Bluffton is an
unincorporated community in
Cherokee County,
Alabama,
United States.
History
Bluffton was founded as a
mining community in 1888. In 1890, Bluffton was home to approximately 8,000 residents. The Bluffton Land, Ore and Furnace Company operated an iron mine in the area, and was also responsible for building the Signal Hotel, which at one point hosted
Rudyard Kipling. The Signal Hotel was the first structure in Cherokee County with electric lights. Bluffton had one newspaper, the ''Bluffton Mascot'', and was home to a
Methodist Episcopal church and
Salem Baptist Church
Salem Baptist Church is located at 3131 Lake Street in North Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Founded in 1922, it has played important roles in the history of African Americans in Omaha, and in the city's religious community. Church leadership ...
, which is still in use today. Bluffton was also the planned site of a college, The University of the Southland. A groundbreaking took place on April 24, 1889, but the college was never built. Besides the iron mines, Bluffton was home to a water works system, school, post office, and Cherokee County's first electrical generating plant. Even so, Bluffton's ore fields did not meet the expectations of their investors and higher grade iron was available closer to
Birmingham. Commercial businesses began to fail, and Bluffton soon came to be considered a ghost town.
A post office was operated in Bluffton from 1888 to 1934.
References
External links
Link to plat map of Bluffton, Alabama
Unincorporated communities in Cherokee County, Alabama
Unincorporated communities in Alabama
Ghost towns in Alabama
Ghost towns in the United States
Ghost towns in North America
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