Zip City, Alabama

Zip City is a small unincorporated community in Lauderdale County in the northern part of the U.S. state of Alabama, at the intersection of Alabama Highway 17 and County Road 8. Zip City falls within the U.S. Central Time Zone. It is part of the Florence - Muscle Shoals Metropolitan Statistical Area known as "The Shoals".

Zip City, Alabama
Unincorporated community
Zip City is located in Alabama
Zip City
Zip City
Zip City is located in the United States
Zip City
Zip City
Coordinates: 34°57′17″N 87°40′12″W[1]
Country United States
State Alabama
CountyLauderdale
Elevation
[1]
222 m (728 ft)
Time zoneUTC-6 (CST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP
35633
Area code(s)256 and 938
GNIS feature ID129364[1]

History

The first non-indigenous settlement was made at Zip City in 1817.[2] Zip City received its unusual name from the fact drivers would "zip" through town heading towards the Tennessee state line, where they could buy alcohol.[3] The name dates from the 1920s.[4]

Zip City, of late, has been popularized by the Drive-By Truckers song of the same name. The song was penned by the Truckers' co-founder, Mike Cooley, (a longtime resident of the area) in 2001. The song appeared on the Truckers' 2001 release, Southern Rock Opera.

Said the band's other co-founder, Patterson Hood, of the song:

"Cooley wrote this one and should be the one explaining it. I do know that it is at least 90% true and is my personal favorite song on the album."

While interviewing the band in 2002, David Dye of the radio program "The World Cafe" had this to say about the song:

"People around the country call the radio stations that carry this show and say this Album (Southern Rock Opera) is their life, and "Zip City" is most certainly one I get that from."

References
  1. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Zip City, Alabama
  2. Gallant, Frank K. (2012). A Place Called Peculiar: Stories about Unusual American Place-Names. Courier Dover Publications. p. 6.
  3. "Unusual names have unusual origins". The Tuscaloosa News. September 4, 1990. pp. 6A. Retrieved May 3, 2015.
  4. "What's the origin of your town's name?". Times Daily. June 3, 2006. pp. 4A. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
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