Florence, 1942

This photograph of downtown Florence in 1942 shows the intersection of Court and Mobile Streets. Hydroelectric power provided by dams in the 1930s brought prosperity to towns like Florence in the subsequent decades.

Downtown Florence, Alabama on a Saturday afternoon, photographed by Arthur Rothstein for the Farm Security Administration, June 1942
Courtesy of the Library of Congress
Downtown Florence, Alabama on a Saturday afternoon, photographed by Arthur Rothstein for the Farm Security Administration, June 1942