July 8th Wandering

My original plan for today's wanderings involved an outdoor stop, which I figured would take a few hours and then to head to Selma for a couple of museums.  However, due to getting a late start, today's wanderings involved only the first stop, which was Old Cahawba.

Today, my friend Thera joined me for this wandering.  We headed to Orrville, Alabama to the Old Cahawba Archeological Park.  Now, up until a year or so ago, I did not even know about Old Cahawba. Perhaps, somewhere back in school I learned about it in Alabama History, but if I did, I don't remember.  I learned about it when my friend Kendra Sutton talked about it while introducing a song she had written. This sparked my interest and I began researching it and put it on my list of places to go.

In 1819, Cahawba was Alabama's first State Capital. It is now a ghost town. Apparently this town was built upon the remains of another ghost town, which was a 16th century Indian Village.  Now, the capital was moved in 1826, but Cahawba remained the county seat became a wealth river town.  The history of the ghost town is very interesting. It's the remnants of a town that had been dependent on cotton and slavery.  A town that had been used to imprison Union Soldiers during the Civil War. After the war it became a refuge for emancipated slaves. However, over time, this town was abandoned.

Another interesting thing about this town is the fact that this is where the Cahaba River and Alabama River merge.In the picture below the water to the left of the piece of land is the Cahaba River and it is flowing into the Alabama River.  The sign you see simply says Cahaba River.

 This picture shows a sign that shows a map of the town.

Thera and went into the visitors center, picked up a couple brochures, a map of the town and a map of the cemeteries.  We then walked over to the church, which was St. Luke's Episcopal Church. This church was built in 1854 in another spot in the town. It was actually dismantled and moved in 1887, but was returned to Cahawba in 2006, but placed in a different location in order to put it on higher ground and avoid flooding issues.

 

side view of the church

Near the church there is a paved 1/2 mile nature trail that takes you down to the banks of Clear Creek, which runs into the Cahaba River.  There is also a trail that takes you to a canoe launch on the Cahaba.  We only went to the deck built that overlooks Clear Creek.

the paved nature trail

a sign telling about the birds you may see.

Clear Creek

 We loved the Spanish Moss in the trees.

Clear Creek

Clear Creek

After doing this, we just got in the car and drove the streets, stopping to see the various ruins.There is a lot of history in this ghost town.  I am attaching some pictures I took while we explored.

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Crocheron Columns

The Slave Quarters of the Kirkpatrick Farm.

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Cahawba's "Negro Burial Ground" was an interesting walk through the woods.  The graves were more or less scattered throughout the woods.  However, although thee are only a few headstones, it is believed that there are probably 100's of bodies buried in these woods.  The cemetery is believed to have been created around 1819 as a slave cemetery. However, it was used after emanicipation, with the last known burial being in 1957.  Most of the graves are of people who were born into slavery.  There are shallow rectangular depressions throughout the woods which are said to be unmarked graves.

the gate on this says "Mealy Starke: The tombstone says Amelia Starke.