It is unaccountable why such a number of physicians should flock into this country. Every town is flooded with them. They are strung along the roads like so many blacksmith’s shops. You can either walk or ride, but you have a physician on each side, one in front, and one in rear. Here are seven in Florence, seven more went away for want of room. There are also here, six lawyers. I left thirteen doctors in Courtland, a much smaller place. One hundred passed through the latter, south, unable to get in. You cannot, as I stated before, travel a mile on any great road, without meeting with a doctor’s shop. But this is not all. Almost every practising doctor has three or four students. I have known mechanics quit their trade and commence the study of medicine.
Florence, Alabama
THE COMING CITY OF THE SOUTH
In writing the story of Florence, it is our intention to do it in a different way from the usual method of writing such stories. Trotwood’s Monthly is known as the magazine that is “Different” and we want to be that way. The fact that “John Smith came here in 1869, commenced farming under innumerable disadvantages, was married on February 5, 1874 to Miss Mary Jones, and that the union was blessed with several children, and that his sterling worth as a citizen and business man, is highly appreciated, etc., etc.,” may be gratifying to the vanity of John Smith, but does it help Florence? We think not, and will, therefore, write the story in a “Different” way.
Old Lauderdale County Courthouse, 1822-1900.
The history of Florence from the day of the Moundbuilders has been told in this issue by Mr. John Trotwood Moore, in his “Southern Travels.” It is our intention only to tell of the commercial advantages, and tell it without any “hot air” attachments. Probably the most interesting story to be told in connection with Florence at the present time is the story of Mussel Shoals, for what it means to Florence, no one at this time can tell. If it is true that the waste waters of the great canal are to be harnessed, and electricity transmitted to the surrounding territory, it simply means that “Greater Florence” will be the leading city of Alabama, and one of the leading cities of the entire South. The story of Mussel Shoals has been written, and appears in this number, and the main stem of the story is facts. We prefer to allow our readers to form their own conclusions as to the result, but it is easy enough to see that it will mean the present Florence will give way to the Greater Florence, and rank with the best Southern cities. We would not be dealing in facts if we tried to convey the idea that Florence alone is to be benefitted by this contemplated improvement, for it means that the surrounding country and the neighboring town and cities will also reap their share of the prosperity incidental to this improvement.
Florence is an ideal place for a home. It is much easier to tell what they have not got, than to tell of the many advantages. There is an abundance of pure water, an ideal climate, good schools, good society, an abundance of the most beautiful scenery to be found anywhere and if there is any disadvantages around Florence from the standpoint of its being a desirable place to live, we failed to discover it. The price of real estate in Florence, as compared with values quoted elsewhere, is below the average. A more desirable home can be bought in Florence for the money than can be bought most any place else in the South. Florence has more modern homes that are up-to-date in architecture than many places twice the size. Every street shows the progressiveness of the citizens in building homes that are a credit to Florence and to Northern Alabama.
