The oldest continuously occupied city in America, Childersburg, Alabama, is a place with an ancient and distinctive past. This area, once known as Coza (Coca, Coosa), was the political capital of Chief Tushkalusa's far-reaching empire covering all the area from the Ohio River to the Mississippi. Coza's population in 1540 was estimated to be between 30,000 and 40,000, according to de Soto's chroniclers. De Soto's army left at least two Spaniards here when they departed for Mauvilla: a sick black man and a white man named Furada. These two men became the first black and white settlers in the territory now known as Alabama. This book will document the history of Childersburg in over 200 images, including the earliest photographs of the city and the ancestors of its citizens. The population boom period during World War II is documented, as well as the history of Kymulga Cave, now known as DeSoto Caverns Park.
