The Cherokee Indians were here first, living under the bluffs near an area called the division of the waters. Richard McMahan established the first permanent settlement here in 1820, John Byler completed the first major road through Haleyville from the Tennessee Valley to Tuscaloosa in 1821, and Jacob Pruitt built a two-story inn and tavern on Byler Road in 1825. In 1883, William “Bucky” Davis owned 40 acres in Davis Cross Roads, and when the Northern Alabama Railroad passed through the town in 1887 it became Davis Crossing. Reportedly, in exchange for a suit of clothes from Charles and Walker Haley’s Store, Bucky Davis allowed the name to be changed to Haleyville, and it was incorporated as such on February 28, 1889. The Illinois Central railroad connected to the Southern Railroad here in 1907, and railroading breathed life into the small community, boosting it to become a town. The Cotton Mill built in 1928 was the first major industry and later became Haleyville Textile, Formed Tubes, makers of auto exhausts, came in the 1960’s, and Frontier Homes, with the aid of city and personal sponsorship, was the first mobile home builder. Don Tidwell ushered in a prosperous era with mobile home and furniture plants aided by local support industries. In 1968, AT&T reserved the digits 9-1-1 for emergency use, and Haleyville placed the first 9-1-1 phone call on February 16, 1968, introducing the emergency dispatch system to the U.S. Haleyville’s brave men and women defended freedom in times of war, the 107th Trucking Transportation Company went to Korea, and the 115th Signal Battalion was deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom 2.