White Bluff, also known as Ecor Blanc, is a historic site located along the Tombigbee River in

Demopolis, Alabama Demopolis is the largest city in Marengo County, Alabama, Marengo County, in west-central Alabama. The population was 7,162 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The city lies at the confluence of the Black Warrior River and Tombigbee ...

. It is a

chalk Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Ch ...

cliff, roughly one mile long, that is composed of a geological layer known as the Demopolis Chalk Formation, part of the Selma Group. The upper portions of the cliff stood almost above the river before the construction of the Demopolis Lock and Dam downriver. It now averages about above the river. White Bluff was first named Ecor Blanc by 18th century French explorers and map makers. It also became known as the Chickasaw Gallery because early Native American inhabitants harnessed their boats at the foot of the cliff. It was the site where French Bonapartist refugees landed in 1817 and established their Vine and Olive Colony. White Bluff is the site for the main event of the annual Christmas on the River festival.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places National Register of Historic Places in Marengo County, Alabama Demopolis, Alabama Tombigbee River Landforms of Marengo County, Alabama Natural features on the National Register of Historic Places Cliffs of Alabama