This easy-to-use reference work documents the many long-vanished towns, forts, settlements, and former state capitals that were once thriving communities of Alabama.

Dead Towns of Alabama is not merely a series of obituaries for dead towns. Instead, it brings back to life 83 Indian towns, 77 fort sites, and 112 colonial, territorial, and state towns. W. Stuart Harris conjures up a wealth of fascinating images from Alabama's rich and colorful past--images of life as the Indians lived it, of colonial life in the wilderness, of Spanish explorers and French exiles, of danger and romance, of riverboats and railroads, of plantations and gold mines, of stagecoaches and ferries. Overall, it presents a thoroughly absorbing panorama of Alabama's early history.

Here we learn about two former capitals--St. Stephens and Cahaba--that have deteriorated to mouldering ruins now. We learn about once thriving communities--county seats, river landings and crossings, trading posts, junctions, and other settlements--that time has forgotten. Absent from most maps, these sites come alive again in Harris's fascinating account, filled anew with the bustling activity of their former inhabitants.

First published in 1977, Dead Towns of Alabama is a unique guidebook to every region of the state. It is an invaluable resource for historians, students, tourists, and anyone interested in exploring Alabama's interesting historical and cultural past.

W. Stuart Harris is a retired historian from the Air Force Historical Research Institute at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery and the author of 13 books, including A History of Alabama: A Secondary Course. He continues to lecture and travel widely.