet
business was located in the
south half. In 1848 a clothing
store was opened here. After the
Civil War, a successful dry
goods business owner purchased
the building and remodeled it to
its present look. The owner
moved west around 1900 and the
business was purchased by D. O.
Matthews who changed the name to
the Palace Drug Store.
The
Palace Drug Store installed a
soda fountain in 1906 and became
the meeting place for local
teenagers. In late 1940-1950,
Harvey Robbins, a Deshler High
School student who frequented
the Palace met another Deshler
student, Joyce Ann McKinney, at
The Palace. Today they are known
as Harvey and Joyce Ann Robbins.
The Robbins dreamed of restoring
the Palace to the days they
remembered. Robbins Property
Development, Inc. purchased the
building and began this
restoration in 2000. The Palace
Ice Cream and Sandwich Shop
opened on May 23, 2001. The
upstairs rooms were restored and
are now the offices of Robbins
Property Development, Inc. Ideal
Drug Store now resides in the
back of the building. |
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COLDWATER BOOKS
One
of the first businesses on
Colbert Corner was a general
store owned by Pitman Colbert,
the adopted son of Chickasaw
Chief George Colbert from whom
Colbert County got its name.
Tradition says it was on this
corner that Chief Colbert made a
speech concerning the Indian
removal and why the white man
should not do this.
The Colberts were sent west during
the Indian removal. There are
stories of Chief Pitman Colbert
having a wagon special made for
the trip so it could stand the
weight of the barrels of gold he
took with him.
After
the Civil War, there was a store
located here where school kids
bought school supplies and
lunches. The wooden structure
was torn down and replaced with
the present structure after the
turn of the century. The lower
story was used for a store while
the upstairs was used for
offices.
Robbins Properties bought the
building and began remodeling in
2002. Today the building is
known as ColdWater Books with a
coffee bar located inside the
bookstore and apartments in the
upstairs part of the building.
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SPRING PARK
Tuscumbia
was laid out with a strip of
land around it known as the
Commons to be used by the people
and not for private use.
Included was an area referred to
as Spring Commons located around
the big spring and Spring Creek.
In 1825, the Spring Creek
Navigation Co. was formed to
help keep the creek clear of
obstructions. The town growing
on the hill above the spring was
gradually clearing the land of
natural cover. When rains came,
mud and other obstructions were
washed into the spring below. To
help stop the filling of the
channel from gullies in the
area, a levee and wall was built
on the north side of the spring
from Main Street to the bluff
opposite the junction of Spring
Creek.
In 1872, the city voted to open
Spring Commons to industry. In
the next few years, mills, an
ice company and cotton gin were
built on Spring Commons.
On April 27, 2001, Robbins Property
Development announced plans to
rework Spring Park. The first
plan was to build a waterfall at
the head of the spring. The
waterfall was to be the largest
man-made natural rock waterfall
in the world. The waterfall was
designed by Audwin McGee who
oversaw its construction. Next
Robbins Property Development
drained the lake formed by the
spring. The lake was dredged and
construction began on the water
feature. Landscaping began
around the spring and waterfall.
All was completed for the grand
reopening of the park in April
of 2002. A petrified lycopod
tree stump and petrified conifer
tree trunk were unveiled. The
lights were first turned on
behind the falls and the
Princess Im-Mi-Ah-Key Fountain
put on its show.
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