Tanner, Alabama

Tanner is a small town in central southern Limestone County, Alabama, United States, and is included in the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. It lies along the Tennessee River, next to the city of Athens.

Tanner is home to Tanner High School (The Rattlers), a 2A school in the state's classification system. The school's basketball boys and girls teams both won state titles in 2011.

History

Tanner was settled along the Louisville and Nashville Railroad in the 19th century and was originally named McDonald's Station, then Rowland. A Rowland post office was established in 1878. In 1913, the Tanner post office was established, named after Samuel Tanner who was the first mayor of nearby Athens. ^[1]

1974 and 2011 Super Outbreaks

On April 3, 1974, the area was struck by the Super Outbreak; two violent tornadoes that were both one-third of a mile wide large cones hit the community within 30 minutes. The two tornadoes were classified as both F5 events in the city itself on the Fujita scale, respectively.^[2] After the first tornado passed through the area, a second tornado surprised the rescue effort. In total, 50 were killed by those tornadoes. On April 27, 2011, during what some meteorologists call "Super Outbreak II", Tanner and other surrounding communities were hit by a large violent tornado that has been given an official rating of EF5.^[3] 11 people perished from the wedge tornado which was over 1 mile wide. The tornado marks the third F5 or EF5 to strike Tanner and the surrounding communities in Limestone County.

References