Place:Zip City, Lauderdale, Alabama, United States

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Zip City is a small unincorporated community in Lauderdale County in the northern part of the U.S. state of Alabama, at the intersection of Alabama Highway 17 and County Road 8. Zip City falls within the U.S. Central Time Zone. It is part of the Florence - Muscle Shoals Metropolitan Statistical Area known as "The Shoals".

Zip City, of late, has been popularized by the Drive-By Truckers song of the same name. The song was penned by the Truckers' co-founder, Mike Cooley, (a longtime resident of the area) in 2001. The song appeared on the Truckers' 2002 release, Southern Rock Opera.

Said the band's other co-founder, Patterson Hood, of the song:

"Cooley wrote this one and should be the one explaining it. I do know that it is at least 90% true and is my personal favorite song on the album."

While interviewing the band in 2002, David Dye of the radio program "The World Cafe" had this to say about the song:

"People around the country call the radio stations that carry this show and say this Album (Southern Rock Opera) is their life, and "Zip City" is most certainly one I get that from."

The community was named "Zip City" by Alonzo Parker, in the early 1900s. He was the proprietor of a general store, and a calendar salesman asked Mr. Parker the name of the community. Mr. Parker replied "Just call it Zip City, because anyone who comes here just zips right through."

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