Description: "Guntersville, once called 'The Playground of the South,' is a lovely city amid the Appalachian foothills. John Gunter came to this area along the Tennessee River in 1785, created a trading post, and married Cherokee Chief Bushyhead's daughter. Around 1818, Gunter's son Edward formed a ferry, which was called Gunter's Ferry, later Gunter's Village, and eventually Gunter's Landing. In 1838, Gunter's Landing was a departure site for Cherokees forcibly sent west on the Trail of Tears. Guntersville was shelled in 1862 and almost completely burned in 1865 by Union forces. Even with this rich history, widespread fame did not descend until the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) created Lake Guntersville in 1939. With the formation of the lake, Guntersville became a tourist haven, one known primarily for fishing and boating but also hydroplane races, beauty pageants, campgrounds, beaches, and Little Mountain State Park (later Lake Guntersville State Park). The city remains one of the most popular lake destinations in the South."
Brief description: Originally from Guntersville, Whitney A. Snow is an assistant professor of history at Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas. A specialist in the 20th-century South, she is the author of myriad journal articles and a book titled Cathedral Caverns. A lifelong Guntersville resident, Barbara J. Snow retired after 45 years as teacher/counselor at nearby Arab High School. In addition to volunteering at the Marshall County Archives, she is a member of the Guntersville Historical Society and an avid traveler.
Review Quotes: With Four chapters, including The Lake, Beauty Pageants, Recreation and Tourism, and Scenes and Personalities, this book was well over a year in the making. It contains 233 photographs/captions and depicts and/or mentions almost 550 people. Advertiser Gleam
If you haven't discovered Lake Guntersville, you've missed a lifetime experience of joy. Researchers and historians Whitney A. and Barbara J. Snow give us the fascinating historical and cultural background to this playground of Alabama. Using photos collected from a host of public and private sources, they bring us through Lake Guntersville's hard Depression-era birth to its sparkling, active and wondrous present. Decatur Daily