Claiborne Alabama, An Alabama Ghost Town
The James Dellet House is the only original residence remaining in Claiborne
Claiborne Alabama is a ghost town on a bluff above the Alabama River in Monroe County, Alabama. Situated near the Federal Road, Claiborne began during the Mississippi Territory period with a ferry over the river. The town is mostly abandoned but still contains some historical sites.
Claiborne Alabama History
Claiborne began as a stockade fort established in late 1813 in this part of the Mississippi Territory. The site lay about 20 miles due west of the location of the Battle of Burnt Corn and 30 miles due east of the territorial capital at St. Stephens. During the Creek War a large stockade fort, named Fort Claiborne, was established at the site by General Ferdinand L. Claiborne. He used the fort as a base for the invasion of the Creek nation with the Regular Army of the United States, the Lower Tombigbee Militia, and friendly Choctaw. The community of Claiborne began in 1816, on the former fort site and in 1819, the town of Claiborne was named the county seat.
Following the war, Claiborne became one of the largest and fastest growing communities in what would become Alabama.
Claiborne remained an important shipping port and trading center throughout the 1840s and 1850s. The coming of the American Civil War saw the construction of batteries along the lower Alabama River and at Claiborne. The town was heavily looted at the end of the war. Following the war, the town quickly lost importance in the new economy. By 1872 the population had dwindled to approximately 350 people. When the new railroad through Monroe County bypassed Claiborne in the early 20th century, the fate of the settlement was sealed. By 2008 the site contained only the James Dellet House and three 19th century cemeteries.
Wikipedia contributors, “Claiborne, Alabama,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Claiborne,_Alabama&oldid=610967062 (accessed January 30, 2015).
