Albertville in Marshall County in northeast Alabama, named for early resident Thomas A. Albert, lies on Sand Mountain, a plateau about 25 miles wide and 75 miles long. The area served as hunting ground for Indians until the early 1800s, and migration began in 1844, continued steadily until the Civil War, and increased again in 1872 because of the region’s rich soil and bountiful forest. Albertville was first settled around 1850, and its first post office was established on January 13, 1860. It was officially incorporated as a city on February 18, 1891. One of the worst tornadoes in Alabama history destroyed Albertville in 1908, but the town was rebuilt, with an electric system quickly built, a city water system inaugurated in 1909, and the first hospital built in 1917. The origins of present-day Albertville can be traced to 308 West Main Street, where in 1856 the community became known as Jones Chapel after early settler Vincent Jones, who arrived before 1830, and where what is now First United Methodist Church was organized that same year. In 1895 the church moved to Madison Avenue and its former building was purchased by the Primitive Baptist Church. In 1883 what is now First Baptist Church was organized across the street on the western side of the Old City Cemetery, and in 1900 it moved to its present-day East Main Street location. The first school, where the first sessions of the Seventh District Agricultural School were held, was built adjoining the Methodist Church. In 2008 the City of Albertville designated Little Branch Church as a future museum and cultural center.