List of ghost towns in Alabama

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

Classification

Barren site

  • 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

  • Only rubble left
  • All buildings uninhabited
  • Roofless building ruins
  • Some buildings or houses still standing, but majority are roofless

Abandoned site

  • 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

  • Building or houses still standing
  • Buildings and houses largely abandoned
  • Few residents
  • Many abandoned buildings
  • Small population

Historic community

  • 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

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

  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. ^ 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.
  4. ^ 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.
  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