RuralSWAlabama

Choctaw Corner Historical Marker near Bashi, AL

This historical marker is located west of Thomasville on County Road 48 near the Bashi community (GPS coordinates N31.970778,W87.830889).  It describes the location of the boundary that was between the Choctaw and Creek Indians in Clarke County and how …

Claiborne, Alabama (A Lost City in Southwest Alabama)

Today, Claiborne is a ghost town on a bluff above the Alabama River near Perdue Hill in Monroe County.  Situated near the Federal Road, Claiborne began during the Mississippi Territory period with a ferry that transported settlers across the Alabama Ri …

Clarke County Historical Museum at Grove Hill, AL

The Clarke County Historical Museum opened in 1986 as a project of the Clarke County Historical Society. It is located at downtown Grove Hill, AL in the Alston-Cobb House which was built in 1854. The museum contains a treasure of southwest Alabama hist …

Gravesite of Major Jeremiah Austill at Rockville, AL

Jeremiah Austill is known as the Paul Revere of Clarke County. As a teenager, he volunteered to make a dangerous night ride to Mt. Vernon following the Creek War attack on Ft. Sinquefield. He was also a hero of the famed Canoe Fight on the Alabama Rive …

Kimbell House at Jackson, AL (built ca. 1848)

This was the home of Isham Kimbell, the only family member to survive the Kimbell-James Massacre which occurred in Clarke County near Whatley, AL in 1813 during the Creek Indian War. Kimbell served as a sheriff of Clarke County and later Circuit Court …

Moundville Archaeological Park near Tuscaloosa, AL

Called “The Big Apple of the 14th Century” by National Geographic, Moundville Archaeological Park was once the site of a powerful prehistoric community that, at its peak, was America’s largest city north of Mexico.  Located on the Black Warrior River n …

Old St. Stephens Courthouse at St. Stephens, AL (completed 1854; recorded by HABS; listed on the NRHP & ARLH, now serves as a historical museum)

The “new” town of St. Stephens, approximately three miles south of the original St. Stephens town site, was selected in 1848 as the seat of government for Washington County. In 1853 the Alabama Legislature authorized construction of the St. Stephens Co …

Site of Fort Madison near Gainestown, AL (a stockade used during the Creek War 1813-1814)

Fort Madison was a wooden stockade fortification in the southern section of Clarke County in the vicinity of the present-day community of Gainestown, AL.  It was one of several forts built by early Clarke County pioneers for protection during the Creek …

Site of Fort Sinquefield & the Kimbell-James Massacre near Whatley, AL (Clarke County)

Fort Sinquefield was a wooden stockade fortification in Clarke County near the present-day community of Whatley, AL.  It was one of the many forts built by early Clarke County pioneers for protection during the Creek Indian War.  Fort Sinquefield was a …

The Alabama River Museum near Franklin, AL

The Alabama River Museum is part of the Monroe County Heritage Museums.  It is located on the east bank of the Alabama River at the Claiborne Lock and Dam in Monroe County (GPS coordinates N31.615500,W87.548306). The Alabama River Museum has a collecti …

THE CANOE FIGHT Historical Marker near Gainestown, AL

This historical marker is located beside Madison Road about three miles east of Gainestown in south Clarke County (GPS coordinates 31.445267, -87.644307). Following is the inscription on the marker: ———- The Canoe Fight On November 12, 1813, the Canoe …

Tommy Hart’s Indian Artifacts Museum at Carlton, AL

Tommy Hart lives in Carlton, AL which is located in the remote southern end of Clarke County near the forks of the Tombigbee and Alabama Rivers.  He is an amateur river archeologist that has spent years searching the banks of the Tombigbee River for In …