Steeped in History Focused on the future STORY BY MICHAEL BIRD PHOTOS BY AUDRA SPEARS & CARMEN RODGERS
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magine smalltown America, a place where windows can be left open and everybody knows everyone else. Imagine somewhere to raise a family that has a strong school district and children are taught to excel. Imagine a town where some of the most consequential employers in North America are based and where good jobs and wages are available for anyone willing to work. All of that can be found in Tallassee, or as known to locals, the treasure on the Tallapoosa. 34
The native Muskogee-Creek peoples that settled what was known as Talisi built their first settlement near the Great Falls of the Tallapoosa River, where Thurlow Dam is today. Tallassee was settled in 1835, but its origins can be traced back much further. Spanish explorer Hernando DeSoto and 600 soldiers on horses marched into Talisi in the fall of 1540 and celebrated one of the first Catholic masses in the New World. DeSoto and his soldiers stayed for more than two 2021-22 FYI
