Alabama Cities
Montevallo-Alabama

Montevallo Alabama

By , Old street cop, retired private investigator, traveling Alabama looking for quiet places, nice people and the real stories of Alabama. |

The area where Montevallo is now was once controlled by the Creek Indians. After being acquired in 1814 Jesse Wilson claimed a small hill on the northern bank of the Shoal Creek and created a homestead there, making it the oldest settlement in Shelby County. Wilson’s friends and family followed afterwards and also settled in the area, and a settlement known as Wilson’s Hill developed on the site. The settlement’s location at almost the exact center of Alabama meant it was considered one of the potential sites for the University of Alabama. In an attempt to encourage the university to choose the site the settlement changed its name to Montevallo, which is Italian for the hill in the valley.

Columbiana Alabama

Columbiana Alabama

By , Old street cop, retired private investigator, traveling Alabama looking for quiet places, nice people and the real stories of Alabama. |

Columbiana Alabama
Columbiana is a city in Shelby County, Alabama and is the county seat of Shelby County.Columbiana, originally called Columbia, was selected as the county seat of Shelby County in 1826 over rivals Calera and Montevallo. An act of the Alabama Legislature officially changed the name of Shelby County’s county seat to Columbiana on January 13, 1832. Columbiana was incorporated on December 5, 1837 with corporate limits one-quarter of a mile in each direction from the public square. Today, Columbiana is home to the Shelby County Board of Education, the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, the Shelby County Jail, and Harrison Regional Library, which is the main office for the Shelby County Library System. Columbiana holds the annual Liberty Day celebration on the last weekend in June, which was first held in 1986 to honor the 100th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty.

Shelby County Alabama
Shelby-County-Alabama

DIGITAL ALABAMA GUIDE TO SHELBY COUNTY ALABAMA

By , Old street cop, retired private investigator, traveling Alabama looking for quiet places, nice people and the real stories of Alabama. |

Shelby County Alabama

Shelby County Alabama is located near the geographic center of the state of Alabama. The county seat of Shelby County is Columbiana Alabama. The county is named in honor of Isaac Shelby, Governor of Kentucky from 1792 to 1796 and again from 1812 to 1816.  

 

Shelby County Alabama History:
The original county boundaries encompassed lands acquired from the Creek Indians in the 1814 Treaty of Fort Jackson following their defeat at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. The first towns in the Cahaba Valley were Wilson’s Hill (now Montevallo) and Shelbyville (now Pelham).

Alabama State Parks

Oak Mountain State Park

By , Old street cop, retired private investigator, traveling Alabama looking for quiet places, nice people and the real stories of Alabama. |

Oak Mountain State Park, located in Pelham Alabama, is a 9,000 acre park with over 50 miles of biking and hiking and equestrian trails. Oak Mountain Park offers camping, picnic sites, swimming, boating and fishing. Bike trails and hiking trails are abundant at Oak Mountain, Alabama’s largest park. Day-use picnic facilities include large pavillions, tables and grills in addition to pedal boat and canoe rentals, a swimming area, boat and bank fishing and an 18-hole golf course. The wildlife center located in Oak Mountain State Park, is the largest wildlife rehabilitation center in Alabama and cares for over 2,000 injured and orphaned wild creatures each year.

Pelham Alabama

Pelham Alabama

By , Old street cop, retired private investigator, traveling Alabama looking for quiet places, nice people and the real stories of Alabama. |

Pelham Alabama
Pelham is a city and suburb of Birmingham in Shelby County, Alabama. At the 2010 census the population was 21,352. It was named for famed Confederate American Civil War officer John Pelham. 
Pelham is located at 33°18′16″N 86°47′5″W (33.304581, -86.784620). According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 38.3 square miles, of which, 38.0 square miles of it is land and 0.3 square miles of it is water. Oak Mountain State Park, Alabama’s largest state park, is located in Pelham.

Alabama State Parks
Oak Mountain State Park Bump Trail

Oak Mountain State Park Bump Trail

By , Old street cop, retired private investigator, traveling Alabama looking for quiet places, nice people and the real stories of Alabama. |

Please note that bikes should stick to trail sections marked with red blazes (aka The Red Trail). Fines are available from any park ranger for being caught on any other trail with a bike (whether you are riding or not!)

Montevallo Alabama

Orr Park

By , Old street cop, retired private investigator, traveling Alabama looking for quiet places, nice people and the real stories of Alabama. |

Orr Park
Park Drive
Montevallo AL 35155
205-665-9205

One of the best features of Montevallo, Alabama, a small university town, is Orr Park. Dubbed one of the most unique parks and nature preserves in the south, Orr Park, bordering the picturesque Shoal Creek, is Montevallo’s crowning jewel. With two playgrounds, six baseball/softball fields, a walking trail, a football field and a practice field, Orr Park offers residents and visitors an opportunity to “get back to nature”, to play organized sports, to use a variety of park equipment, to have family picnics, and to engage in just about any other imaginable outdoor activity. Beautiful Shoal Creek meanders through Orr Park providing opportunities for fishing, wading, canoeing, kayaking, birding, and just “watching the creek roll by.” A paved walking trail follows the creek for much of its journey through the park.

Birmingham Alabama
Disc Golf Course Alabaster AL

Disc Golf Course Alabaster AL

By , Old street cop, retired private investigator, traveling Alabama looking for quiet places, nice people and the real stories of Alabama. |

Disc Golf Course Alabaster AL
 

18 hole disc golf course at Veterans Park in Alabaster Alabama. 7305 Hwy 119
Alabaster AL 35007
205-620-4715