Driving along an Alabama roadside, you’ll find an interesting piece of Americana.

Cherokee, Alabama has at least one unique claim to fame, The Shoe Tree.  


Photo credit Cathy Wood. Coffee With Cathy.com

Along with JJ’s and the Family Diner, where you might find some delicious down home cooking, The Shoe Tree is another reason to travel the long stretch of roadway known as U.S. Highway 72  through Muscle Shoals.

It’s just a roadside tree, but over the years it’s been embellished with shoes.  No one can say for sure when the tradition started or why, but there it is.  High-heels, sneakers, baby shoes, cowboy boots -- you name it -- all draped across the majestic branches.


Photo credit WHNT-19 News

Some locals have speculated that the idea may have been started to help provide shoes for needy folks around the Cherokee area.  About 45 pair were counted in one day last fall.  But that number changes daily, as shoes are taken and replaced.

The unwritten rule of the shoe tree: “Need a pair, take ‘um.  But if you can spare a pair, just do it.”


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