List of ghost towns in Alabama
This is an incomplete list of ghost towns in Alabama, United States.
Classification
[edit]Barren site
[edit]- Sites no longer in existence
- Sites that have been destroyed
- Covered with water
- Reverted to pasture
- May have a few difficult to find foundations/footings at most
Neglected site
[edit]- Only rubble left
- All buildings uninhabited
- Roofless building ruins
- Some buildings or houses still standing, but majority are roofless
Abandoned site
[edit]- Building or houses still standing
- Buildings and houses all abandoned
- No population, except caretaker
- Site no longer in existence except for one or two buildings, for example old church, grocery store
Semi-abandoned site
[edit]- Building or houses still standing
- Buildings and houses largely abandoned
- Few residents
- Many abandoned buildings
- Small population
Historic community
[edit]- Building or houses still standing
- Still a busy community
- Smaller than its boom years
- Population has decreased dramatically, to one fifth or less.
Ghost towns
[edit]| Town name | Other name | County | Established | Disestablished | Current status | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aigleville[1] | Marengo | 1818 | 1830s | Barren | Established by French Vine and Olive colonists | |
| Arcola[2] | Arcola Ferry | Hale | 1820s | 1850s | Historic | Established by French Vine and Olive colonists |
| Bainbridge[3] | Bam Bridge, Bambridge | Colbert, Lauderdale | 1819 | 1840s | Submerged | Under Wilson Lake |
| Barnesville[4] | Marion | Historic | ||||
| Battelle[4] | DeKalb | Neglected | ||||
| Beaver Mills[4] | Beaver Meadow | Mobile | Neglected | Site of a uniform depot during Civil War | ||
| Bellefonte | Jackson | 1821 | 1920s | Neglected | Former county seat of Jackson County | |
| Blakeley[4] | Baldwin | 1813 | 1865 | Neglected | Former county seat of Baldwin County | |
| Blanche | Cherokee | Barren | Site at intersection of State Route 35 and State Route 273 | |||
| Bluff City[3] | Bluff, Monroe | Morgan | 1818 | 1881 | ||
| Bluffton | Cherokee | 1888 | 1934 | Barren | Former iron ore mining town | |
| Boston[4] | Franklin | |||||
| Brownville | Tuscaloosa | 1925 | Approx. 1989 | Abandoned / demolished | Former 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 | 1819 | 1865 | Abandoned | First capital of Alabama, from 1820-1826 | |
| Cedric[4] | Randolph | Four miles southwest of Roanoke | ||||
| Centerdale[4] | Morgan | |||||
| Chandler Springs[5] | Talladega | 1832 | 1918 | Abandoned | Nationally famous resort town, from 1832-1918 | |
| Choctaw Corner | Clarke | Barren | Area now part of Thomasville | |||
| Chulafinnee Placers[3] | Cleburne | 1835 | 1840s | |||
| Claiborne[4][6] | Monroe | 1816 | 1870s | Abandoned | One of the largest settlements in early Alabama | |
| Clarkesville[7] | Clarkeville | Clarke | 1819 | 1860s | Barren | First county seat of Clarke County |
| Dumphries[3] | Washington | 1819 | 1839 | |||
| Erie[4][3] | Hale | 1819 | 1855 | Barren | Former 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 | Historic | Defensive fort on Mobile Bay. Now serves as a museum and tourist attraction on Dauphin Island. | |||
| Fort McClellan | Calhoun | 1912 | 1999 | Abandoned/historic | Former army base outside of Anniston | |
| Fort Morgan[3] | Baldwin | Defensive fort on Mobile Bay | ||||
| Gantts Quarry | Talladega | 1830 | 2000 | Abandoned | Former mining town | |
| Gold Log Mine[3] | Talladega | Former gold mining camp | ||||
| Houston[3] | Winston | Historic | Former county seat of Winston County | |||
| Kaulton | Tuscaloosa | 1912 | Barren | Former Kaul Lumber Company company town and mill site; now part of Tuscaloosa | ||
| Kowaliga | Benson, Kowaliga Industrial Community | Elmore, later Tallapoosa | c. 1890 | c. 1926 | Barren and submerged | Former 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 | 1834 | 1905 | At one time the largest town in Randolph County | ||
| Manasco[4] | Walker | |||||
| Massillon[3] | Dallas | |||||
| Minden | Calhoun | |||||
| Montezuma[3] | Covington Courthouse | Covington | Now a neighborhood of River Falls | First county seat of Covington County | ||
| Morgan Stream | ||||||
| Mountain Mills | Colbert | 1872 | 1893 | Barren | Former home of large cotton mill | |
| Nottingham[3] | Jones Camp Ground | Talladega | 1880s | 1895 | Steel town | |
| Odena[3] | Shirtee Plantation, Odena Plantation, Oden's Mill | Talladega | Barren | |||
| Old Ramer[4] | Montgomery | 1850 | 1895 | |||
| 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 | 1819 | 1870s | Submerged | Former Alabama River shipping port |
| Riverton[4][9][10] | Point Smith 1846-1851, Chickasaw 1851-1890, Riverton 1890-1930s | Colbert | 1846 | 1930s | Submerged | Former 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 | 1789 | Historic | First territorial capital of Alabama | ||
| Stanton[4] | Chilton | |||||
| Tooktocaugee | Calhoun | Barren | Former Creek Indian village | |||
| Turkey Town | Cherokee | 1770 | Barren | Former 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 | 1817 | 1879 | Barren/submerged | First county seat of Autauga County | |
| Bell Fontaine | Bell Fountain | Baldwin | ca. 1760 | 1880s | Abandoned/replaced | Former stagecoach stop and settlement |
References
[edit]- ^ Harris, W. Stuart (1977). Dead Towns of Alabama. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama Press. pp. 57–58. ISBN 0-8173-1125-4.
- ^ Harris, W. Stuart (1977). Dead Towns of Alabama. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama Press. p. 60. ISBN 0-8173-1125-4.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "Guide to the Ghost Towns of Alabama". Ghost Town USA. Gary B Speck Publications. December 28, 2008. Retrieved May 12, 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q "Ghost Towns of Alabama". Ghost Towns. ghosttowns.com. Retrieved May 11, 2009.
- ^ "Alabama Ghost-Town Project". Ghost Towns of Alabama. BamaRides.com. Archived from the original on March 10, 2011. Retrieved February 26, 2011.
- ^ Harris, W. Stuart (1977). Dead Towns of Alabama. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama Press. pp. 71–72. ISBN 0-8173-1125-4.
- ^ Harris, W. Stuart (1977). Dead Towns of Alabama. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama Press. pp. 72–73. ISBN 0-8173-1125-4.
- ^ Hedreen, Siri (April 28, 2021). "Timeline: The rise and fall of Benson". Alexander City Outlook (article and image carousel). Retrieved March 6, 2023.
- ^ Map of Northwest Alabama Area-alabama.hometownlocator.com/al/colbert/riverton.cfm
- ^ Ed Vengrouskie (1999). Colbert County Alabama History - History of the Northwest Corner of Alabama. www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/ alcolber/hist-nwal.htm