Barton, also known as Barton Station, Barton Depot, or Barton's, is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

located in western

Colbert County Colbert County () is a county located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 census the county's population was 57,227. The county seat is Tuscumbia. The largest city is Muscle Shoals. The county is named i ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

, United States. It is about ten miles west of the county seat of Tuscumbia, and just south of

Tennessee River The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other names, ...

. The community is about four miles southeast of

Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...

on US Route 72.

History

Barton was settled as a station along the

Memphis and Charleston Railroad The Memphis and Charleston Railroad, completed in 1857, was the first railroad in the United States to link the Atlantic Ocean with the Mississippi River. Chartered in 1846, the gauge railroad ran from Memphis, Tennessee to Stevenson, Alabama th ...

. It was originally known as Barton Depot or Barton Station. Barton was founded in 1906 and named for Armistead Barton, a businessman from Tuscumbia who built

Barton Hall Barton Hall is an on-campus field house on the campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. It is the site of the school's indoor track facilities, ROTC offices and classes, and Cornell Police. For a long time, Barton Hall was the largest ...

and owned land in the area. Between December 1862 and October 1863, several skirmishes took place in Barton as part of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

forces sought to prevent the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

from invading the

Tennessee Valley The Tennessee Valley is the drainage basin of the Tennessee River and is largely within the U.S. state of Tennessee. It stretches from southwest Kentucky to north Alabama and from northeast Mississippi to the mountains of Virginia and North Car ...

from their stronghold in

Corinth, Mississippi Corinth is a city in and the county seat of Alcorn County, Mississippi, Alcorn County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 14,573 at the 2010 census. Its ZIP codes are 38834 and 38835. It lies on the state line with Tennessee. Histor ...

. On December 12, 1862, the 1st Alabama Cavalry Regiment under the command of Col. T. W. Sweeny engaged troops under the command of Col.

Phillip Roddey Philip Dale Roddey (April 2, 1826 – July 20, 1897) was a brigadier general in the army of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. Biography Roddey was born in Moulton, Lawrence County, Alabama, to Philip and Sarah Ro ...

. On April 17, 1863, the 1st Alabama Cavalry and 10th Missouri Volunteer Cavalry under the command of

Gen. The Book of Genesis (from Greek language, Greek ; Hebrew language, Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית ''Bəreʾšīt'', "In hebeginning") is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its i ...

Grenville M. Dodge fought CSA forces under the command of Col. Roddey. October 20, 1863 saw the 3d Cavalry Regiment, 5th Ohio Cavalry, and Landgraeber's Battery under the command of Gen.

Peter Joseph Osterhaus Peter Joseph Osterhaus (January 4, 1823 – January 2, 1917) was a German-American Union Army general in the American Civil War and later served as a diplomat. Early life Osterhaus was born in Koblenz, Rhenish Prussia, the son of Eleanora (Kraem ...

engage CSA forces under the command of Col. Jeff Forrest. On October 25, 1863, Union forces, including the 13th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment and

76th Ohio Infantry The 76th Ohio Infantry Regiment, sometimes 76th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry ( or 76th OVI) was an infantry regiment of the Union Army during the American Civil War. The regiment served in the Western Theater, primarily as part of the XV C ...

under the command of Gen. Osterhaus fought CSA forces commanded by

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Stephen D. Lee Stephen Dill Lee (September 22, 1833 – May 28, 1908) was an American officer in the Confederate Army, politician and first president of Mississippi State University from 1880 to 1899. He served as lieutenant general of the Confederate ...

. A post office was operated in Barton from 1859 to 1972.

Notable person

Cecil Dowdy Cecil Dowdy (May 9, 1945 – November 24, 2002) was an American college football player and businessman. He played offensive tackle for the University of Alabama Crimson Tide from 1964 through 1966. He was a member of both the 1964 and 1965 ...

, former professional football player

References

Populated places established in 1906 Unincorporated communities in Alabama Unincorporated communities in Colbert County, Alabama 1906 establishments in Alabama {{ColbertCountyAL-geo-stub