Nov. 19, 1818
Located 15 miles from the Tennessee border in north-central Alabama, Athens is the government seat of Limestone County. Founded on this day in 1818, a year before Alabama was admitted to the union, it became the county seat on March 22, 1819. Athens is home to three governors (William Wyatt Bibb, Joshua L. Martin and George S. Houston) as well as Athens State University, the state’s oldest institution of higher education. Originally an agricultural community, Athens is now a major center of technology in north Alabama. It also plays host to the Tennessee Valley Old Time Fiddlers Convention, which attracts about 15,000 music lovers from across the country.
Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama.
Athens, Alabama, 2010. (The George F. Landegger Collection of Alabama Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith’s America, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division)
“Sacked and Plundered” historic sign, Athens, 2010. (The George F. Landegger Collection of Alabama Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith’s America, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division)
In this 1925 photo, downtown Athens, Limestone County, is filled with people attending a trading day. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of the Alabama Department of Archives and History)
The George S. Houston House at 101 Houston Street in Athens, Limestone County, as photographed for the Library of Congress in March 1934. The home was built in 1834 and owned in the 1840s by Houston, who served as Alabama governor from 1874-78. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of the Library of Congress)
Courthouse located in the center of downtown Athens, 2010. (The George F. Landegger Collection of Alabama Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith’s America, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division)
Athens State University in Athens, Limestone County, teaches the last two years of four-year college programs for the state’s two-year college system and transfer students. The school was founded during the early 1820s. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, photo courtesy of Athens State University)
For more on Alabama’s bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.
