History of Cullman, Alabama

In 1869, after immigrating to America, Colonel John Gottfried Cullmann began formulating the idea of developing a colony for immigrants from countries such as his native Germany. He had read about the vast unsettled lands in the southern United States and envisioned forming a community of working people.

Two years later, Colonel Cullmann took the first step toward his dream. He moved from Cincinnati, Ohio to Florence, Alabama. After a brief period, Cullmann presented his idea to the Louisville & Nashville (L&N) Railroad. They were very enthusiastic about the prospect of Cullmann developing a colony which would support the railroad. The L&N railroad had just completed a line from Decatur to Montgomery, had millions of acres of unsettled lands and needed settlements along the line.

After carefully surveying the area, Colonel Cullmann contracted with the L&N for 349,000 acres extending from Decatur to Montgomery. He had found the area to be perfect for establishing his dream colony. For years, travelers had crossed over the beautiful wilderness that was to become Cullman, Alabama. With the location selected, Cullmann boarded a train and headed North to start advertising for immigrants.

As he wrote in a letter to his family, "After traveling around the country and arriving in North Alabama, the impression was made upon my mind that if this country was filled up with good farmers, it would be the garden spot of America. I found here all that I had been looking for, all that I regarded as necessary to make good homes. There was here combined things to an extent not equaled by any other place that I had seen."

The first five families moved to the area now called Cullman in April of 1873. Each was given a small plot of land where they built log homes and cleared land for farming. Before the end of 1873, the settlement had its first industry a saw mill established by T. C. White and its first general store built by G. A. Prinz.

Eighteen Seventy-Four saw the birth of a new post office, a new railroad depot and a new city.  Early in 1874, L&N built a railroad depot to serve the growing community. About the same time, Cullman's first post office opened. But the big news was the incorporation of the city itself. By a vote of 23 for incorporation and 7 against, the City of Cullman was born in July of 1874. Shortly thereafter Mayor Fred Betz and five council members took office. Interestingly, John Cullman was not among the newly elected officials as he had no interest in running for public office. After incorporation, the City Council held its first meeting on August 1st, 1874.

By 1875 more than fifteen hundred people lived in Cullman. Agriculture was the area's economic mainstay consisting mostly of grape vineyards, orchards and fields of grain. In fact, Cullman became quite famous for its wine. But Cullman also had its share of physicians, ministers and tradesmen of all kinds. By 1876, it even had a furniture factory established by the Dreher family and two English language newspapers, the Alabama Tribune and the Southern Immigrant which later merged and became the Cullman Tribune.

Although most of the City of Cullman was in Blount County, the area that makes up Cullman County was cut out of Blount, Winston, Morgan and Walker Counties. On the second try and over substantial opposition from the other counties, the Alabama Legislature voted to create a new county in February of 1877. At the time the new county was created, the City of Hanceville was larger than Cullman. But once the politicians worked their magic, the southern boundary of
the county divided the City of Hanceville leaving part of it inside Blount County.

On March 6, 1877 the voters elected the first county officials, picked a name for the new county and selected the location of the county seat. Of course, they chose Cullman for the name of the county and selected the City of Cullman as the county seat. Within a year construction of the first Cullman County Court House had begun. The building was completed at a cost of $5,600 and occupied by county officials on February 10, 1879.

Between 1871 and 1895, John G. Cullmann brought more than 100,000 immigrants to the South from Europe and other parts of America. But establishing the City of Cullman and other North
Alabama colonies was not easy. Fed up with Carpetbaggers and Northern political thieves who had occupied the area since the end of the Civil War, many Southerners considered immigrants to be just more "outsiders invading our territory." Because of this, the State of Alabama offered Colonel Cullmann little co-operation.

Establishing new colonies also came with great personal sacrifice. When he set out to incorporate the City of Cullman, Colonel Cullmann was assaulted by a squatter who threw a Bowie knife
wounding him on the right side of his forehead. Because of the huge scar, portraits of Cullmann from that time forward only show his left profile. Cullmann also suffered the loss of his two sons who both died in their mid twenties. After their death, Cullmann's wife decided not to join him in America but to remain in Germany.

In 1895, Colonel John G. Cullman died at the age of 70. Although this visionary passed away, his dream lives on.