Stephen Tuttle Thompson - Arab, AL - Statues of Historic Figures on Waymarking.com

The Stephen Tuttle Thompson statue is a life-size bronze on a marble plinth. Mr. Thompson is depicted in early 20th century clothing including a hat, holding a rolled paper in his left hand and pointing with his right hand. Mr. Thompson was the founder of the Town of Arab. Indirectly responsible for the naming of the town, Stephen Tuttle Thompson was born Feb. 22, 1832, in Rhea County Tennessee. He moved to west Marshall County with his parents about 1840 and relocated in 1858 to what became Thompson’s Village and later the Town of Arab. Named Arab’s first postmaster in 1882 he was required to submit three proposed names for the new post office to the U.S. Postal Department. Desiring that the post office be named after his son, Ranson Arad Riley Thompson, he submitted “Ink,” “Blue Bird,” and “Arad.” The postal department chose “Arad” but, as the result of a clerical error in Washington, D.C., it was misspelled “Arab.” Stephen Tuttle Thompson also served as deputy tax assessor and as a county commissioner, elected on the Republican ticket. Thompson’s son, J.R.N. Thompson, became the first mayor when Arab was incorporated in 1892. Much of the original Town of Arab now stands on land that was formerly the Thompson family farm. Stephen Tuttle Thompson died March 1, 912, and is buried in the Methodist Church Cemetery.

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