Blakeley is a

ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

in Baldwin County,

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

, United States. During the height of its existence, Blakeley was a thriving town which flourished as a competitor to its western neighbor, Mobile. Blakeley was the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

for Baldwin County from 1820 until 1868, when the county government was moved south to

Daphne Daphne (; ; , , ), a figure in Greek mythology, is a naiad, a variety of female nymph associated with fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of freshwater. There are several versions of the myth in which she appears, but t ...

. It was the location of a major fort during the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

. One of the last battles of the Civil War was fought here in April 1865, as Union soldiers overran Confederates. The town is now in an Alabama historic state park known as Historic Blakeley State Park, north of Spanish Fort. Before the town was established and populated by European settlers, Native Americans had lived in the area. A burial mound was found near the site of the town and was excavated. Four skulls, various bones and copper ornaments were found. In 1813, Blakeley was founded by Josiah Blakeley, "an entrepreneur and adventurer from Connecticut" who moved to Mobile in 1806. He purchased of land in the northeastern portion of Mobile Bay. In 1813 he hired a surveyor to lay out the town of Blakeley and sold the first 10 lots. On January 6, 1814, the Mississippi Territorial Legislature authorized Josiah Blakeley to lay out a town to be known as Blakeley.''A Digest of the Laws of the State of Alabama: Containing the Statutes and Resolutions in Force at the end of the General Assembly in January, 1823''. Published by Ginn & Curtis, J. & J. Harper, Printers, New-York, 1828. "Title 62. Chapter XX". page 796
"An Act to authorize Josiah Blakeley to lay out a Town on the East side of Mobile Bay.—Passed January 6, 1814." (Internet Archive)
/ref> It received official incorporation from the State of Alabama in 1820.''A Digest of the Laws of the State of Alabama: Containing The Statutes and Resolutions in Force at the end of the General Assembly in January, 1823''. Published by Ginn & Curtis, J. & J. Harper, Printers, New-York, 1828. "Title 62. Chapter XXIII". pp. 799-802
"An Act to provide a Government for the Town of Blakeley.—Passed December 4, 1820." (Internet Archive)
/ref> After the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

, Jacob Bell and David Brown became successful shipbuilders in Blakeley. They left for

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in 1820 to found Brown & Bell, a shipyard famous for its

clipper ships A clipper was a type of mid-19th-century merchant sailing vessel, designed for speed. The term was also retrospectively applied to the Baltimore clipper, which originated in the late 18th century. Clippers were generally narrow for their lengt ...

and steamships. Blakeley had a "deep natural port, which was reachable by ships that could not cross the

Dog River Dog River may refer to: Canada * Dog River (Ontario), a river in Thunder Bay District, Ontario * Dog River (Manitoba), a river in Northern Region, Manitoba * Dog River, Saskatchewan, a fictional setting for the television series ''Corner Gas'' Un ...

bar, a sandbar that sometimes impeded shipping access to Mobile." For some years, Blakeley competed with Mobile to be the top port in what was then the

Alabama Territory The Territory of Alabama (sometimes Alabama Territory) was an organized incorporated territory of the United States. The Alabama Territory was carved from the Mississippi Territory on August 15, 1817 and lasted until December 14, 1819, when i ...

. A post office operated under the name "Blakeley" from 1826 to 1866. In 1974, the ghost town was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

Notable person

* Lavinia Stoddard (1787–1820), poet, school founder

References

Sources: * Hamilton, Peter. ''Colonial Mobile''. 1910. Reprint, Tuscaloosa, Ala.: University of Alabama Press, 1976. * Harris, W. Stuart. ''Dead Towns of Alabama''. Tuscaloosa, Ala.: University of Alabama Press, 1977. * Nuzum, Kay. ''A History of Baldwin County''. Fairhope, Ala.: Page & Palette, 1971.

External links

* *''AmericanCivilWar.com''.
Blakeley State Park
. Accessed April 20, 2007. *Historic Blakeley State Park.
The Town of Blakeley
. Accessed April 20, 2007.
Alabama's First Ferry Located at Blakeley, Alabama Blakeley's Fall Laid To Greed SpeculatorsGatra Wehle Nature Center
*, "an unpublished novella written by Marshall Wallace about the Stoddard family, early residents of Blakeley" {{authority control National Register of Historic Places in Baldwin County, Alabama Populated places established in 1813 Ghost towns in Alabama Protected areas of Baldwin County, Alabama National Register of Historic Places in Alabama 1813 establishments in the United States Former county seats in Alabama Populated places on the National Register of Historic Places in Alabama

Notable person

References

See also

External links