Fort Payne's history is rich and varied. The town was named for the fort built by Capt. John G. Payne on October 21, 1836. The chimney from this fort still stands hear 4th Street SE near the railroad tracks.

However, the area's history began before then. In 1832 the American Board of Missions sent Reverend Ard Hoyt to form the Wills Town Mission. The purpose of this mission was to educate Cherokee Indians on Christianity. The mission was operated until the Indian Removal in 1838.

At this time the aforementioned fort housed Indians who refused to move - they were later forcibly moved along the Trail of Tears.

In 1885 coal & iron are discovered in Lookout Mountain, and the "Boom Days" followed. Investors flocked from the North and transformed the small town of Fort Payne into a thriving city. In 1891 the Fort Payne Depot (still stands as a museum - visit online) was built to encourage and accommodate growth.

Unfortunately, though, in 1893 the coal and iron returns started diminishing, and a richer vein was discovered in Red Mountain near Birmingham, Alabama. This prevented Fort Payne from growing much more until the hosiery industry developed in the 1900s.

Visionary V.I. Prewett helped take the hosiery industry to an entirely new level. At one point over 5,000 people were employed by the hosiery industry in Fort Payne and surrounding areas before hosiery companies began moving to and outsourcing to cheap-labor areas like China and Latin America.

In modern history Fort Payne is most well known for being the home of country music supergroup ALABAMA.