The Tennessee Valley 



a Federal General, when asked after the war between the 

 States which section of the South he most admired, 

 promptly replied, "There is' no section of the South or North 

 which, for the happy and prosperous habitation of man, equals 

 that beautiful section known as the Tennessee Valley, in North 

 Alabama." This wisdom of the lamented Gen. John A. Logan 

 is verified not only by the casual observer, but by the student of 

 those things most calculated to make life prosperous and fruit- 

 ful of contentment. The Tennessee Valley, in the common 

 acceptation of the term, embraces a section of eight counties, 

 four of which lie between the Tennessee River and the Ten- 

 nessee State line, and four south of the Tennessee River. The 

 two tiers of counties extending across the State from the 

 Georgia to the Mississippi line. This matchless section pre- 

 sents a variety of soil which is incident to the topography of the 

 innd— a county which represents picturesque mountains and 

 fertile plains. The eastern counties, primarily Jackson and 

 Marshall, are broken with rich hills and valleys which evinced 

 their fertility in the opening up of the country by a magnificent 

 forest. The hills were the chosen home of cedar giants, oak, 

 hickory, chestnut, poplar and other favorite lumber, and today 

 many of the towering cedar telephone poles in our cities' claim 

 their growth in Jackson and Marshal. But the valleys in 

 these counties were the attraction. Rich deep soil, a soil which 

 first produced the deep forest, now yields the finest golden grain 

 in the land. It is claimed, and the claim substantiated, that 

 the Paint Rock Valley, in Jackson County, and similar valleys 

 in Marshal, not infrequently produced one hundred bushels 

 of corn to the acre, and produced wheat, oats and rye in sim- 

 ilar abundance. West of these two counties, divided by the 

 Tennessee River, are the Counties of Madison and Morgan — 

 Madison for years past, by reason of her great fertility and 

 the enterprise of her citizens, has been the banner agricultural 

 county of the State, winning in every competitive State fair 

 exhibit, and at the Nashville Exposition the varietv and per- 

 fection of her agricultural products won the plaudits of the 

 world. 



