"The town occupies the site of an Indian village which was of considerable importance during the Creek War. It was the home of Captain John Brown, a famous Indian, whose daughters, Catharine and Anna, established the Creek Path Mission school in 1820, six miles south of Guntersville. " So says the town's home page. Also:

There are several opinions as to how the town got the name “Attalla” and what this name actually means. In a rare book on place-names in Alabama, the author states: ”Attalla -- a city in Etowah County. The first settlement here was called Atale, which is a corruption of the Cherokee word ‘otali’, or ‘mountain’.”

“My Home” is the most generally accepted meaning for the name Attalla.

Let's see what we have.

I guess Google regards the founding date as private information.

But of course it's a bank:

It's always been a bank. But I'll bet it was the Farmer's Merchant Bank or the First Merchant & Farmer Bank or something that went nips-up in 1930.

Once again, the rejuvinating power of downtown trees is on full display:

If you look closely, and if you care, it seems as if the finish on the black stuff on the facade is different than the black stuff below the windows in the recessed portion. GLossy vs. matte. If I had to guess, I'd say the facade dates from the 30s or 40s, and the front got punched in during the post-war renovation craze.

You know what this used to be, right?

A Flickr page says: "It houses an Antique Store now and the lady manager said it was a Rexall Drug Store years ago. Several locals agreed about its being a Rexall Drug store but couldn't remember how long ago that it was."

The question is where the W came into the picture, but that's obvious: Walker Drug Store.

Of course this once had a name:

The pegs that held the old sign look like notes in a melody no one hums any more. It looks quite tall in that view, but if you look from up the street . . .

No idea what's going on with that ghost ad.

The stone grafted on the facade of the building by the alley suggests it was connected to the white-facade building; same cheap fake stone.

Then again, maybe some guy came through town with a truckload of the stuff, and sold it up and down the street.

Hold on - that's the same name as the music store above. Etowah? So maybe the same guy did buy it for all the stores he owned. Nope. That's the name of the county.

Damned sad looking site, this one.

A nice piece of work from the tail-fin / push-button era:

In the future, things will slant! And the future is now!

The sun knocks on the windows, but there's nobody home:

There was a time when a Tattoo parlor wouldn't be on the Main Street. It would be like holding a grand parade to celebrate a new pool haul.

Sometimes, if you're careful, and choose a wood that'll age to a certain hue, you can give a building the Buckaroo Revival treatment and it'll end up looking like a package of bacon.

Well, not much in this town after all, it seems -

Oh my.

You might say late 30s, or late 40s - nope. Early 50s, it seems, and Cinema Treasures says it did some time as an X-rated house.

In a small town? Everyone would know you went there.

One last reason I'd like to go to Attala:

That's the old Reddy, too. The gangly one.

Did I miss anything? You be the judge.