List of ghost towns in Alabama

Last updated

This is an incomplete list of ghost towns in Alabama , United States.

Contents

Classification

Barren site

Neglected site

Abandoned site

Semi-abandoned site

Historic community

Ghost towns

Town name  Other name  County  Established  Disestablished  Current status  Remarks  
Aigleville [1] Marengo 18181830sBarrenEstablished by French Vine and Olive colonists
Arcola [2] Arcola Ferry Hale 1820s1850sHistoricEstablished by French Vine and Olive colonists
Bainbridge [3] Bam Bridge, Bambridge Colbert, Lauderdale 18191840sSubmergedUnder Wilson Lake
Barnesville [4] Marion Historic
Battelle [4] DeKalb Neglected
Beaver Mills [4] Beaver Meadow Mobile NeglectedSite of a uniform depot during Civil War
Bellefonte Jackson 18211920sNeglectedFormer county seat of Jackson County
Blakeley [4] Baldwin 18131865NeglectedFormer county seat of Baldwin County
Blanche Cherokee BarrenSite at intersection of State Route 35 and State Route 273
Bluff City [3] Bluff, Monroe Morgan 18181881
Bluffton Cherokee 18881934BarrenFormer iron ore mining town
Boston [4] Franklin
Brownville Tuscaloosa 1925Approx. 1989Abandoned / demolishedFormer company town for W.P. Brown and Sons Lumber Co., some plots still visible near intersection of Tabernacle Road and Brownville Pike Road in Northwestern Tuscaloosa County
Cahaba [4] [3] Dallas 18191865AbandonedFirst capital of Alabama, from 1820-1826
Cedric [4] Randolph Four miles southwest of Roanoke
Centerdale [4] Morgan
Chandler Springs [5] Talladega 18321918AbandonedNationally famous resort town, from 1832-1918
Choctaw Corner Clarke BarrenArea now part of Thomasville
Chulafinnee Placers [3] Cleburne 18351840s
Claiborne [4] [6] Monroe 18161870sAbandonedOne of the largest settlements in early Alabama
Clarkesville [7] Clarkeville Clarke 18191860sBarrenFirst county seat of Clarke County
Dumphries [3] Washington 18191839
Erie [4] [3] Hale 18191855BarrenFormer county seat of Hale County
Failetown Clarke Site of the Bashi Skirmish a battle during the Creek War.
Finchburg [3] Finchburgh, Finchberg Monroe Amasa Coleman Lee, the father of Harper Lee did live in this town.
Fitzpatrick Bullock Historic
Fort Gaines [3] Mobile HistoricDefensive fort on Mobile Bay. Now serves as a museum and tourist attraction on Dauphin Island.
Fort McClellan Calhoun 19121999Abandoned/historicFormer army base outside of Anniston
Fort Morgan [3] Baldwin Defensive fort on Mobile Bay
Gantts Quarry Talladega 18302000AbandonedFormer mining town
Gold Log Mine [3] Talladega Former gold mining camp
Houston [3] Winston HistoricFormer county seat of Winston County
Kaulton Tuscaloosa 1912BarrenFormer Kaul Lumber Company company town and mill site; now part of Tuscaloosa
Kowaliga Benson, Kowaliga Industrial Community Elmore, later Tallapoosa c.1890c.1926Barren and submergedFormer historically African-American community with a focus on industry, was partially submerged under Lake Martin after the creation of Martin Dam. [8]
Louina [3] Randolph 18341905At one time the largest town in Randolph County
Manasco [4] Walker
Massillon [3] Dallas
Minden Calhoun
Montezuma [3] Covington Courthouse Covington First county seat of Covington County
Morgan Stream
Mountain Mills Colbert 18721893BarrenFormer home of large cotton mill
Nottingham [3] Jones Camp Ground Talladega 1880s1895Steel town
Odena [3] Shirtee Plantation, Odena Plantation, Oden's Mill Talladega Barren
Old Ramer [4] Montgomery 18501895
Pansey [4] Houston The 28th Lieutenant Governor of Alabama, Lucy Baxley who served from 2003 to 2007 was born here.
Pikeville Marion First county seat of Marion County
Prairie Bluff Prairie Blue, Dale, Daletown Wilcox 18191870sSubmergedFormer Alabama River shipping port
Riverton [4] [9] [10] Point Smith 1846-1851, Chickasaw 1851-1890, Riverton 1890-1930s Colbert 18461930sSubmergedFormer Tennessee River port town, now underwater due to the construction of the Pickwick Landing Dam. The only current remnant of Riverton is a cemetery located along the Rose Trail
Rockcastle [3] Davis Creek Tuscaloosa
St. Stephens [4] Washington 1789HistoricFirst territorial capital of Alabama
Stanton [4] Chilton
Tooktocaugee Calhoun BarrenFormer Creek Indian village
Turkey Town Cherokee 1770BarrenFormer Creek Indian village
Valhermoso Springs [3] Chunn Springs, Manning Springs, Valhermosa Springs, White Sulpher Springs Morgan Former health resort
Vienna [4] Pickens Former Tombigbee River port.
Washington Autauga 18171879Barren/submergedFirst county seat of Autauga County
Bell Fontaine Bell Fountain Baldwin ca. 17601880sAbandoned/replacedFormer stagecoach stop and settlement

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Stoddert</span> U.S. colonial fort (1799–1814) in present-day Mount Vernon, Alabama

Fort Stoddert, also known as Fort Stoddard, was a stockade fort in the U.S. Mississippi Territory, in what is today Alabama. It was located on a bluff of the Mobile River, near modern Mount Vernon, close to the confluence of the Tombigbee and Alabama Rivers. It served as the western terminus of the Federal Road which ran through Creek lands to Fort Wilkinson in Georgia. The fort, built in 1799, was named for Benjamin Stoddert, the secretary to the Continental Board of War during the American Revolution and Secretary of the Navy during the Quasi War. Fort Stoddert was built by the United States to keep the peace by preventing its own settlers in the Tombigbee District from attacking the Spanish in the Mobile District. It also served as a port of entry and was the site of a Court of Admiralty. While under the command of Captain Edmund P. Gaines, Aaron Burr was held as a prisoner at the fort after his arrest at McIntosh in 1807 for treason against the United States. In July 1813, General Ferdinand Claiborne brought the Mississippi Militia to Fort Stoddert as part of the Creek War. The 3rd Infantry Regiment was commanded by General Thomas Flournoy to Fort Stoddert following the Fort Mims massacre. The site declined rapidly in importance after the capture of Mobile by the United States in 1813 and the establishment of the Mount Vernon Arsenal in 1828.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tensaw, Alabama</span> Unincorporated community in Alabama, United States

Tensaw is an unincorporated community in Baldwin County, Alabama, United States. It is part of the Daphne–Fairhope–Foley Micropolitan Statistical Area and is the home of historic Fort Mims.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Okfuskee</span>

Okfuskee are a Muscogee tribe. Alternative spellings include the traditional Mvskoke spelling "Akfvske", referring to the tribal town in Alabama, and the comparable spelling Oakfuskee. They formed part of the former Creek (Muscogee) Confederacy in Alabama, prior to their removal during the 1830s to the Indian Territory. Okfuskee County, Oklahoma is named for a settlement where members of the tribe formerly lived.

Richmond, also known as Warrenton, is an unincorporated community in Dallas County, Alabama, United States. Richmond gained its name from Richmond County, New York, the birthplace for several early settlers, most notably the Crocherons. Richmond has one site included on the National Register of Historic Places, the Street Manual Training School. Elm Bluff Plantation, owned by John Jay Crocheron, is nearby in Elm Bluff.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elm Bluff, Alabama</span> Unincorporated community in Alabama, United States

Elm Bluff, also known as Centreport, Shepardsville, and Shepardville, is an unincorporated community in Dallas County, Alabama. It was named for the nearby bluff on the Alabama River and the closely associated Elm Bluff Plantation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claiborne, Alabama</span> Place in Alabama, United States

Claiborne is a ghost town on a bluff above the Alabama River in Monroe County, Alabama.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arcola, Alabama</span> Place in Alabama, United States

Arcola is a ghost town on the Black Warrior River in what is now Hale County, formerly Marengo County, Alabama. Named to honor the French victory during the Battle of Arcola, it was established in the early 1820s by former French Bonapartists as part of their Vine and Olive Colony, after they were forced to abandon their first town at Demopolis and many found Aigleville unsuitable. The first settler at the site was Frederic Ravesies, who established himself at what later became the Hatch Plantation. Although never more than a village, Arcola became the largest settlement in the colony. Beginning in the 1830s American settlers moved into the area and purchased most of the former French land grants, primarily using Arcola as a river landing. By the 1850s the French settlement had disappeared, replaced by a community of adjoining plantations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aigleville, Alabama</span> Ghost town in Alabama, United States

Aigleville, literally translated as Eagle Town, was a town on the Black Warrior River in Marengo County, Alabama, United States that is now a ghost town. The settlement was established in late 1818 by former French Bonapartists and refugees from Saint-Domingue, as a part of their Vine and Olive Colony. It was named in honor of the French Imperial Eagle, the standard used by the Grande Armée of Napoleon I, and is now within the city of Demopolis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Suggsville, Alabama</span> Unincorporated community in Alabama, United States

Suggsville is an unincorporated community in Clarke County, Alabama.

Chulafinnee is an unincorporated community in Cleburne County, Alabama, United States.

Piper is an unincorporated community in Bibb County, Alabama, United States.

Fort Bibb was a stockade fort built in present-day Butler County, Alabama during the First Seminole War.

Fort Carney was a stockade fort built in 1813 in present-day Clarke County, Alabama during the Creek War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinnabee, Alabama</span> Unincorporated community in Alabama, United States

Chinnabee, also spelled Chinneby or Chinnibee, is an unincorporated community in Talladega County, Alabama, United States.

Fort Landrum was a stockade fort built in 1813 in present-day Clarke County, Alabama during the Creek War. The fort was located eleven miles west of Fort Sinquefield. Fort Landrum, like many other forts built around the same time, was built in response to Red Stick attacks on settlers in the surrounding area.

Fort White, also known as White's Fort, was a stockade fort built in 1813 in present-day Clarke County, Alabama during the Creek War. The fort was located northeast of present-day Grove Hill. The fort was possibly named due to the fact that it offered protection to local white settlers. Other sources state it was named for a local settler. Fort White offered protection to the residents of the community that would eventually become Grove Hill from possible Red Stick attacks. Fort White was likely abandoned after the Fort Mims massacre.

References

  1. Harris, W. Stuart (1977). Dead Towns of Alabama. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama Press. pp. 57–58. ISBN   0-8173-1125-4.
  2. Harris, W. Stuart (1977). Dead Towns of Alabama. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama Press. p. 60. ISBN   0-8173-1125-4.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 "Guide to the Ghost Towns of Alabama". Ghost Town USA. Gary B Speck Publications. December 28, 2008. Retrieved May 12, 2009.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 "Ghost Towns of Alabama". Ghost Towns. ghosttowns.com. Retrieved May 11, 2009.
  5. "Alabama Ghost-Town Project". Ghost Towns of Alabama. BamaRides.com. Archived from the original on March 10, 2011. Retrieved February 26, 2011.
  6. Harris, W. Stuart (1977). Dead Towns of Alabama. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama Press. pp. 71–72. ISBN   0-8173-1125-4.
  7. Harris, W. Stuart (1977). Dead Towns of Alabama. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama Press. pp. 72–73. ISBN   0-8173-1125-4.
  8. Hedreen, Siri (April 28, 2021). "Timeline: The rise and fall of Benson". Alexander City Outlook (article and image carousel). Retrieved March 6, 2023.
  9. Map of Northwest Alabama Area-alabama.hometownlocator.com/al/colbert/riverton.cfm
  10. Ed Vengrouskie (1999). Colbert County Alabama History - History of the Northwest Corner of Alabama. www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/ alcolber/hist-nwal.htm