Howell and Graves
1925

Early blueprint plat map for Muscle Shoals, Alabama

Map of Muscle Shoals Center Number Twelve Colbert County, Alabama. A. L. Howell and C. T. Graves Owners and Developers. Detroit, Michigan. Executive Office 350 Madison Avenue, New York, N. Y.

DESCRIPTION: Rare blueprint map of Muscle Shoals Center Number Twelve Colbert County, Alabama. The map was part of a large development planned for the area.

Produced ca. 1925 by A. L. Howell and C. T. Graves Owners and Developers. Detroit, Michigan. Executive Office 350 Madison Avenue, New York, N. Y.

Henry Ford, the famous industrialist and founder of Ford Motor Company, had a vision in the early 1920s to build a "75-mile city" centered around the Wilson Dam in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. The dam, which was left incomplete after World War I, presented an opportunity for Ford to combine his various ideals, including pacifism, new urban design, opposition to the gold standard, and distaste for Wall Street.

Ford offered to lease the dam and nitrate works for 100 years, promising to complete the dam, build another upstream, and convert the nitrate plants to fertilizer production. He proposed using fiat currency backed by the dam's value to fund the project, which gained support from farmers but faced opposition from bankers.

Despite Ford's promotion of the plan, which included a visit to Muscle Shoals with Thomas Edison, the project faced opposition from Senator George Norris, who believed the dam would be better off in public hands. Norris blocked the sale in the Senate, and Ford's dream of a 75-mile city never materialized.

The dam was eventually completed in 1924 and became part of the Tennessee Valley Authority during the New Deal era. Although Ford's vision was never realized, Muscle Shoals is now a small city known for its recording studios and streets named after Ford and other Detroit figures. The story of the proposed 75-mile city remains a fascinating example of Ford's ambitions and the challenges of realizing grand urban design projects.

Sources:
Kazek, Kelly. "Could Muscle Shoals have been a hub rivaling Detroit? Henry Ford thought so". Al.com January 14, 2019.

CREATOR: Howell and Graves

PUBLICATION DATE: 1925

GEOGRAPHIC AREA: United States

BODY OF WATER: Tennessee River

CONDITION: Good. Loss of 1" area of margin and neatline at left. Loss and fold separations repaired archivally from the verso with period cyanotype paper. MS notations on recto.

COLORING: Blue

ENGRAVER: W. G. Johnson.

SIZE: 28 " x 23 "

ITEM PHYSICAL LOCATION: 53

PRICE: $275

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