Alabama towns continue to receive national attention from World Atlas, including a nod to Oxford for being one of the top long-weekend destinations.

Earlier this month, World Atlas also recognized Gadsden as one of the 10 Prettiest Small Towns in the South.

“What ties these 10 together is that not one of them is generic… The scenery is the easy part in the South. The reason these towns stick is that each one has something specific and slightly improbable going on, and any of them is worth pointing the car toward for a weekend.”

World Atlas

Keep reading to see why Gadsden made the cut + what other Southern towns stood out.

Gadsden named one of the Prettiest Small Towns in the South

Gadsden certainly isn’t a stranger to these World Atlas recognitions. Previously, the city has been recognized for:

• Alabama towns with the best main streets
• 5 best natural wonders in Alabama
• Alabama town praised for its natural beauty

But here’s what World Atlas had to say about why Gadsden made its list of Prettiest Small Towns:

“The centerpiece of Gadsden is Noccalula Falls, a 90-foot waterfall that drops straight into a ravine right at the edge of town, with a bronze statue of the Cherokee maiden of its origin legend standing at the lip. The surrounding park has a gorge trail, botanical gardens, and a pioneer village, so the falls are the start rather than the whole visit. Downtown keeps a walkable strip of historic storefronts and the Gadsden Museum of Art, and Black Creek is the spot if you want to throw a fly line. It is less than an hour from Birmingham but does not feel remotely like a suburb of it, which is the appeal of this corner of Alabama.”

Looking for more information on Gadsden? Check out some of our other recent stories:

• Minth Group breaks ground on new $430M Gadsden facility, creating 1,300+ jobs
• Gadsden draws 2,000+ riders on its giant 1,000-foot waterslide
• New downtown Gadsden hotel proposed near former City Hall building
• Gadsden receives $690K for new pedestrian bridge over Coosa River

10 Prettiest Small Towns in the Southern United States

Here is the complete list from World Atlas:

• Helen, Georgia
• Corolla, North Carolina
• Staunton, Virginia
• Yorktown, Virginia
• Gadsden, Alabama
• Cherokee, North Carolina
• Leiper’s Fork, Tennessee
• Townsend, Tennessee
• Elijay, Georgia
• Canton, Mississippi

“The South does pretty in a lot of registers. There is a Bavarian village in the Georgia mountains, a beach where wild Spanish horses still outnumber the traffic, and a Mississippi courthouse square that has stood in for half of Hollywood’s version of the small-town South. These ten towns run from the Blue Ridge to the Outer Banks, and each one has a genuine reason to look twice, not just a nice waterfall and a gift shop. Here they are, and what makes each one worth the stop.”

World Atlas