Sheffield is a city in Colbert County, Alabama, United States, and is included in the Florence-Muscle Shoals Metropolitan Area.

[6] Sheffield is the birthplace of "country-soul pioneer" and songwriter Arthur Alexander, French horn player Willie Ruff, notable attorney, actor, former senator and presidential contender Fred Thompson, Watergate committee U.S.

Senator Mitch McConnell, whose father was working in nearby Athens when he was born.

It sometimes is referred to as "the City of Senators" due to the births of Heflin, McConnell and Thompson within its borders.

Col. Harland Sanders worked for Southern Railway in Sheffield in 1907.

It is also home to the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio where many popular 20th century musicians recorded their work, including Alexander and Ruff.

Sheffield is bordered to the south by the city of Tuscumbia, to the southeast by Muscle Shoals, and to the north, across the river, by Florence.

[3] Sheffield was one of the Colbert County sites of embarkation by riverboat and barge on the Tennessee River during the forced relocation of Eastern and Southern United States Indian tribes, known as the Trail of Tears.

The embarkation site was at what is now the Spring Creek boat launch and park area.

Sheffield is also home to the oldest bridge site in the state of Alabama.

[8] In 1940, the Reynolds Metals Company set up its first aluminum smelting facility in Sheffield, paving the way for wartime expansion of aircraft production in the country.

Sheffield was the home of Muscle Shoals Sound Studios at 3614 Jackson Highway and later at 1000 Alabama Avenue.

Cher, The Rolling Stones, The Osmonds, Aretha Franklin, Bob Seger, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Simon & Garfunkel, The Staple Singers and many others recorded the biggest hits of their careers in this small studio, that remains well known and respected throughout the music industry.

[10] The top five reported ancestries (people were allowed to report up to two ancestries, thus the figures will generally add to more than 100%) were English (98.4%), Spanish (1.6%), Indo-European (0.0%), Asian and Pacific Islander (0.0%), and Other (0.0%).