When workers begin the renovation of old buildings, they never know what they'll find. The history of cities may seem fading, but it's often there and waiting for a wall to be uncovered or a trench to be dug. That was the case in downtown Huntsville, Ala., recently, and it's a reminder of the generations who built lives there before it was this generation's turn.

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Lee Roop | lroop@al.com

Bull Durham tobacco

Workers found this half of a Bull Durham Tobacco. Co. sign on what had been the outer wall of an early 20th century hardware store. The contrast in this photo has been slightly adjusted to bring out detail, but the image is in good shape because it has been behind a wall and protected from the elements. The image will be used incorporated into the building's renovation into offices for the financial services company KPS, according to contractor Joe Still Building Co.

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Lee Roop | lroop@al.com

Hale Brothers

The Bull Durham sign was found on the common wall of an addition to the old Hale Brothers Furniture store at the corner of Jefferson Street and Clinton Avenue. In this photo, the addition can be seen to the left. The building was built in 1916 and the addition added in 1921. This photo was taken in the 1980s by city planners and shared by the Historic Huntsville Foundation.

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Lee Roop | lroop@al.com

A busy corner

This 1940s image shows how the Hutchens Co. was using the space at that time. The company had expanded into both "bays" of the original building. Beside the Hutchens Co. in the space now being renovated was a cafe, whose sign can been seen in this photo.

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Lee Roop | lroop@al.com

An old company

The Bull Durham Tobacco Co. no longer exists, but it did from 1874 until 1957. According to the story, Union and Confederate troops were waiting near Durham Station, N.C. at the Civil War's end for details of the South's surrender to be finalized. Both sides agreed they loved the tobacco in a particular farmer's field, and that "bright leaf" tobacco became the basis for the Bull Durham company. The name was taken from a bull used to advertise British Coleman Mustard, which the tobacco company owner mistakenly believed was made in Durham, England.

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A peek inside

What was going on inside the Hutchens Co. building in 1922? It was a classic general store selling anything the proprietors thought families and homeowners needed. You can see the "five and dime" store roots here and the resemblance to other downtown stores including Harrison Brothers Hardware still open as a historical attraction. (Photo courtesy Huntsville-Madison County Public Library)

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How it looks now

This is how the reconstruction looks now as contractors working for Joe Still Building Co. of Huntsville continue transforming the old building at 104 Jefferson St. into an office for the financial services company KPS Group. (Lee Roop/lroop@al.com)

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Robin Conn

Famous walls

Another relic of the Civil War era is Huntsville's most famous and historic wall art on the third floor wall at the Historic Huntsville Depot. This "peace dove" was drawn by a captured Confederate soldier while in prison there between April 11-12, 1862. (The Huntsville Times)

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Sign of the times

Painting ads on the sides of buildings was common in early 20th century downtowns. Here, Huntsville developer Charlie Sealy talks about an old department store ad from the 1920s for the Fowler Bros. department store that was uncovered by construction workers while tearing down part of the old Belk Hudson department store building to make way for Belk Hudson Lofts apartments on the site Tuesday, August 16, 2011. (The Huntsville Times)

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Lee Roop | lroop@al.com

Downtown discoveries

Huntsville is one of Alabama's oldest cities, so crews are constantly uncovering bits of history. Not all of them are on the walls of downtown's buildings. Crews uncovered these buried railroad tracks while building a new apartment and shopping complex called The Avenue two blocks from the Courthouse Square. (Huntsville Times)

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Lee Roop | lroop@al.com

The Avenue before

The railroad tracks were found when this parking lot at the corner of Holmes Avenue and Jefferson Street in downtown Huntsville was plowed up to make room for The Avenue, a shopping and retail complex that is now open on the site. (Huntsville Times)

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Lee Roop | lroop@al.com

The Avenue after

This is what the outside of The Avenue looks like today in downtown Huntsville. The lamp is an artist's representation of a tree of light. See more pictures of The Avenue here. (Bob Gathany/bgathany@al.com)

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Lee Roop | lroop@al.com

Huntsville, 1959

This is how downtown Huntsville looked in 1959, the year Wernher von Braun's rocket team in the city launched the Explorer 1 satellite and put America in the space race. Looking west, the arc of the new Memorial Parkway crosses at the top of the photo, but the downtown still resembles the way it looked when the Bull Durham tobacco sign was painted.

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Another building sign

Painted signs were routinely found on the side of downtown buildings in America through the 1950s. This advertisement is on the side of the former Alabama Grocery Co. on North Jefferson Street in Huntsville. (Photo courtesy Huntsville-Madison County Public Library)

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Classic names

Some downtown stores in cities like Huntsville relied on their names and not their exteriors to bring in customers. F. W. Woolworth Co., shown here on the east side of Courthouse Square, was one of the first five-and-dime store where you could find everything from clothes pins to table lamps. (Photo courtesy Huntsville-Madison County Public Library)

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Trolley town

This street scene from the early 20th century shows Huntsville's City Cafe at the corner of Jefferson Street and Holmes Avenue and the trolley car that ran past the cafe on its downtown route. This building missed out some good advertising opportunities by putting windows on its walls. (Photo courtesy Huntsville-Madison County Public Library)

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Famous fonts

Not everyone's a fan of fonts - the different shapes and styles that letters can take in signs or documents - but the old Dunnavant's building in downtown Huntsville would be a good candidate for best fonts of any era. Look at the "N's" and "S" to see how style used to be done. (Photo courtesy Huntsville-Madison County Public Library)

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Squeeze play

Not all business and product signs in downtown Huntsvile went on buildings. This early sign for G.W. Jones & Sons managed to get all of the company's main businesses and the "sons" on one twisty marquee. (Photo courtesy Huntsville-Madison County Public Library)

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Historic designs

Some buildings were famous for their signs, and some were famous for their designs. The Kress Building built in downtown Huntsville in 1931 for the S.H. Kress & Company department stores is a model of Art Deco design. It's on the National Register of Historic Places. (Photo courtesy Huntsville-Madison County Public Library)

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Still there today

Mason Furniture at 111 Clinton Ave. in Huntsville has been home to an upscale restaurant and the Crossroads music hall since the furniture store folded. Today, the building is at the heart of the city's downtown revival as the home of U.G. White mercantile store and Pints & Pixels bar and game room. (Photo courtesy Huntsville-Madison County Public Library)

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Lee Roop | lroop@al.com

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