Noccalula Falls Park
Noccalula Falls Park is a public park in the city of Gadsden, centered around Noccalula Falls (formerly "Black Creek Falls"), a scenic 90-foot waterfall at the foot of Lookout Mountain.
The falls were a well-known attraction as long as the area has been settled. Thomas McClung owned a 40-acre parcel which included the falls in 1845. During the 1860s the Gadsden Land and Improvement Company promoted a "Lover's Retreat" there in the pages of the Cherokee Advertiser. A "cavern bar" flourished behind the falls for some time, and it is likely that German immigrants dancing the "nochullola" gave waterfall its more common name. At the same time a story about an Indian princess leaping to her death at the falls was being told, attributed to early settlers who had known her and admired her beauty. In a version printed in the Advertiser in 1867, the maiden's name was "Efoladela", a Cherokee forced into a loveless marriage with a rival Muscogee chief "Ortus Micco" and denied marriage to her true love, "Laniska" (later identified with the historical Cherokee chief Pathkiller). By the early 1900s, the maiden's name had become "Noccalula" to correspond with the waterfall.
The cavern collapsed during attempts to enlarge it and then-owner G. O. Baker sold the property to R. A. Mitchell in 1909. When Mitchell was elected Mayor of Gadsden he hoped to sell the 169-acre tract to the city as a park, but could not agree to a price the City Council would pay.
After his death, residents of the city voted to issue bonds to purchase it from his daughter, Sadie Elmore. The $70,000 transaction was made on May 28, 1946. Afterward another 80 acres were added to the park as the city pursued its development as a family attraction. Picnic shelters, concession stands, and barbecue grills were added. A 20-foot long fluorescently-lit sign was installed at the park entrance in 1958. The Noccalula Garden Club added flower gardens and planters to beautify the park.
In 1966 Judge H. Ross Gilliland donated the Gilliland Bridge, a covered bridge built on the family's land in 1899, to the city. It was dismantled and reconstructed along with several other historic structures to form a "pioneer homestead" in Noccalula Falls Park. A bronze statue of Noccalula in the act of leaping was installed at the edge of the gorge in 1969.
The park hosts annual family events at Halloween and Christmas, as well as the Smoke on the Falls barbecue competition.
References
- "Two Bond Issues Get Gadsden Approval" (March 27, 1946) Tuscaloosa News
- Bolton, Clyde (April 20, 1958) "Spring Recalls Noccalula's History" Gadsden Times
- Butler, George (September 16, 1969) "Noccalula Statue Overlooking Falls" Gadsden Times
External links
- Noccalula Falls Park website
- Noccalula Falls history site