Bootsville 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 the Sand Valley area of central

DeKalb County DeKalb County may refer to one of several counties in the United States, all of which were named for Baron Johann de Kalb: * DeKalb County, Alabama DeKalb County is a County (United States), county in the Northeast Alabama, northeastern part ...

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. It was located roughly five miles west-southwest of Fort Payne, placing it near the present-day intersection of County Road 458 and County Road 461.

History

Though it once held the distinction of being the

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but may also refer to concentrations of power in a wider sense (i.e " seat (legal entity)"). See disambiguation. Types of seat The ...

, very little is known about Bootsville. In 1837, the county seat moved to the town from Rawlingsville, making it the county's second seat of justice. However, Bootsville was only the county seat for a matter of months before the town of Camden assumed this role in 1838. This was around the time the county was still being organized. Bootsville was named for an Indian chief named "Boots", who lived in the vicinity.Foscue, Virginia. ''Place Names in Alabama''. University: U of Alabama Press, 1989.

References

Geography of DeKalb County, Alabama Ghost towns in Alabama Former county seats in Alabama {{DeKalbCountyAL-geo-stub