Burnt Corn, Alabama

Infobox Settlement |official_name = Burnt Corn, Alabama
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pushpin_label_position =left
pushpin_map_caption =Location within the state of Alabama
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|map_caption = Location in Monroe County and the state of Alabama
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_type1 = State
subdivision_type2 = Counties
subdivision_name = United States
subdivision_name1 = Alabama
subdivision_name2 = Monroe
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timezone = CST
utc_offset = -6
latd = 31
latm = 33
lats = 13
latNS = N
longd = 87
longm = 09
longs = 37
longEW = W
postal_code_type = ZIP code
postal_code = 36401
area_code = 251
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Burnt Corn (or Burnt Corn Spring) is a small unincorporated community in Monroe County, Alabama, at a historic crossroads near the source of Burnt Corn Creek and the intersection of two trading paths.

The town and the creek may have been named for an incident in which travelers found a parched mound of corn beside the spring. In 1798 the area was included in the Mississippi Territory but was controlled by the Creek Nation. Between 1805 and 1811 the area became a stop on the Federal Road through the Creek Nation. Settlers in the area started farms worked by African American slaves.

The Battle of Burnt Corn, which began the Creek War in July 1813, did not occur at Burnt Corn, but at a ford of Burnt Corn Creek to the south, in present-day Escambia County, Alabama. When the Creek Nation was forced to cede land to the United States in 1815, Burnt Corn Spring was included in a convert|640|acre|km2|sing=on land grant to Jim Cornells, a Creek Indian who fought on the U.S. side in the war. [B.F. Riley, [http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/al/conecuh/history/other/gms24historyo.txt "History of Conecuh County"] (1881), ch. 8]

U.S. postal service to Burnt Corn began in 1817, when the village also became part of the Alabama Territory. The post office was closed in 1997 and the 36431 ZIP code retired. Burnt Corn is now served by the Evergreen post office in ZIP 36401.

A school, the "Students' Retreat," was organized in 1820, followed by a Baptist church in 1821.

Burnt Corn was considered a thriving community in the early twentieth century, but it never became an incorporated town. The present-day community is centered on a combined post office and general store.

References

External links

* [http://www.burntcorn.com/ Burnt Corn, Alabama, unofficial site]
* [http://www.auburn.edu/~willik5/burntcorn.html A Visit to Burnt Corn by Ed Williams]
* [http://www.trackingyourroots.com/data/bethanychurch.htm Tracking Your Roots: Bethany Church Minutes, Burnt Corn, Alabama]