Prairie Bluff, Alabama

Prairie Bluff, Alabama
Prairie Bluff, taken from the Alabama River in 1894. Some buildings and the cotton slide were still present at this time.
Prairie Bluff, Alabama Location within the state of Alabama
Coordinates: 32°8′3.52″N 87°24′12.99″W / 32.1343111°N 87.4036083°W / 32.1343111; -87.4036083
Country	United States
State	Alabama
County	Wilcox
Elevation	141 ft (43 m)
Time zone	Central (CST) (UTC-6)
– Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP code
Area code(s)	334

Prairie Bluff, also known as Daletown and Prairie Blue, is a ghost town in Wilcox County, Alabama.^[1]

History

Prairie Bluff first appeared on maps in 1819, the same year that Alabama was admitted to the Union as a state. It was listed erroneously as Prairie Blue on Fielding Lucas' Geographic, statistical, and historical map of Alabama, printed in Philadelphia in 1822. However, another of Lucas' Alabama maps, also printed in 1822, lists it as Prairie Bluff. It is interchangeably listed as Dale, Daletown, or Prairie Bluff on subsequent maps from the 1830s until the mid-1850s, after which time Prairie Bluff is the only name used. It disappeared from maps altogether around 1900.^[2]

The town was located at the midpoint of an early road that connected Cahaba, the first state capital, and St. Stephens, the territorial capital. Situated atop a cliff overlooking the Alabama River, the town grew as river trade increased. A large cotton slide, used to move bales of cotton from the top of the cliff to paddle steamers on the river below, was located at the site. The steamboat Pittsburg sank near Prairie Bluff in May 1828, followed by the Jewess on October 28, 1841.^[2]

The town was at its height in 1861, but declined rapidly in importance with the introduction of new railroads following the American Civil War.^[2] Portions of the site were inundated by the William "Bill" Dannelly Reservoir with the construction of the nearby Millers Ferry Lock and Dam in 1963. The only physical feature that remains at the site today is the Prairie Bluff Cemetery, with marked graves dating from the 1830s to the 1860s.^[3]

Geography

The site of Prairie Bluff is located at 32°08′04″N 87°24′13″W / 32.1343111°N 87.4036071°W / 32.1343111; -87.4036071Coordinates: 32°08′04″N 87°24′13″W / 32.1343111°N 87.4036071°W / 32.1343111; -87.4036071, it has an elevation of 141 feet (43 m).^[1] The site is located on an exposed portion of the Prairie Bluff Chalk Formation, a geological formation that was named after the town.^[4]

See also

• Ghost town

References

1. ^ ^{a b} U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Prairie Bluff, Alabama
2. ^ ^{a b c} Harris, W. Stuart (1977). Dead towns of Alabama. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama Press. pp. 98–99. ISBN 0585265631. 
3. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Prairie Bluff Cemetery
4. ^ Ryder, Graham (1996). The Cretaceous-Tertiary Event and Other Catastrophes in Earth History. Boulder, Colorado: Geological Society of America. pp. 271–273. ISBN 0813723078. http://books.google.com/books?id=kAup0TOL09gC&pg=PA272&lpg=PA272&dq=%22Prairie+Bluff+Chalk%22&source=web&ots=218ZqhNs8Y&sig=ykLGIM7sSIJ4EA7fOb4wWt3l9W4&hl=en&ei=gBaTSctqnoO3B8qQwc0L&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result#PPA273,M1.