White men first visited what is now Etowah County and Hokes Bluff over four hundred and fifty years ago.  DeSoto and his Spanish explorers arrived in the Indian Providence of Coosa on March 2, 1540, after a seven day march from the crossing of the Oostanaula rivers near the present day city of Rome, Georgia.  This was the first time Europeans had ever set foot in or on Alabama soil.

According to historian accompanying DeSoto's expedition, Cherokee Indians occupied this area with Creek Indians locating slightly farther south.  What is present day Etowah County lay entirely within the domain of the Cherokees  As hunters, traders and warriors, the location of the Cherokee towns/villages was arranged to adjust to these occupations.  One of these locations evolved into what is now Hokes Bluff.

The section located in the heart of the Coosa Valley on a high bluff overlooking the Coosa River has been known for almost a century as "The Bluff".  This area was a lookout station for Indian tribes since one could see a great distance across, up and down the Coosa River.  The Treaty of New Euchota in 1835 required the Cherokees to vacate the area.  In fact, Hokes Bluff was one of the staging areas where the Indians were collected and shipped down river, eventually to Gunters Landing (Guntersville), and then west to Oklahoma.

Settlers began to move into the Hokes Bluff area in 1840 with the majority migrating from the Carolinas and Georgia.  These early settlers were typical middle class.  At that time, there were no rich plantation owners.  Most of the people were small farmers and woodsmen who owned or homesteaded little tracts of land.  Among these settlers was a man named Daniel Hoke, Jr.  He arrived about 1850 and built a trading post, general store and blacksmith shop near "The Bluff".  At that time, the name was changed to "Hoke's Bluff" reportedly by Mayor W.B. Wynne of Gadsden; Alabama, in May 1853, who was a friend of Daniel Hoke and John H. Wisdom, a local hero of the Civil War.

Since there were few large plantations in this section of Alabama, many of the settlers took no side with either the Confederacy or the Union, wanting no part of the war in general.  The people in the Hokes Bluff area were raided and pillaged during the Civil War, victims of raiding parties by both sides as well as notorious freelances in northwestern Alabama.

However, on the night of May 2 and the morning of May 3, 1863, a Hokes Bluff resident, John Henry Wisdom, rode the sixty-seven miles from Gadsden, Alabama to Rome, Georgia to warn of Colonel A.D. Streight's proposed march to burn and sack Rome which was a Confederate stronghold and had an iron works and supply depot.  Through the efforts of Mr. Wisdom, "the Paul Revere of the Confederacy" barricades were erected leading to the eventual surrender of Colonel Streight to General Bedford Forrest. 

After the able-bodied men went to war and the Northern armies invaded deeper into the south, it was a day-to-day struggle for existence in Hokes Bluff and the surrounding areas.  Because of the suffering and sacrificing, there was much resentment harbored by the people of the area which was furthered by the Reconstruction.  As a result, there was very little information passed out during that long period.  Much essential information was not even mentioned in family Bibles for fear of reprisal.  Records were either burned or destroyed due to fear of persecution. 

A new mail route from Gadsden to Hokes Bluff was established in July 1890.  The carrier was to make six round trips each week.  Before this route was established, Hokes Bluff and the surrounding area had a poor mail facilities, receiving most mail via steamboats.  The Hokes Bluff Post Office was established February 23, 1877 and discontinued October 31, 1931.  In the early 1930's, mail was delivered entirely by rural route carriers and a similar practice currently exists.

In the early history of the area, the site around Tawannah Springs was known as "Sibert's Mill".  This mill provided the industrial means for early settlers and pioneers to have milling done.  Later, Ewing's Mill was established just slightly south on the creek.

There are several legends associated with the Hokes Bluff area.  One such legend surrounds the naming of that City's water supply which is called Tawannah Springs.   It is said that the springs were named for a famous Indian princess (Tawannah) who grieved herself to death after her cousin, Princess Noccalula, jumped to her death from the falls above Gadsden.

The Town of Hokes Bluff was incorporated in 1946 with a population of about 1,200 people.  Until then, it had been a community for over 120 years, one of the oldest in Etowah County area.  W.B. Ford was the first elected Mayor.  Councilmen were: Dr. H.G. Ford, R.A. Pentecost, L.J. Barnes, Frank Wester, and M.C. Morris.  The first clerk elected by the Council was J.J. Barnes.

In early 1949,  a water system was installed with the 75,000 gallon reservoir and 54 hydrants.  By 1953, Hokes Bluff had installed city gas and by 1956, over half the streets within the City limits have been paved. 

The facility presenting housing City Hall was erected in 1971 with a public safety building added in 1986 for the police department and volunteer fire department. 

The City is presently expanding its sanitary sewer system which now serves about 900 homes.

Our growing community currently has a population of about 4,000.  In early 1995, two banks opened branch offices in Hokes Bluff. 

- With special thanks and acknowledgement to Mr. Joe Barnes, author of The History of Hokes Bluff, Alabama and Eastern Etowah County.