There is little that remains of the government buildings, businesses, and residences that once made up the first capital of Alabama. Now a historical park, the few enduring ruins of old Cahaba greet visitors among what remains of the town’s former landscape of roses, flowering vines, lilies, chinaberry trees, and gracefully flowing Spanish moss. Located in Dallas County, where the Cahaba River flows into the Alabama River, the town was initially known as Cahawba and served as the state’s first capital from 1820 until 1825. When the capital was moved from Cahaba in 1826 to Tuscaloosa, many of its early residents followed. With the continuing improvement of river transportation and the emergence of the cotton economy, Cahaba boomed again during the 1840s and 1850s. But the Civil War, floods, and the loss of rail transportation all produced a steady decline in Cahaba’s importance and economy, and by 1900, it had become a ghost town.
Today there is little visible evidence of this once bustling and significant city. The Alabama Historical Commission, the caretaker for the Old Cahawba Archeological Site, is taking steps to preserve the site’s few remaining structures and its buried artifacts for future generations of Alabamians. Although its government buildings, businesses, and residences have long since rotted and collapsed or have been sold for scrap, visitors can still see the few striking remains of once-great houses, walk on the deserted streets, and peer into the remnants of slave cabins.
Old Cahawba, Alabama’s first state capital, 1820 to 1826
Old Cahawba is a historic property of the Alabama Historical Commission.
Photos courtesy of: National Parks Service