Folklore, Baldwin County.
Folder contains 16 pages of Alabama folklore compiled for the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in the late 1930s.o. 'Ct4. 19 • IlYO {Co 1104 b7 '1' T'-'to n LI , oro -1- C'0, 0 , at, 1 8 , I'm a 1'101 \ 11 till. ana I' OW!'ll otto, '.In \1. l...
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WPA Alabama Writers' Project Collection |
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Alabama Department of Archives and History |
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WPA Alabama Writers' Project Folklore, Baldwin County. |
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WPA Alabama Writers' Project Folklore--Alabama; Alabama Writers' Project; Baldwin County (Ala.); United States. Works Progress Administration |
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Folder contains 16 pages of Alabama folklore compiled for the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in the late 1930s.o. 'Ct4. 19 •
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_ t March
.eek endiDFI2~th,1939
YOUR V C I N m ",L.Ul.
CU<.o
;l, 't1: '16-l.Lt......... X:.... .t J'.s... ), •
•
-1Fran,
cois Lude~re Diard,
I~entification No. 0149-5252,
Federal Writers' Project,Dis.2,
WPA Project o. 445~,Mobil~,-le
~ V C TION VISIT TO THE Tl 0 PRINCIPAL
GHOST TO,INS IN B~LD IN COUNTY,ALA.
Compiled by Franyois Ludssre Digrd.
I.--BLAKEIEY TO SITE.
The person on his vecation to points of interest in South ~,abama,
and .:hose car has a trailer outfitted for '1 stay, should not fail to visit
the ghost towns of Ba1dwin County. uch interesting history is to be found
connected wit~ these places. Shifting pOPUlation trends and abandoned 1ndustries
leave behind them ghost to\VDS,SOme forgotten in time as evidence
of a once glorious past.
The first of the two principal ghost towns in Baldwin County is
•
Blakeley with its once 8,000 population,which oan be said to be the most
lloportant in "'labe",s history. .
he vaoationist coming to South "'I bems by motor,ths site of the
old town of Blakeley can be reached best by way of BrornleY,which is now
itself almost s ghost town. he road to Bromley turns left(S.lfrom U.S.
Highvray 31,10 m east of Bridgehead and t m wesb of the intersection of
•
Stete Highway No. 3;thence 5 m to Bromley over a fairly good road,then
3 m straight ahead to BlakeleY,whera avanues of beautiful oaks,a few old
excavatiohs,then the graveYard with its fine tombstones and markers,the
latter placed there by the Baldwin Bounty Historical SocietY,show the
place that was once obile's rival for commercial importance in the early
d'lYs of the last previous century•
••hen the vacationist reaches Blakeley site and ga~es all around,
and if he has read or been told anythin~ at all of its past historY,his
•
• •
,
eek ending arch 24th,1939· •
YOUR VACATION IN ~
-2-
Fran90is LUdg~re Diard,
Identification o. 0149-5252,
Federal Iriters' Project,Dis.2,
.~ Project No.4454, obile, lao
A V CATI ~ VISIT T THE T., PRINCIPAL
Oli ST 0 ,,1'l.::. n
Compiled by Franc, ois
IN C UNTY ,ALA.
Iudg~re Diard.
imagination will wander back to when Josiah Blakeley, 1ho was born in Connecticut,
arrived in bile in 1806,following e·previous six years in Santiago,
Cuba. This ew E lender h~d dreams that he hoped to come to pass;
for "he stood on the bluff at the foot of Dauphin Street near oyal Street
in obile town in the autumn of 1807,and gazed across the delta lend between
him and the distant shores of Baldwin County,his interprisinB Connecticut
mind saw in the prospect an opening for his unemployed talents."
The land was rich,a great expanse of unoccupied and unutilized
real estate,needing only intelligent industry to draw from it. reward beyond
the dreams of avarice. '1:his expanse of land would be a great place
for raising cattle and hogs,thought Blakeley,as well as rice,sweet potatoes,
cabbage and all variety of fruit and possibly whest. He hastened to
invest in this delta lend,which formed three msin islands lying between
'obile and the eastern shore in Baldwin County. These ialands he purhased,
7,OOO acres in all,and on a hlmmock overlooking an interior lagoon
or bay he placed his home. rom this point he began the development of
what he called his Festino Plantation. He planted cotton,rice and Indian
corn;also as he informed his sister ~by back in 60nnecticut,in a letter
dated 1812,he stocked a part of his place with cattle. He had then about
thirty head of cattle and hundreds of hogs.the lstter SO wild that €uns
had to be used in hunting them. Of fruit trees he had set out Creole
orange,fig,quince and peach.
One does not knoW,except in a general way,what was the result
leek ending arch
YOUR V~C TI IN
-3Fran90is
LUdg~re Diard,
Identification o. 0149-5252,
Federal riters' Project,Dis.2,
Project No.4454, o~ile,ala.
v C IO - VISIT TO THE TO 0 PRINCIPAL GHOST O;/NS
IN BAlD lIN COUNTY, u:
Compiled by Franc, ois I.udg~re Diard.
of Josiah Blakeley's agricultural effort. The marsh land is practically
as Blakeley viewed it more than a hundred and thirty years ago and as invi
ing as it was then,there being ~dly any question that it could be develo
ed jbut the operation would take far more money then Blakeley had to put it
through•• mark on the map shOWS where Blakeley's home stood,some three
,nles 1istant from "",bile.
Over the expanse of marshy islands,the largest,which bears the name
of Blakeley,is traversed by a fine roadway le~ding to and from Mobile BaY
Bridge,and along its western shore along obile River are meny modern in-dustrial
plants.
he fame of Jasiah Blakeley survived the obscurity that veils his
ferm from furDher view. he took the Spanish oath of allegiance July 10,
1810,and soon he was a man of hi~h importance in the little communitY,holding
the office of the justice of the ~uorum of ~bile County,and serving
as a chairmen in the organizing of bile as a town. He associated himself
with a number of enterprising ~mmigrante from ew England States,and with
some of his new made friends in obile,Blekeley purchased,in 1813,e large
tract of land on APalechee River,where that river separates from the
is tract of land had been the seat of the Apalaehees,but at the
time of the purchase was owned by Doctor·Joseph Chasten; and was known as
the Ihite Houee plantation,Mhich ehows some of the land of old Blakeley
site was under cultivation. he purchaeers caused the tract to be laid
off into city lots by James cGoffin,with straight streets,the main street
bearing the neme of ,Iashingtonjothers being Orleans,Frsnkl1n,Greene,Bc.IdWin,~
lount,ect.,whilethe cross-streets tare ~iven the nemes of trees,
•
•
•
• ••eek ending rch 24th, 1939 •
YOUR V C. TION IN AJ"....,•
•
-4-
Fr'Ulrois ludgbre Diard,
Identification No. 0149-5252,
Federal riters' Project,Dis.2,
.WA Project No.4454, 0 ile,A1a.
•
V C I N VISIT 'r TiTh l'lO i INCIP L G OST TO i1\S
IN B,J.,D.;IN COUNTY,ALA.
Compiled by Fran90is Ludg re Diard.
shrubs and flowers. The two pUblic squares were providsd,one for the pUblic
buildings and ths other for ths market. The lots of the new to,~ wsrs
at lsast 429 in number, that bsing the highest number listed in the sale
record. The town was open to investors in uly,and ths first sale was made
to , arren Ross Dodge. The s~e year • Dodge purchased the cVoy ill
site on inette Bay and a woodland tract of 480 acres.
Mobilians attended the sale io considerable number,with the idea
th'lt if the nsw town of Blakeley had any e.dvantages over llobile, they would
not be left with the bag to hold.
he. town was incorporated·January 6,1814,under the name of ~lake-leY,
and map describing it wes posted in the ~obile deed book A,where it
remained until l822,vhen it was re~oved and placed in the records of Baldwin
County. Sometime loiter it disaPpeared.
bile in 1814 wes yet a small plece of several hundred inhabitants,
the ~erican government having taken possession only the year before,
and although it increased raPidly,its census taken in lR22 sho,-ed
io&
but 1,;>00 Sllnnner population---enlarged in winter to 2,700 by persons tak-/
part in business which at its best during the cooler season of the year.
There were 110 stores and warehouses,40 dwsllings,two newspapers,three
hotels,a custom house,a post office,a bank end several churches.
though Josiah Blakeley died in l8l5,and like his greater fellow
founder,Bienville,who "lies buried somewhere in ontmartre," it is not
known where he is buried. It may be in the very little cemetery of the or Mobile
town he founded,or it may be in the Spanish GraveyarCVnow occupied by
the Cathedral site end the entire block east of this grand edifice. dow-
eek endins kerch 24,1939.
YOUR V...C I
-5Franrois
Ludgere Diard,
Identitication No. 0149-5252,
Federal Writers' Project,Ds.2
WP Project 4454,Vobile, e.
Jl. V C TI N VISIT TO THE T (0 PRINCIP L G OS' TO,INS
IN BALD,IIN C lJNTY, •
Compiled by ran90is LUdgere Diard.
ever,he did not live to see his town make its rivalry fe t,tor Blake1.ey
was recognized as a port ot entrYjit built and owned steamboats that ~
plied the bay and rivers~~ssedcottontactors and warehouses,a courthouse,
a tavern and a newsPaPer. Eerrly records show that the new to,m was
making ott with the older bile's pro eritx,when a thing happened which
according to the story told in Strickland's ~bile City Directory ot 1855
ceused the younger city's do'mfall. 10 more along the banks of the 1ensaw
River teemed c~merci~l activitY,with toreign vessels going and coming,
the stagecoach that ran between Blakeley ~d :ontgomery and those that
ran to ensacola and ~orgia were no morejand the steamer Emmeline d
other treight and terry bOats that plied daily between obile and Blakeley
between 1822 and 1830,with their landing place at the toot ot Daup in
street,soon dropped out ot the commerci 1 l~elight ot obile iver and
BaY,and Blakeley follo fing 1830 waned,becoming only e to of ~emory,
heginnill@ Qt the
where early records show narties excursioned there tollowing the/l~40's
and 0 up throu~h the 1050's.
he vsc~tionist visitins the old site ot Blakeley to realize the
tull ch~ of thds ghost town must linger there for a short ~tay,for es
the ye~s have passed the pine forest has been ravaged by the hurricanes
out of the Gulf as well as devastated by tirejbut the graveYard remeins,
however,it also has suttered many changes since the first Blakeleyans
passed to their rewards, and only eleven markers are found there to-day,
dated in the first halt of the 19th 6entury. The Baldwin Historical Society
has been caring for the cemetery since 1923,restored all the ~ro~en
t~bstones,and in 1928 again this society cle red the place,fenced
same,end appronriately marked the entrance.
•
• eek ending arch 24,1939·
YOUR V C I N IN.ll.AB •
-6-
Franyois Ludgbre Diard,
Identitication No. 0149-5252,
Federal .riters' Project,Dis.2,
.~ Project N0.4454, 0 ile,Ala•
.... VAC TION VISIT TO THE Tl10 PRINCIPAL GHOST TO. S
IN BALD. IN COUNTY,.....rA,
Compiled by Franyois Ludgbre Diard.
Most ot the graves are marked with upright stones,such as are
tound in every cemeterYibut in tew instances the graves are bricked up
and the stones marking them are tlat. One monument more pretentious than
the others,is a square pedestal surmounted by a simple shatt,all ot
marble.
Blakeley was the scene ot the last battle ot the (ar between the
States. old ritle canon can be seen,which was doubtless intended tor
use against the tortitications surrounding the site was tound mounted on
a l)arge near the battle tield and there remained tor many years until a
storm washed it ashore near the mouth ot one ot the numerous delta creekf
or bayous,where it can be seen to-day sunk in the mud and overgrown with
march canes.
The once thriving city and seaPort ot Blakeley is probably the
deadest "Dead Town" in Alabama,but the vacationist wi~l be interested
in visiting the site,where he can see trom its history it was once a
charm city ot the Deep South,e~d he can see the site ot the Confederate
tort near the palachee iver,or stand on its once tamous lashington
Avenue,where the business center ot the city was located,or read the
more interesting inscriptions on the tombs in its cemetery.
Bibliography: Personal visits to old Blakeley town site.
Hamilton's Colonial obile.
eingeard Family history.
Doctor rwin Craighead's obile:Fact and Tradition.
Personal visits and observations.
Some notes trom The Baldwin Times, 'ebruary 2,1939·
• •
eek ending Maroh 24,1939.
YOUR V CATION IN .u..ul
, -7-
Fran90is Ludgere Diard,
Identifioation No. 0149-5252,
Federal riters' Projeot,Ds.2,
~ Projeot 0.4454,Mobile, a
•
VACATION VISIT TO ThE TWO l'RINCIPilL GH ST TO;iNS
IN BALD· lIN COUNTY, •
•
Compiled by Fran90is Ludgere Diard.
•
II.--~JACKSON'S OAK"AND "THE VILLAGE."
The veoationist oan have a pleassnt stay by parking his oar and
trailer near the noted" eokson's Oak? ...~It has a limb spread
of 125 feet and stands at the avenue of anoient oaks two miles north of
Daphne. It was here as tradition has it that.General Andrew Jaokson had
his oamping ground in his msroh to Pensaoola in the War of 1812,and is
oalled by the natives "Jaokson's Oak." It is really a wonderful tree to
see,as well as those of lesser size standing there also. The story that
General Jaokson olimbed the tree and addressed his troops from one
large limbs hae been told in detail for an hundred years,and portions of
the speeoh are sometimes quoted,but Colonel Landers of the Army College,
visiting the soene with many military reoords to baok him up.expressed
doubt if the thing ever happened. The Mobile Advertiser ,however ,of Tues-
•
day,~ril 22.1856.gives a strong referenoe to this historioal happening.
Standing on the site of an obliverated bayshore town termed~he
Village,"these stately oaks have seen history in the making. Indians,
Frenoh,Confederate and Union foroes,as well as looal militie,have all
held oounoils,sought enemies or oamped beneath their spreading limbs.
"The Village," whioh is three miles south from the Bridgehead,is termed
like Blakeley one of the deadest of all dead towns in abame. Historian
Hamilton writing of. "The Village. "says: any people had summer residents
aoross the bay at the plaoe oalled the 'Village,and lower at Howard's,
at Montrose.where British troops were onoe enoamped,and at Point
Clear,jutting into the baY,was built a hotel whioh beoame a favorite resort
of Mobile during the sImmer. These Plaoe~ were reaohed by steam-
, eek ending ~oh 24,1939.
YOUR V CATION IN •
-8-
Fran90is LUdgere Diard,
Identirioation No.0149-5252,
Federal Writers' Projeot,Ds2
WP Projeot 4454,Kobile, a.
•
VACATION VISIT TO THE TWO PRINCIPAL GHOST TO 'INS
IN BALD'. IN COUNTY,ALA.
Compiled by Fran90is Ludg&re Diard.
boats rrom town.
"The Village" waned in popularity berore the Civil War Slld beoame
a resort or some wild people who were law unto themselves. It has 100£
been a deeerted village, though oooupying a beautirul site overlooking the
the bay and having a rine beaoh or olear sand at its rront. But the glory
or "~he Village" ,:old as it's osk , some or whioh are 200 years old and
over,has oome down to us as part or the history or South .Alabsma.
III. -~OTHER G OST TO.INS OF B..uD\lIN COUNTY.
Old .uabama City,whioh perpetuates ss the present town or Fairhope,
the only single taxed town in the world,was long a ghost oity prior
to 1894. group or students or the Henry George philosophy rounded Fairhope
that year. The dirrerenoe between Blakeley and Alabema City oan be
said to be this: "Alabama City was born again and in its reinoarnation be~
oame Fairhope,a resort and trading point with a future greater than the
builders or abeme City ever dreamed or." There was Tensas Blurt onoe
Stookton;Montgomery Hill and Pieroe's Landing,on the site or the present
Tensaw,Swirt's Landing,or Sibley's ill or D'Olive,predeoessors or Bay
Minette,where are these? lso where are the outlying villages or Claire
and Byron, around Perdido ,onoe inhabited but now unheard or? What is known
or the industry or Rosooe,west or Orange Beaoh;or Gasque,between Bon Seoour
and Fort Morgan;Styx on Styx River;River Park below Marlow; Sumatra ,
between Robertsdale and Seminole,or Elkhart,below Stapleton?
Bromley is almost a ghost town,now that its postorrioe has been
disoontinued and transrerred to the village or Hurrioane. Park City was
onoe on the site or the present Bridgehead. endro,above Loxley,hes
•
,
••
leek endill8 arch 24-,1939 •
I N IN • Fran,cois :w.dg6re Diard,
Identification No. 014-9-5252,
Federal Writers' Project,Dist.2,
"fPA Project No.4-4-54-,Moblle"da.
prll 22
a V CATION VISIT TO HE '1 0 PRIl'lCIPAL GHOST TO',mS
IN BALDI/IN COUNTY, AL:A..
Compiled by Franyois :w.dg~re Diard.
vanished into the past and Cavanac,the predecessor of Barnwell,is rem~
bered only by the old timers livill8 to-day. Van Kirk,a small settlement
~low osinton is just a memorY,as are probably other villages in the
county of which history has no record. There are the msny once flonrish1118
resort towns along the shoreline of Baldwin are just R memory to-day,
such as Hollywood just north of Uontrose,which once boasted several hundreds
of resorters both winter and summer,and where the Confederate soldiers
landed from obile on their way to points in Florida and Georgia.
There is Shell Banks and Palm Beach and avy Cove, the latter the ,early
home of the uarantine station and which was practically wiped o~t by
the hurricane of 1906,are seldom spoken of , as well as the early towns
along the bay in rench,British and Spanish colonial times.
Bibliography: Person visits to "Jackson's Oak and "The Village"
in Baldwin County.
otes from The Mobile Advertiser of Tuesday,
Conversations with older Baldwin Countians,with
ex-sleves of Baldwin Countiens,end with ammy Lucy Kimball,ex-slave.
Some notes from The Baldwin Times,Feb. 2,1939·
Personal visits and observations in the past
to the old ghost towns of Baldwin County;conversations with older Baldwin
Countians about the ghost towns and some of their inhabitants.
Alabama
TAX UTOPIA.
Pettersen Marzoni,
Editorial Department.
~L "'" ' ..J IJILl h",J..<. ;" tY'b,
Fairhope, Alabama. on the eastern shore of Mobile Bay, is the
only comcrunity in America where the refunding of taxes is a general
practice. There are no individual landowners, all of the property being
held by the Fairhope Single Tax Colony, which was established in January
1895 by a group of Des .oines. Iowa, residents. who decided to put the
theories of Henry George into practice.
Other original settlers with similar theories from Ohio, issouri,
Pennsylvania, and Pacific Coast States Joined the Iowa group and purchased
land on the high bluff overlooking the bay. The town of Fairhope
was incorporated and a form of single taxation developed. This has worked
well. Fairhope is a prosperous vacation center of winter homes for
out-of-state visitors and summer homes of Alabam-~itizens. Its population
was 1549 in the 1930 census. with an estimated population of 1800 in
1937.
There has been no deviation from the original theory of taxatio~
that a Just tax on the land should pay all expenses of government that
are now derived from so many other souroes of levy. A simple form of
taxation was set up within the oomplioated struoturs of State, oounty,
and municipal taxes. No land is sold by the Fairhope Single Tax Colony
but is leased for ninety-nine years at so muoh per year, whioh is oonsidered
a tax. The rate varies annually, dependent on eoonomio oonditions.
From this lend rental the Colony pays all State. oounty and oity taxes~k
-L. ~.L ><.
In turn the lease holder pays the usual State, county and city
taxes on all improvements. This payment is then deduoted from the rental
paid to the Colony. If the regular taxes equal or exceed the Colony
charge, the Colony charge is refunded. In the middle 1920's
•
s.veral leas.hold.rs
-2-
were paid diff.renc. between the ColOD¥
rental and taxes on improvements, wben the latter waa in exces•• Even
automobile taxes were included, but this practise has since been
abolished.
Fairhope is also the center of a success~ educational
experiment. The School of Organic Ii:d.cation there i.
one of tIM first institutions of progre.a1ve education established in
AlDerica. It was founded in 1907 by IIrs. Marietta Johnson, ODe of the
leaders in the new school of taaching, lecturer) am author of Xouth in the
"orld -of.M.n. The school has been visited by educational leaders of
Jlmerica and Europe and praised for its efficiency. The average enroblmt
is between lSO an(l 200, with a faculty of 35. Stud.nts are admittsd to
th. first grade am graduated with sufficient credits for college
entrance. Artcratt, handicraft; and outdoor classes are s tr•••••• No
.ffort is mad. to force education on the children who are allowed to
develop with a minim1ro of restriction. The majority of students COJD8
frOID without the State. In addition to the regular curriculum classes
are ccnducted for teachers.
The principaL aspect of Fairhope
political I "" '-" • ... ~ _ """ .
in/economy and education", a resort, with comfortabl
hotels and cottages and ample facilities for fishing and water sports.
It is eleven miles south of the junction of US 31 and US 90 at the
eastern end of Cochrane Bridge across Mobile ~. |
| title |
Folklore, Baldwin County. |
| titleStr |
Folklore, Baldwin County. |
| url |
http://cdm17217.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/wpa/id/890 |
| id |
ADAHwpa890 |
| thumbnail |
http://cdm17217.contentdm.oclc.org/utils/getthumbnail/collection/wpa/id/890 |
| _version_ |
1743797183911559168 |
| spelling |
GSU# SG022775_01078-01094SG022775_01078_01094Folklore, Baldwin County.Folder contains 16 pages of Alabama folklore compiled for the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in the late 1930s.1937-1938 circa1930-1939Folklore--Alabama; Alabama Writers' Project; Baldwin County (Ala.); United States. Works Progress AdministrationTextDocumentsAlabama. Dept. of Archives and HistoryWorks Progress Administration filesSG022775WPA Alabama Writers' Project, Folklore, Baldwin County, #6Alabama Dept. of Archives and History, 624 Washington Ave., Montgomery, AL 36130EnglishThis material may be protected under U. S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S. Code) which governs the making of photocopies or reproductions of copyrighted materials. You may use the digitized material for private study, scholarship, or research. Though ADAH has physical ownership of the material in its collections, in some cases we may not own the copyright to the material. It is the patron's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in our collections.96 dpi tiffo. 'Ct4. 19 •
IlYO
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oro
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C'0,
0 , at, 1 8 , I'm a 1'101 \ 11 till.
ana I' OW!'ll otto, '.In \1. lola••
1'lo1nl 7, flyO oal1'O ..10 to • B1re. a;,lor or lnott.,
••1'0 .till 00 loh
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•
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7
1 lOA Jl
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•
o
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•
• •
_ t March
.eek endiDFI2~th,1939
YOUR V C I N m ",L.Ul.
CU<.o
;l, 't1: '16-l.Lt......... X:.... .t J'.s... ), •
•
-1Fran,
cois Lude~re Diard,
I~entification No. 0149-5252,
Federal Writers' Project,Dis.2,
WPA Project o. 445~,Mobil~,-le
~ V C TION VISIT TO THE Tl 0 PRINCIPAL
GHOST TO,INS IN B~LD IN COUNTY,ALA.
Compiled by Franyois Ludssre Digrd.
I.--BLAKEIEY TO SITE.
The person on his vecation to points of interest in South ~,abama,
and .:hose car has a trailer outfitted for '1 stay, should not fail to visit
the ghost towns of Ba1dwin County. uch interesting history is to be found
connected wit~ these places. Shifting pOPUlation trends and abandoned 1ndustries
leave behind them ghost to\VDS,SOme forgotten in time as evidence
of a once glorious past.
The first of the two principal ghost towns in Baldwin County is
•
Blakeley with its once 8,000 population,which oan be said to be the most
lloportant in "'labe",s history. .
he vaoationist coming to South "'I bems by motor,ths site of the
old town of Blakeley can be reached best by way of BrornleY,which is now
itself almost s ghost town. he road to Bromley turns left(S.lfrom U.S.
Highvray 31,10 m east of Bridgehead and t m wesb of the intersection of
•
Stete Highway No. 3;thence 5 m to Bromley over a fairly good road,then
3 m straight ahead to BlakeleY,whera avanues of beautiful oaks,a few old
excavatiohs,then the graveYard with its fine tombstones and markers,the
latter placed there by the Baldwin Bounty Historical SocietY,show the
place that was once obile's rival for commercial importance in the early
d'lYs of the last previous century•
••hen the vacationist reaches Blakeley site and ga~es all around,
and if he has read or been told anythin~ at all of its past historY,his
•
• •
,
eek ending arch 24th,1939· •
YOUR VACATION IN ~
-2-
Fran90is LUdg~re Diard,
Identification o. 0149-5252,
Federal Iriters' Project,Dis.2,
.~ Project No.4454, obile, lao
A V CATI ~ VISIT T THE T., PRINCIPAL
Oli ST 0 ,,1'l.::. n
Compiled by Franc, ois
IN C UNTY ,ALA.
Iudg~re Diard.
imagination will wander back to when Josiah Blakeley, 1ho was born in Connecticut,
arrived in bile in 1806,following e·previous six years in Santiago,
Cuba. This ew E lender h~d dreams that he hoped to come to pass;
for "he stood on the bluff at the foot of Dauphin Street near oyal Street
in obile town in the autumn of 1807,and gazed across the delta lend between
him and the distant shores of Baldwin County,his interprisinB Connecticut
mind saw in the prospect an opening for his unemployed talents."
The land was rich,a great expanse of unoccupied and unutilized
real estate,needing only intelligent industry to draw from it. reward beyond
the dreams of avarice. '1:his expanse of land would be a great place
for raising cattle and hogs,thought Blakeley,as well as rice,sweet potatoes,
cabbage and all variety of fruit and possibly whest. He hastened to
invest in this delta lend,which formed three msin islands lying between
'obile and the eastern shore in Baldwin County. These ialands he purhased,
7,OOO acres in all,and on a hlmmock overlooking an interior lagoon
or bay he placed his home. rom this point he began the development of
what he called his Festino Plantation. He planted cotton,rice and Indian
corn;also as he informed his sister ~by back in 60nnecticut,in a letter
dated 1812,he stocked a part of his place with cattle. He had then about
thirty head of cattle and hundreds of hogs.the lstter SO wild that €uns
had to be used in hunting them. Of fruit trees he had set out Creole
orange,fig,quince and peach.
One does not knoW,except in a general way,what was the result
leek ending arch
YOUR V~C TI IN
-3Fran90is
LUdg~re Diard,
Identification o. 0149-5252,
Federal riters' Project,Dis.2,
Project No.4454, o~ile,ala.
v C IO - VISIT TO THE TO 0 PRINCIPAL GHOST O;/NS
IN BAlD lIN COUNTY, u:
Compiled by Franc, ois I.udg~re Diard.
of Josiah Blakeley's agricultural effort. The marsh land is practically
as Blakeley viewed it more than a hundred and thirty years ago and as invi
ing as it was then,there being ~dly any question that it could be develo
ed jbut the operation would take far more money then Blakeley had to put it
through•• mark on the map shOWS where Blakeley's home stood,some three
,nles 1istant from "",bile.
Over the expanse of marshy islands,the largest,which bears the name
of Blakeley,is traversed by a fine roadway le~ding to and from Mobile BaY
Bridge,and along its western shore along obile River are meny modern in-dustrial
plants.
he fame of Jasiah Blakeley survived the obscurity that veils his
ferm from furDher view. he took the Spanish oath of allegiance July 10,
1810,and soon he was a man of hi~h importance in the little communitY,holding
the office of the justice of the ~uorum of ~bile County,and serving
as a chairmen in the organizing of bile as a town. He associated himself
with a number of enterprising ~mmigrante from ew England States,and with
some of his new made friends in obile,Blekeley purchased,in 1813,e large
tract of land on APalechee River,where that river separates from the
is tract of land had been the seat of the Apalaehees,but at the
time of the purchase was owned by Doctor·Joseph Chasten; and was known as
the Ihite Houee plantation,Mhich ehows some of the land of old Blakeley
site was under cultivation. he purchaeers caused the tract to be laid
off into city lots by James cGoffin,with straight streets,the main street
bearing the neme of ,Iashingtonjothers being Orleans,Frsnkl1n,Greene,Bc.IdWin,~
lount,ect.,whilethe cross-streets tare ~iven the nemes of trees,
•
•
•
• ••eek ending rch 24th, 1939 •
YOUR V C. TION IN AJ"....,•
•
-4-
Fr'Ulrois ludgbre Diard,
Identification No. 0149-5252,
Federal riters' Project,Dis.2,
.WA Project No.4454, 0 ile,A1a.
•
V C I N VISIT 'r TiTh l'lO i INCIP L G OST TO i1\S
IN B,J.,D.;IN COUNTY,ALA.
Compiled by Fran90is Ludg re Diard.
shrubs and flowers. The two pUblic squares were providsd,one for the pUblic
buildings and ths other for ths market. The lots of the new to,~ wsrs
at lsast 429 in number, that bsing the highest number listed in the sale
record. The town was open to investors in uly,and ths first sale was made
to , arren Ross Dodge. The s~e year • Dodge purchased the cVoy ill
site on inette Bay and a woodland tract of 480 acres.
Mobilians attended the sale io considerable number,with the idea
th'lt if the nsw town of Blakeley had any e.dvantages over llobile, they would
not be left with the bag to hold.
he. town was incorporated·January 6,1814,under the name of ~lake-leY,
and map describing it wes posted in the ~obile deed book A,where it
remained until l822,vhen it was re~oved and placed in the records of Baldwin
County. Sometime loiter it disaPpeared.
bile in 1814 wes yet a small plece of several hundred inhabitants,
the ~erican government having taken possession only the year before,
and although it increased raPidly,its census taken in lR22 sho,-ed
io&
but 1,;>00 Sllnnner population---enlarged in winter to 2,700 by persons tak-/
part in business which at its best during the cooler season of the year.
There were 110 stores and warehouses,40 dwsllings,two newspapers,three
hotels,a custom house,a post office,a bank end several churches.
though Josiah Blakeley died in l8l5,and like his greater fellow
founder,Bienville,who "lies buried somewhere in ontmartre," it is not
known where he is buried. It may be in the very little cemetery of the or Mobile
town he founded,or it may be in the Spanish GraveyarCVnow occupied by
the Cathedral site end the entire block east of this grand edifice. dow-
eek endins kerch 24,1939.
YOUR V...C I
-5Franrois
Ludgere Diard,
Identitication No. 0149-5252,
Federal Writers' Project,Ds.2
WP Project 4454,Vobile, e.
Jl. V C TI N VISIT TO THE T (0 PRINCIP L G OS' TO,INS
IN BALD,IIN C lJNTY, •
Compiled by ran90is LUdgere Diard.
ever,he did not live to see his town make its rivalry fe t,tor Blake1.ey
was recognized as a port ot entrYjit built and owned steamboats that ~
plied the bay and rivers~~ssedcottontactors and warehouses,a courthouse,
a tavern and a newsPaPer. Eerrly records show that the new to,m was
making ott with the older bile's pro eritx,when a thing happened which
according to the story told in Strickland's ~bile City Directory ot 1855
ceused the younger city's do'mfall. 10 more along the banks of the 1ensaw
River teemed c~merci~l activitY,with toreign vessels going and coming,
the stagecoach that ran between Blakeley ~d :ontgomery and those that
ran to ensacola and ~orgia were no morejand the steamer Emmeline d
other treight and terry bOats that plied daily between obile and Blakeley
between 1822 and 1830,with their landing place at the toot ot Daup in
street,soon dropped out ot the commerci 1 l~elight ot obile iver and
BaY,and Blakeley follo fing 1830 waned,becoming only e to of ~emory,
heginnill@ Qt the
where early records show narties excursioned there tollowing the/l~40's
and 0 up throu~h the 1050's.
he vsc~tionist visitins the old site ot Blakeley to realize the
tull ch~ of thds ghost town must linger there for a short ~tay,for es
the ye~s have passed the pine forest has been ravaged by the hurricanes
out of the Gulf as well as devastated by tirejbut the graveYard remeins,
however,it also has suttered many changes since the first Blakeleyans
passed to their rewards, and only eleven markers are found there to-day,
dated in the first halt of the 19th 6entury. The Baldwin Historical Society
has been caring for the cemetery since 1923,restored all the ~ro~en
t~bstones,and in 1928 again this society cle red the place,fenced
same,end appronriately marked the entrance.
•
• eek ending arch 24,1939·
YOUR V C I N IN.ll.AB •
-6-
Franyois Ludgbre Diard,
Identitication No. 0149-5252,
Federal .riters' Project,Dis.2,
.~ Project N0.4454, 0 ile,Ala•
.... VAC TION VISIT TO THE Tl10 PRINCIPAL GHOST TO. S
IN BALD. IN COUNTY,.....rA,
Compiled by Franyois Ludgbre Diard.
Most ot the graves are marked with upright stones,such as are
tound in every cemeterYibut in tew instances the graves are bricked up
and the stones marking them are tlat. One monument more pretentious than
the others,is a square pedestal surmounted by a simple shatt,all ot
marble.
Blakeley was the scene ot the last battle ot the (ar between the
States. old ritle canon can be seen,which was doubtless intended tor
use against the tortitications surrounding the site was tound mounted on
a l)arge near the battle tield and there remained tor many years until a
storm washed it ashore near the mouth ot one ot the numerous delta creekf
or bayous,where it can be seen to-day sunk in the mud and overgrown with
march canes.
The once thriving city and seaPort ot Blakeley is probably the
deadest "Dead Town" in Alabama,but the vacationist wi~l be interested
in visiting the site,where he can see trom its history it was once a
charm city ot the Deep South,e~d he can see the site ot the Confederate
tort near the palachee iver,or stand on its once tamous lashington
Avenue,where the business center ot the city was located,or read the
more interesting inscriptions on the tombs in its cemetery.
Bibliography: Personal visits to old Blakeley town site.
Hamilton's Colonial obile.
eingeard Family history.
Doctor rwin Craighead's obile:Fact and Tradition.
Personal visits and observations.
Some notes trom The Baldwin Times, 'ebruary 2,1939·
• •
eek ending Maroh 24,1939.
YOUR V CATION IN .u..ul
, -7-
Fran90is Ludgere Diard,
Identifioation No. 0149-5252,
Federal riters' Projeot,Ds.2,
~ Projeot 0.4454,Mobile, a
•
VACATION VISIT TO ThE TWO l'RINCIPilL GH ST TO;iNS
IN BALD· lIN COUNTY, •
•
Compiled by Fran90is Ludgere Diard.
•
II.--~JACKSON'S OAK"AND "THE VILLAGE."
The veoationist oan have a pleassnt stay by parking his oar and
trailer near the noted" eokson's Oak? ...~It has a limb spread
of 125 feet and stands at the avenue of anoient oaks two miles north of
Daphne. It was here as tradition has it that.General Andrew Jaokson had
his oamping ground in his msroh to Pensaoola in the War of 1812,and is
oalled by the natives "Jaokson's Oak." It is really a wonderful tree to
see,as well as those of lesser size standing there also. The story that
General Jaokson olimbed the tree and addressed his troops from one
large limbs hae been told in detail for an hundred years,and portions of
the speeoh are sometimes quoted,but Colonel Landers of the Army College,
visiting the soene with many military reoords to baok him up.expressed
doubt if the thing ever happened. The Mobile Advertiser ,however ,of Tues-
•
day,~ril 22.1856.gives a strong referenoe to this historioal happening.
Standing on the site of an obliverated bayshore town termed~he
Village,"these stately oaks have seen history in the making. Indians,
Frenoh,Confederate and Union foroes,as well as looal militie,have all
held oounoils,sought enemies or oamped beneath their spreading limbs.
"The Village," whioh is three miles south from the Bridgehead,is termed
like Blakeley one of the deadest of all dead towns in abame. Historian
Hamilton writing of. "The Village. "says: any people had summer residents
aoross the bay at the plaoe oalled the 'Village,and lower at Howard's,
at Montrose.where British troops were onoe enoamped,and at Point
Clear,jutting into the baY,was built a hotel whioh beoame a favorite resort
of Mobile during the sImmer. These Plaoe~ were reaohed by steam-
, eek ending ~oh 24,1939.
YOUR V CATION IN •
-8-
Fran90is LUdgere Diard,
Identirioation No.0149-5252,
Federal Writers' Projeot,Ds2
WP Projeot 4454,Kobile, a.
•
VACATION VISIT TO THE TWO PRINCIPAL GHOST TO 'INS
IN BALD'. IN COUNTY,ALA.
Compiled by Fran90is Ludg&re Diard.
boats rrom town.
"The Village" waned in popularity berore the Civil War Slld beoame
a resort or some wild people who were law unto themselves. It has 100£
been a deeerted village, though oooupying a beautirul site overlooking the
the bay and having a rine beaoh or olear sand at its rront. But the glory
or "~he Village" ,:old as it's osk , some or whioh are 200 years old and
over,has oome down to us as part or the history or South .Alabsma.
III. -~OTHER G OST TO.INS OF B..uD\lIN COUNTY.
Old .uabama City,whioh perpetuates ss the present town or Fairhope,
the only single taxed town in the world,was long a ghost oity prior
to 1894. group or students or the Henry George philosophy rounded Fairhope
that year. The dirrerenoe between Blakeley and Alabema City oan be
said to be this: "Alabama City was born again and in its reinoarnation be~
oame Fairhope,a resort and trading point with a future greater than the
builders or abeme City ever dreamed or." There was Tensas Blurt onoe
Stookton;Montgomery Hill and Pieroe's Landing,on the site or the present
Tensaw,Swirt's Landing,or Sibley's ill or D'Olive,predeoessors or Bay
Minette,where are these? lso where are the outlying villages or Claire
and Byron, around Perdido ,onoe inhabited but now unheard or? What is known
or the industry or Rosooe,west or Orange Beaoh;or Gasque,between Bon Seoour
and Fort Morgan;Styx on Styx River;River Park below Marlow; Sumatra ,
between Robertsdale and Seminole,or Elkhart,below Stapleton?
Bromley is almost a ghost town,now that its postorrioe has been
disoontinued and transrerred to the village or Hurrioane. Park City was
onoe on the site or the present Bridgehead. endro,above Loxley,hes
•
,
••
leek endill8 arch 24-,1939 •
I N IN • Fran,cois :w.dg6re Diard,
Identification No. 014-9-5252,
Federal Writers' Project,Dist.2,
"fPA Project No.4-4-54-,Moblle"da.
prll 22
a V CATION VISIT TO HE '1 0 PRIl'lCIPAL GHOST TO',mS
IN BALDI/IN COUNTY, AL:A..
Compiled by Franyois :w.dg~re Diard.
vanished into the past and Cavanac,the predecessor of Barnwell,is rem~
bered only by the old timers livill8 to-day. Van Kirk,a small settlement
~low osinton is just a memorY,as are probably other villages in the
county of which history has no record. There are the msny once flonrish1118
resort towns along the shoreline of Baldwin are just R memory to-day,
such as Hollywood just north of Uontrose,which once boasted several hundreds
of resorters both winter and summer,and where the Confederate soldiers
landed from obile on their way to points in Florida and Georgia.
There is Shell Banks and Palm Beach and avy Cove, the latter the ,early
home of the uarantine station and which was practically wiped o~t by
the hurricane of 1906,are seldom spoken of , as well as the early towns
along the bay in rench,British and Spanish colonial times.
Bibliography: Person visits to "Jackson's Oak and "The Village"
in Baldwin County.
otes from The Mobile Advertiser of Tuesday,
Conversations with older Baldwin Countians,with
ex-sleves of Baldwin Countiens,end with ammy Lucy Kimball,ex-slave.
Some notes from The Baldwin Times,Feb. 2,1939·
Personal visits and observations in the past
to the old ghost towns of Baldwin County;conversations with older Baldwin
Countians about the ghost towns and some of their inhabitants.
Alabama
TAX UTOPIA.
Pettersen Marzoni,
Editorial Department.
~L "'" ' ..J IJILl h",J..<. ;" tY'b,
Fairhope, Alabama. on the eastern shore of Mobile Bay, is the
only comcrunity in America where the refunding of taxes is a general
practice. There are no individual landowners, all of the property being
held by the Fairhope Single Tax Colony, which was established in January
1895 by a group of Des .oines. Iowa, residents. who decided to put the
theories of Henry George into practice.
Other original settlers with similar theories from Ohio, issouri,
Pennsylvania, and Pacific Coast States Joined the Iowa group and purchased
land on the high bluff overlooking the bay. The town of Fairhope
was incorporated and a form of single taxation developed. This has worked
well. Fairhope is a prosperous vacation center of winter homes for
out-of-state visitors and summer homes of Alabam-~itizens. Its population
was 1549 in the 1930 census. with an estimated population of 1800 in
1937.
There has been no deviation from the original theory of taxatio~
that a Just tax on the land should pay all expenses of government that
are now derived from so many other souroes of levy. A simple form of
taxation was set up within the oomplioated struoturs of State, oounty,
and municipal taxes. No land is sold by the Fairhope Single Tax Colony
but is leased for ninety-nine years at so muoh per year, whioh is oonsidered
a tax. The rate varies annually, dependent on eoonomio oonditions.
From this lend rental the Colony pays all State. oounty and oity taxes~k
-L. ~.L ><.
In turn the lease holder pays the usual State, county and city
taxes on all improvements. This payment is then deduoted from the rental
paid to the Colony. If the regular taxes equal or exceed the Colony
charge, the Colony charge is refunded. In the middle 1920's
•
s.veral leas.hold.rs
-2-
were paid diff.renc. between the ColOD¥
rental and taxes on improvements, wben the latter waa in exces•• Even
automobile taxes were included, but this practise has since been
abolished.
Fairhope is also the center of a success~ educational
experiment. The School of Organic Ii:d.cation there i.
one of tIM first institutions of progre.a1ve education established in
AlDerica. It was founded in 1907 by IIrs. Marietta Johnson, ODe of the
leaders in the new school of taaching, lecturer) am author of Xouth in the
"orld -of.M.n. The school has been visited by educational leaders of
Jlmerica and Europe and praised for its efficiency. The average enroblmt
is between lSO an(l 200, with a faculty of 35. Stud.nts are admittsd to
th. first grade am graduated with sufficient credits for college
entrance. Artcratt, handicraft; and outdoor classes are s tr•••••• No
.ffort is mad. to force education on the children who are allowed to
develop with a minim1ro of restriction. The majority of students COJD8
frOID without the State. In addition to the regular curriculum classes
are ccnducted for teachers.
The principaL aspect of Fairhope
political I "" '-" • ... ~ _ """ .
in/economy and education", a resort, with comfortabl
hotels and cottages and ample facilities for fishing and water sports.
It is eleven miles south of the junction of US 31 and US 90 at the
eastern end of Cochrane Bridge across Mobile ~.http://cdm17217.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/wpa/id/890 |