America's Coolest Ghost Towns

Cahawba, AL

This antebellum river town was the capital of Alabama from 1820 to 1826, though by 1825 the bad choice of geography was clear: the place was a flood magnet. Even so, it was later the home of a Civil War prison for Union soldiers and then, during Reconstruction, a meeting place for freed slaves. The floods largely won out, and now the ruins left in Cahawba—a few streets, cemeteries, and some buildings—are managed by the Alabama Historical Commission.

Closest Civilization: Selma, AL.

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America's Coolest Ghost Towns

Cahawba, AL

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