River Birds of the Black Belt

The red-shouldered hawk, belted kingfisher and great blue heron 

are a few of the river birds that you might see in the

 Alabama Black Belt. This informative sign is located 

on an overlook at the end of Clear Creek Nature Trail in the

 Old Cahawba Archaeological Park.

 The paved trail is wheelchair accessible.

Linking to Signs, Signs

The One-Room Schoolhouse

The one-room schoolhouse at Old Cahawba still stands.

Used until the 1950s, it was one of less than 100 segregated

 African-American schools in Alabama. The school is located near

 the ruins of the Methodist-Episcopal Church that burned in 1954.

Linking to Our World Tuesday and Tuesday's Treasures

Partly Cloudy at St. Luke's

The side windows at St. Luke's Episcopal Church reflect the partly cloudy skies

 from a couple of weeks  ago. Trees were still bare, but they are beginning

 to bud. St. Luke's Church is located at Old Cahawba Archaeological Park 

near Selma. It was built in Cahawba in 1854,

 moved in 1887 and returned in 2006. 

Linking to Skywatch Friday

The Hole That was Once a Row

We are back at Old Cahawba Archaeological Park at the site of the town's

 first "row" built in 1822. A row was a predecessor to the shopping center,

 and the big hole behind the sign was once the basement of a building

 that housed eight stores and offices. 

Built by the Crocheron brothers, merchants from Staten Island, N.Y.,

 the row was similar to those in New York City. But before the brothers

 built this "mall," they built Alabama's first statehouse in the center of town.

 This building later became known as "the Old Brick Store."

 Store owners from Cahawba purchased their merchandise from New York

 and traveled to market via the Alabama River to Mobile,

 then by steamship to Cuba and north to New York. 

The Crocheron Columns (all that is left of the brothers' house)

 can be seen in the background along with a more modern river house. 

Linking to Signs, Signs

An Alabama Natural Wonder

Here is where the Cahaba flows into the Alabama River, ending its long journey

 from near Springville, winding its way into environmental science

 as an Alabama Natural Wonder.

The free-flowing waterway is considered the most biologically diverse

 in America and is home to 125 species of fish and rare plants

 such as the Cahaba lily.

The two rivers' banks once supported a Mississippian Indian village

 followed later by Alabama's first state capital. Today, it's a ghost town

 known as the Old Cahawba Archaeological Park. 

Linking to Signs, Signs   

The Straight and Narrow

Much of the paved Clear Creek Nature Trail at Old Cahawba Archaeological Park is straight and narrow, allowing hikers, people in wheelchairs and pets an easy option for viewing the diverse plant life. However, don't count on the creek being clear! But you might see turtles and alligators sunning on its surface.

Thanks to guest photographer Christine Weerts.

St. Luke's Exterior

Yesterday, I showed you the interior of St. Luke's Episcopal Church. Now, here's the exterior.

Almost complete, the church is under reconstruction at Cahawba Archaeological Park near Selma. The 156-year-old structure was moved from the town of Cahaba in 1880 and was returned piece by piece a few years ago. Soon, park visitors will be able to tour this architectural masterpiece.

Thanks to guest photographer Christine Weerts.

Up the Haunted Staircase

A haunting we will go!

Here is the staircase at Sturdivant Hall where the ghost of Selma bankerJohn Parkman has briefly been seen and felt. (Okay, I know it's blurry, but I "softened" the photo to give it a ghostly appeal.)
Sturdivant is among the sites that guests will visit this weekend on Selma's Haunted History Tours. They will hear stories of its resident ghosts, view other haunted houses and meet a few of the spirits at Old Live Oak Cemetery. More ghost tours are scheduled at Old Cahawba Archaeological Park.

BEWARE!

A Prison Chimney?

There aren't many structures left in the ghost town of Cahawba, but this old chimney is among them. The marker shows an engraving of the former Cahaba Federal Prison, which shows a chimney. Since the prison was located here, experts have wondered if the chimney was part of it. However, some believe it was built at a much later date.

The prison was an unfinished warehouse intended for cotton and housed hundreds of Union prisoners during the War Between the States. Among vermin and other unpleasantries, they also endured a flood.

Finally, in March 1865, many were freed through a prisoner exchange, and they boarded steamboats headed north toward home. But on April 27, almost 700 of these former prisoners perished in the Mississippi River near Memphis when a boiler exploded on the steamship Sultana. That explosion remains the worst domestic maritime disaster in U.S. history.