December 3, 1895
John G. Cullmann, founder of the city of Cullman, Alabama, died on Dec. 3, 1895. Cullmann was a businessman and political activist who recruited thousands of settlers, including many German immigrants, to the area. The son of a geometer and schoolmaster in Frankweiler, Germany, Cullmann desired to come to America, but settled in London to await the outcome of the Civil War. By the end of 1865, Cullmann traveled to New York. He continued to Philadelphia and Cincinnati, and began thinking about establishing a colony for German expatriates. Cullmann wrote to Alabama Gov. Robert Patton, who put him in contact with the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, which had just taken control of the South and North Railroad. In 1871, Cullmann made a deal with the railroad that gave him control over 349,000 acres. With 15 families from Cincinnati, Cullmann in 1873 established the area that is present-day Cullman. The city incorporated in 1877. When the city’s founder died from pneumonia, he was buried in the Cullman City Cemetery.
Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama.
John G. Cullmann (1823-1895) was born Johann Gottfried Cullmann in what was then the Kingdom of Prussia. He originally settled in Ohio, but in 1871 he acquired a large parcel of land in what was then Blount County to establish a town. He convinced other families to settle there, and the town grew so rapidly that it sparked the creation of Cullman County, named for him, in 1877 to encompass the town, which was officially named Cullman as well. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, photo courtesy of the Alabama Department of Archives and History)
Historic buildings in Cullman, 2010. (The George F. Landegger Collection of Alabama Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith’s America, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division)
Historic buildings in Cullman, 2010. (The George F. Landegger Collection of Alabama Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith’s America, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division)
Cullman County Courthouse, May 31, 2013. (Chris Pruitt, Wikipedia)
The railroad depot in Cullman, the Cullman County seat, was built by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company in 1913. Passenger service through the station ended in 1968, and the city of Cullman bought the structure in 1990. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of Ginger Ann Brook)
Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament of Our Lady of the Angels Monastery, Hanceville, 2010. (The George F. Landegger Collection of Alabama Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith’s America, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division)
Portrait of Col. John Cullmann, founder of Cullman. (Wikipedia)
Ave Maria Grotto, Cullman, 2010. (The George F. Landegger Collection of Alabama Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith’s America, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division)
For more on Alabama’s Bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.
