Zip City, Alabama

Zip City
Unincorporated community
Zip City

Zip City's location in Alabama.

Coordinates: 34°57′17″N 087°40′12″W / 34.95472°N 87.67000°WCoordinates: 34°57′17″N 087°40′12″W / 34.95472°N 87.67000°W[1]
Country  United States
State  Alabama
County Lauderdale
Elevation[1] 222 m (728 ft)
Time zone CST (UTC-6)
 • Summer (DST) CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP 35633
Area code(s) 256 and 938

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".

History

Zip City received its name from an old time store owner, Mr. Alonzo Parker, who said the cars zip through on the newly paved Chisholm Road. In the 1970's and 80's there was an amazing amount of traffic on Chisholm on account of motorists "zipping" by towards the Tennessee state line, where they could buy alcohol.[2] It has frequently been noted on lists of unusual place names.[3][4]

In popular culture

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' 2002 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. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Zip City". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2012-03-18.
  2. ↑ Gallant, Frank K. (2012). A Place Called Peculiar: Stories about Unusual American Place-Names. Courier Dover Publications. p. 6.
  3. ↑ Thompson, George E. (2009). You Live Where?: Interesting and Unusual Facts about where We Live. iUniverse. p. 3.
  4. ↑ Duncan, Andy (2005). Alabama Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities & Other Offbeat Stuff. Globe Pequot. pp. xii.

External links