In 1879 William Crawford Sherrod represented the Second Senatorial district in the upper house of the Alabama State Legislature and as a member of the finance Committee assisted in framing the revenue bill that piloted the state out of its indebtedness. He came to Florence in June 1883 for the purpose of schooling his children. In June 1886 in connection with W.B. Wood formulated the idea of the Florence Boom. He was one of the originators of the Florence Land & Mining Company, of the W.B. Wood Furnace Co., of which he is Vice President, also of the Florence Coal Coke & Iron Co., of the Florence Tuscaloosa & RR Co., of the Tennessee and Alabama RR Co., the Alabama, Florence & Cincinnati RR Co., the Florence & St. Louis RR Co., in all of which he is of the several board of directors.