Photograph of FAME Studios — Photograph by Carol M. Highsmith, Public domain. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Florence, Alabama Music Enterprises (FAME) Recording Studios

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016.

From the record

“FAME Studios is a recording studio located at 603 East Avalon Avenue in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, United States, an area of northern Alabama known as the Shoals. Though small and distant from the main recording locations of the American music industry, FAME has produced many hit records and was instrumental in what came to be known as the Muscle Shoals sound.”
Wikipedia article FAME Studios, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 29 National Register listings published here for Colbert County · listed in 2016 · category: Building.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

Address. 603 Avalon Ave., Muscle Shoals, 35661
When was it listed? November 2016
Category. building
Census division. Tri-Cities
Architectural style. modern architecture
National Register reference number. 16000397 - assigned by the National Park Service when the property was listed.

Fires near this property

57 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 57 fires within 5 miles of Florence, Alabama Music Enterprises (FAME) Recording Studios between 1994 and 2020, burning about 318 acres in total. None started naturally. 9 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause	Fires
Debris and open burning	23
Equipment and vehicle use	9
Arson/incendiarism	9
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	7
Railroad operations and maintenance	3
Power generation/transmission/distribution	2
Smoking	2
Recreation and ceremony	1
Misuse of fire by a minor	1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

Date	Cause	Size	Reported by	Name on the report
9 September 2002	Equipment and vehicle use	under an acre	Alabama Forestry Commission	not named
28 September 2000	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Alabama Forestry Commission	not named
27 September 1999	Arson/incendiarism	1.5 acres	Alabama Forestry Commission	not named
22 September 1999	Equipment and vehicle use	under an acre	Alabama Forestry Commission	not named
2 September 2011	Debris and open burning	1.0 acres	Alabama Forestry Commission	673 CR 72, AL
18 September 2010	Equipment and vehicle use	24 acres	Alabama Forestry Commission	not named
4 August 2007	Debris and open burning	1.0 acres	Alabama Forestry Commission	not named
28 August 2013	Power generation/transmission/distribution	under an acre	Alabama Forestry Commission	NOR-20130828-001

Every fire recorded in Colbert County

Mines and quarries near this property

2 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Florence, Alabama Music Enterprises (FAME) Recording Studios: 1 producer, 1 plant. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Silica, Aluminum. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where	Site	Commodity	Status	Recorded
	Colbert County Hwy. Dept. Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer
	Lister Hill Reduction Plant	Silica, Aluminum	Plant

Every working recorded in Colbert County

Storms near this property

60 of 99 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Muscle Shoals, the town this property stands in, in 99 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 61 thunderstorm wind, 15 hail, 13 flash flood, 5 lightning. The reports record 2 injuries. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
July 1997	Thunderstorm Wind	Muscle Shoals	1 hurt, $3,000	no account filed
August 2012	Lightning	Muscle Shoals	1 hurt	A female was struck by lightning. Condition was unknown.
October 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Muscle Shoals	$1,000,000	A large tree was blown down on a house in the Muscle Shoals community on 2nd street.
October 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Muscle Shoals	$1,000,000	A powerline was blown down on a truck on Midland Avenue in the Muscle Shoals community.
August 1999	Thunderstorm Wind	Muscle Shoals	$300,000	An apparent wet microburst damaged 20 to 25 houses, a shopping center, and several businesses in an area along Avalon Drive between US 43 and SR 133. Most houses sustained minor roof damage but a few were more seriously damaged. A couple of the businesses sustained major roof damage along with a portion of the Southgate shopping center. Additional damage was caused to some structures by rain coming into the buildings. Power was also disrupted in the area.
April 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Muscle Shoals	$58,000	A tree was knocked down onto a house at 1521 Ridge Drive.
November 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Muscle Shoals	$50,000	Several trees were blown down due to thunderstorm winds. At least two trees were blown onto homes resulting in roof damage.
April 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Muscle Shoals	$47,000	A tree was knocked down onto a home at 815 Sterling Boulevard in Sheffield.
April 1995	Thunderstorm Wind	Muscle Shoals	$38,000	High winds and hail swept across the northeast section of Colbert County destroying a mobile home and damaging a barber shop in the Brick-Hatton area. Hail ranged in size from one to one and one-half inches. There were numerous reports of minor damage to trees in the area.
June 1999	Flash Flood	Muscle Shoals	$35,000	Several roads and businesses were flooded from heavy rainfall of two to four inches of rain.
August 1995	Thunderstorm Wind	Muscle Shoals	$18,000	Several large trees were reported down in Muscle Shoals along with one that fell on a house. Power lines were reported down on Highway 20.
September 2012	Lightning	Muscle Shoals	$15,000	Lightning struck a house just southwest of Muscle Shoals and produced minor damage.
May 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Muscle Shoals	$15,000	EMA reported trees and powerlines down in Muscle Shoals. Hail reportedly covered the ground though no size was available.
March 1996	Hail	Muscle Shoals	$12,000	no account filed
October 2014	Thunderstorm Wind	Muscle Shoals	$10,000	Numerous trees and powerlines down across Muscle Shoals and Tuscumbia area.
June 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Muscle Shoals	$10,000	Portions of the Big Lots roof were blown off the building and across the roadways for blocks.
June 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Muscle Shoals	$8,000	Power pole was knocked down.
May 2002	Hail	Muscle Shoals	$8,000	Golf ball size hail fell in Muscle Shoals.
September 1996	Hail	Muscle Shoals	$7,000	no account filed
July 2009	Thunderstorm Wind	Muscle Shoals	$6,000	A tree and some power lines were blown down on 10th Avenue.
February 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Muscle Shoals	$5,000	A social media report indicated fencing damage on John R Street. Time estimated by radar.
January 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Muscle Shoals	$5,000	The roof blown off a building on 2nd Street in Sheffield due to thunderstorm winds. The time was estimated from radar.
June 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Muscle Shoals	$5,000	A few trees and power lines were downed on Memphis Street and a tree was downed by thunderstorm winds on second street in Muscle Shoals.
May 1997	Thunderstorm Wind	Muscle Shoals	$5,000	A gust to 64 mph was recorded by the ASOS at the Muscle Shoals Airport.
December 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Muscle Shoals	$4,000	Thunderstorm winds partially collapsed an aluminum porch canopy in the Muscle Shoals area on Highland Avenue. Trees were blown down nearby.
June 2000	Lightning	Muscle Shoals	$4,000	Lightning struck a tree and a house on Mill Stream Road near Muscle Shoals. The home received minor roof damage, and several electrical items in the home were damaged. There was no fire, and no injuries were reported.
July 1995	Thunderstorm Wind	Muscle Shoals	$4,000	Large trees were blown down across County Road 63 about three miles east of Muscle Shoals.
June 2010	Lightning	Muscle Shoals	$3,000	Lightning struck a home on Broadway Street in Sheffield.
July 2009	Thunderstorm Wind	Muscle Shoals	$3,000	A tree was blown down on Harding Avenue.
July 2009	Thunderstorm Wind	Muscle Shoals	$3,000	A tree was blown down on Ford Avenue.
May 2003	Tornado (F0)	Muscle Shoals	$3,000	several trees and power lines down and shingles blown off of several homes.
June 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Muscle Shoals	$2,000	Trees were knocked down in the Sheffield area.
June 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Muscle Shoals	$2,000	A tree was blown down onto power lines near Michigan Avenue.
June 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Muscle Shoals	$2,000	Power lines were knocked down. Pea to dime sized hail was reported.
April 1998	Hail	Muscle Shoals	$2,000	Quarter size hail was reported just east of Muscle Shoals.
April 1998	Hail	Muscle Shoals	$2,000	Quarter size hail was reported just inside Colbert County near the county line.
April 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Muscle Shoals	$1,000	A tree was reported down at 2002 Oak Drive.
April 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Muscle Shoals	$1,000	A tree was reported down at 901 Broadway Street.
April 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Muscle Shoals	$1,000	A tree was knocked down at 2002 Oak Drive.
April 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Muscle Shoals	$1,000	A tree was knocked down into gas line at 1706 Hillcrest Avenue.
April 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Muscle Shoals	$1,000	A tree was reported down at 101 Caroline Way.
April 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Muscle Shoals	$1,000	A tree was reported down at 311 Ford Street.
May 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Muscle Shoals	$1,000	A tree was reported down at the intersection of Ashe Blvd and Box Street. Time was estimated from radar data.
May 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Muscle Shoals	$1,000	A tree was reported down near 700 Broadway Street. Time was estimated from radar data.
May 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Muscle Shoals	$1,000	A tree was reported down near 540 Mt. Pleasant Drive. Time was estimated from radar data.
May 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Muscle Shoals	$1,000	A tree was reported down near 1601 Southern Blvd. Time was estimated from radar data.
May 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Muscle Shoals	$1,000	A tree was reported down at 1617 Southern Blvd. Time was estimated from radar data.
August 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Muscle Shoals	$1,000	A tree was reported down near the 500 block of 17th street SE. Time was estimated from radar.
August 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Muscle Shoals	$1,000	A tree was reported down on Southern Blvd. at this location. Time was estimated from radar.
May 2021	Thunderstorm Wind	Muscle Shoals	$1,000	A tree was knocked down onto a residence at 906 Highland Avenue.
June 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Muscle Shoals	$1,000	A tree was knocked down onto a house in Muscle Shoals. Time was estimated by radar.
August 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Muscle Shoals	$1,000	A power pole was knocked down in Sheffield.
June 2013	Lightning	Muscle Shoals	$1,000	Lightning struck a tree and caught it on fire.
April 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Muscle Shoals	$1,000	Thunderstorm winds knocked a tree down on a power line.
July 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Muscle Shoals	$1,000	A few trees and power lines were knocked down in and around Muscle Shoals.
December 2021	Thunderstorm Wind	Muscle Shoals	$500	A tree was knocked down near the intersection of Avalon Avenue and Cox Blvd.
June 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Muscle Shoals	$500	A tree was knocked down onto a vehicle. Time was estimated by radar.
June 1994	Thunderstorm Wind	Muscle Shoals	$500	A large tree was blown down in the back yard of a home in Muscle Shoals.
March 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Muscle Shoals	$200	A tree was knocked down on Ashe Blvd. near the railroad bridge. Time estimated by radar.
May 2021	Thunderstorm Wind	Muscle Shoals	$200	A tree was knocked down at the intersection of Garage Road and Reservation Road.

Every storm recorded in Colbert County

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Property	Distance	Listed
Johnson's Woods	1.5 miles	1988
Muscle Shoals Sound Studio	1.6 miles	2006
E.L. Newman Lustron House	1.9 miles	2000
William Winston House	2.0 miles	1982
Tuscumbia Historic District	2.1 miles	1985
John Daniel Rather House	2.1 miles	1982

Sources for this property

National Archives record	The nomination case file for reference 16000397 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia article	Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Colbert County	All 29 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.