Stapleton, Alabama

Stapleton is a small unincorporated community in northern Baldwin County, Alabama, United States, with a population of 519. [http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/SAFFFacts?_event=ChangeGeoContext&geo_id=86000US36578&_geoContext=01000US%7C04000US01%7C16000US0104660&_street=&_county=&_cityTown=&_state=04000US01&_zip=36578&_lang=en&_sse=on&ActiveGeoDiv=geoSelect&_useEV=&pctxt=fph&pgsl=010&_submenuId=factsheet_1&ds_name=DEC_2000_SAFF&_ci_nbr=null&qr_name=null&reg=null%3Anull&_keyword=&_industry=] . Stapleton lies along U.S. Route 31 and State Route 59 and has been considered for incorporation within the cities of Loxley and Bay Minette. There is a bluegrass music festival held at Stapleton Elementary School every fall.

History

In 1905 a new Louisville and Nashville Railroad (L&N) subsidiary called the Bay Minette & Fort Morgan Railroad penetrated the thirty-seven miles of dense Baldwin County pine forests between Bay Minette and Foley. [cite book | title = Alabama Railroads | author = Wayne Cline | publisher = The University of Alabama Press | pages = 234 | isbn = 0-8173-0812-1] The town of Camby lay in the path of this track and shortly afterwards the town's name was changed to Stapleton to honor the man who was instrumental in getting a railroad depot there. The railroad was important to the local economy and early on the trains passed through Stapleton several times a day as they made their way to the southern end of the county and back. Highway traffic also picked up as of 1936 when the only paved road in Baldwin County, other than a small strip in Bay Minette going from the courthouse to the railroad, was the stretch of US 31 coming in from Atmore and ending at Stapleton [cite book | title = Faith and Works | author = Elvin Stanton | publisher = New South Books, Montgomery | pages = 195 | isbn = 1-58838-092-0] . By the 1970's the train traffic had slowed down to at most one train making the down and back trip each day and now the train tracks are completely gone.

Education

Stapleton is zoned to schools in the Baldwin County Public Schools.

Stapleton Elementary School serves grades Kindergarten through 6. Grades 7 through 8 go to Bay Minette Middle School. Grades 9 through 12 are zoned to Baldwin County High School.

References