Chinnabee, also spelled Chinneby or Chinnibee, 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 ...

Talladega County, Alabama Talladega County (pronounced Talla-dig-a) is a County (United States), county located in the east central portion of the U.S. state of Alabama."ACES Winston County Office" (links/history), Alabama Cooperative Extension System (ACES), 2007, webpa ...

, United States.

History

The community was named for Fort Chinnabee, which was in turn named for Selocta Chinneby, who was a Creek chief. Chinneby is most likely derived from the

Muscogee The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language), are a group of related indigenous (Native American) peoples of the Southeastern Woodlandscedar Cedar may refer to: Trees and plants *''Cedrus'', common English name cedar, an Old-World genus of coniferous trees in the plant family Pinaceae *Cedar (plant), a list of trees and plants known as cedar Places United States * Cedar, Arizona * ...

" and ''api'' meaning "tree". Chinnabee is located on the former

Louisville and Nashville Railroad The Louisville and Nashville Railroad , commonly called the L&N, was a Class I railroad that operated freight and passenger services in the southeast United States. Chartered by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1850, the road grew into one of the ...

. A post office operated under the name Chinnibee from 1840 to 1884. The Chinnabee Cotton Mills Corporation was incorporated in 1902. The mill operated at least 1,500 spindles and produced yarn.

Fort Chinnabee

Fort Chinnabee was a defensive stockade built in 1813 by

Chief Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boa ...

Chinnabee and other allied Creeks for protection against

Red Sticks Red Sticks (also Redsticks, Batons Rouges, or Red Clubs), the name deriving from the red-painted war clubs of some Native American Creeks—refers to an early 19th-century traditionalist faction of these people in the American Southeast. Made u ...

during the

Creek War The Creek War (1813–1814), also known as the Red Stick War and the Creek Civil War, was a regional war between opposing Indigenous American Creek factions, European empires and the United States, taking place largely in modern-day Alabama ...

. The fort was built three miles north of Chinnabee's village on the north shore of

Choccolocco Creek The Choccolocco Creek is one of two main tributaries of the Coosa River in central Alabama. The watershed of the creek comprises 246,000 acres (376 mi2) of drainage area. The waterway runs through the Choccolocco State Forest,Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

References

Unincorporated communities in Talladega County, Alabama Unincorporated communities in Alabama Talladega Alabama placenames of Native American origin {{TalladegaCountyAL-geo-stub