The City of Guntersville, incorporated in 1848, celebrated its 175th anniversary Friday night with a party and concert at Civitan Park.
These are are some dates and brief details of key events in Guntersville's long history as we look down memory lane:
1785 - John Gunter, Trader among the Cherokees, settles on the south side of the river in a village called Kusa-Nunnahi (Creek Path).
1813 - Andrew Jackson and his army come through.
1818 - Edward Gunter establishes a ferry to carry people across the river.
1819 - Kusa-Nuannahi becomes Gunters Village, then Gunters Landing.
1819 - Cherokees give up the land north of the river.
1820 - John Gunter Jr. opens a store near the present day Harbor House.
1823 - First physician, Dr. Andrew Moore, arrives from North Carolina.
1829 - Hugh Henry Jr., merchant from Tennessee, settles at Gunters Landing.
1830 - Col. John Gilbreath comes from Tennessee & has a hotel.
1833 - First post office opens, called Helicon, with William Turner, postmaster.
1835 - Cherokees cede all remaining lands east of the Mississippi River to the U.S.
1836 - Marshall County formed, and Claysville becomes the first county seat.
1836 - Louis Wyeth, lawyer, comes from Pennsylvania.
1837 - Name of post office changes to Van Buren.
1838 - Marshall (now Southtown) becomes the county seat.
1839 - Last of the Indians are removed to the West.
1844 - Name of the post office changed to Gunters Landing.
1846 - Warrenton voted the county seat.
1847 - Louis Wyeth and James Critcher elected to state legislature.
1848 - Gunter’s Landing incorporated by Legislature, name changed to Guntersville.
1861 - Marshall Boys and Railroad Guards leave to join the Confederate Army.
1862 - Federal troops shell Guntersville; 2 civilians killed.
1864 - Guntersville is shelled by Yankees.
1865 - Guntersville is burned by Yankees.
1866 - Judge Louis Wyeth goes to Nashville, Louisville, and Cincinnati soliciting food for starving people of Guntersville.
1869 - Methodist church erected.
1873 - Legislature establishes full municipal government and requires a mayor and 5 councilmen.
1876 - Federal troops leave Guntersville.
1880 - Guntersville Democrat begins publication, first newspaper to survive any length of time.
1883 - John A. Lusk opens law practice.
1883 - City officials prohibit sale of liquor and require merchants to construct and maintain sidewalks in front of their businesses.
1885 - First street lights run on gas and are lit by Tom Griffin, town’s first policeman.
1886 - First meetings of the Church of Christ at the home of E.B. Moore on Hill Street.
1889 - First telephones and a bank (Bank of Guntersville).
1890 - Presbyterian Church is organized.
1891 - The Wyeth City Woodenware transfers here from Ft. Payne. Later called the Standard Basket Factory.
1892 - First regular scheduled passenger train to Guntersville with Walter Bobo at the throttle, 75 passengers.
1897 - Fire fighting equipment is still being pulled by firemen.
1900 - Smallpox outbreak in Guntersville.
1903 - Christian Temperance Union is organized
1905 - Fire destroys S.C. Whitaker’s furniture store, Emmett Gilbreath’s grocery, Mont Gilbreath’s furniture store, S.R. Hooper’s store, Sam Henry’s store, Guntersville Bank, and J.D. Holt’s Undertaking business.
1907 - City builds a waterworks.
1907 - First electric generator plant explodes.
1909 - Citizens Bank opens.
1909 - Wyeth City annexed to Guntersville.
1909 - First movie house, the Alamo, opens.
1916 - Bank of Guntersville folds.
1917 - First National Bank opens.
1919 - Wright Ross and Joseph C. Graden form Ross-Graden Lumber.
1920 - Road is built to Scottsboro.
1922 - Civitan Club is organized.
1923 - Bill Harris begins in the movie business career, taking up tickets at the Cosmos.
1928 - Guntersville to Arab road completed.
1929 - The Guntersville Church of God is begun.
1930 - River bridge is completed.
1931 - Victory Baptist Church established.
1931 - Tennessee Valley infirmary opened in the former home of C.B. Kennamar by E.H. Couch, Dr. T.E. Martin and Dr. W.R. Huckaby.
1933 - Glover Hotel opens.
1934 - Joe Starnes elected Congressman. He is Guntersville's first and only resident to be elected to Congress.
1939 - Guntersville Lake is formed.
1941 - Commercial Carriers move to Guntersville.
1941 - Hospital opens at Ringold Street and Hill Avenue.
1942 - Hammer’s store opens.
1949 - Aubrey Carr buys Drinkard Funeral Home.
1950 - WGSV goes on the air.
1950 - Natural Gas comes to Guntersville.
1954 - OK Rubber Plant organized.
1955 - Joe Chorba and Percy Lee's Wildcat football teams goes 10-0, claims the state championship.
1956 - Little Mountain State Park opens, today known as Lake Guntersville State Park.
1957 - Val Monte Shores opens.
1958 - Happy Home and Mountain View annexed.
1963 - New municipal building started.
1963 - Guntersville Hospital opens.
1967 - Lee Plant opens.
1967 - Lurleen Drive constructed.
1968 - First shopping center, the Lake, is built.
1971 - Guntersville High School completed.
1974 - Four-lane road to Scant City finished.
1975 - Guntersville wins the state boys basketball championship.
1976 - Kappler opens.
1978 - Gunter and Blount Avenues get one-way traffic.
1981 - Guntersville has its first bank robbery.
1982 - State Park becomes part of Guntersville.
1984 - Guntersville votes wet.
1985 - Rick Nelson & his band die in a plane crash in Texas after leaving Guntersville.
1988 - District voting replaces citywide voting for city council members.
1993 - A rare spring blizzard socks in the town and surrounding county.
1997 - Guntersville boys finish as runner-up in state basketball tournament.
1999 - First Baptist breaks ground on its new building following a devastating fire.
2002 - Fire hits the popular Rec Center rental the Rotary Cabin, closing it for a time.
2012 - Guntersville elects Leigh Dollar as the city's first female mayor.
2006 - Coach Phil Isom and the Wildcats go 14-1 and win the 4A state football championship.
2022 - G'ville girls win state basketball championship; City Harbor opens to much fanfare.
