Anderson

Principal's storage building at Anderson School.

The following community description is quoted/excerpted from A Walk Through the Past: People and Places of Florence and Lauderdale County, Alabama by the late William Lindsey McDonald (copyright 1997) with permission of the book's editor Robert Torbert and with the utmost honor and respect for Mr. McDonald's research and dedication to preserving the history of Lauderdale County. If you have additional historical information about this community, please email lauderdalealgenweb@gmail.com.

"Anderson is alongside Anderson creek on the Lamb's Ferry Road between Rogersville and Pulaski, Tennessee. Of special interest are the abundance of primeval fossils found on the high ridges here. Most of these fossiliferous materials were, perhaps, deposited in some past geological age at the bottom of an ancient sea.

"The town was settled around 1825. The Anderson creek Post Office was established March 28, 1860, with Archibald D. Ray as postmaster. In 1896 its name was changed to Anderson when Benjamin C. Boston became postmaster. Anderson Creek, orginally called Corn Creek, was named for James Anderson who settled a few miles south of the present town in 1818. Of interest, too, was the presence of Samuel Anderson in this area as early as 1809. He is listed as a tenant on Doublehead's reserve that same year. Indications are that he built his log cabin west of Elk River near federal troops. Prior to 1825, there were several families located north of Anderson: Thomas and Ashael Akers, Jesse Pratt, William and George White, Jacob Kinnemore, Coleman Hardy, Amos Waddle, Leonard Partin, Joseph Norman, Joseph Armer, and Walter Day.

"In 1835, Booker Foster built the water mill, race and dam, which was known in recent years as "Dave Wright's Mill." It was located in what is called "Old Anderson." Foster, born in Virginia about 1795, listed his occupation as a farmer. His wife, Lucinda, was a native of South Carolina.

"There are a number of old legends about this area of the county. One involves Jesse and Frank James who, according to a popular story, came to live with a relative during the winter of 1882. A burial site in an old cemetery near Anderson is still pointed to as 'the grave of the daughter of Frank James.'"