During the American Civil War, the important transportation hub of Decatur, Alabama often changed hands between the Union and the Confederacy.

Just as the city was coming back to life, a yellow fever epidemic swept the area in 1878, causing the population of the community to dwindle to approximately 400 by 1880.

They named their new city New Decatur and gave it the nickname "The Chicago of the South,"[3] referencing its status as a transportation hub, and as a marketing tool toward Midwesterners.

[3] The company set aside 100 acres (40 ha) of this land for churches and schools and established what is known today as Delano Park, an oddly-shaped stretch of parkland designed to break the monotony of an urban-like street grid.

The company advertised this new development across the Northeast and Midwestern United States as "the healthiest city in the South," following the installation of a modern water and drainage system, which was thought to ward off disease.

In an effort to mend fences and avoid favoritism toward one region of the United States or another, streets in New Decatur were named in honor of generals from both the Union (Grant and Sherman) and Confederate (Johnston and Jackson) Armies.

Both cities' business districts remain in existence less than a mile apart and form modern Decatur's sprawling downtown area.

Much of the original turn of the 20th century architecture of the two cities still exists as well, and both Old Decatur and Albany each have neighborhood historical associations charged with maintaining and promoting their separate histories.