Many Native American Mounds in Counties in Alabama found in 1901

The State of Alabama had many ancient Native American mounds in the early days. Many of these are no longer visible, but in 1901 before highways were built, mounds were located in the following places. 

Known Native American Mounds in Counties in Alabama¹

Written in 1901

Baldwin County

• Mound on Perdido Bay, near Josephine post-office, containing a large amount of pottery in fragments. (Reported by Francis H. Parsons, of the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey)
• Shell heaps on the Mobile River at its mouth, especially on Simpson Island, from which human remains, bone implements, and pottery have been obtained. (Described by A. S. Gaines and K. M. Cunningham, in Smithsonian Report, 1877, pp. 290-291 and Peter J. Hamilton’s Colonial Mobile, (1897), p. 71.) These are different from most others in being largely of clam shells. They have been much drawn on for paving purposes in Mobile, and many of them are thus much reduced.
• Shell banks on the eastern shore of Mobile Bay, one mile from Point Clear. (Reported by Cornelius Cadle, in Smithsonian Report, 1879, p. 442.)
• Mound on the extremity of Bear Point, Peninsula, in Perdido Bay, in which human bones and a number of earthen pots—some containing portions of skulls were found. (Examined and described by G. M. Sternberg, in Proceedings American Association Advancement of Science, 1875, vol. 24, pp. 287-290)
• Mounds and other works on the Tensaw River near where Battle River leaves it, in one of which broken pottery was found. (Described and figured by A. Bigelow, in American Journal Science and Art, 2nd series, 1853, vol. 15, pp. 186-192.)
• Shell bank near old Blakeley, east bank of Tensaw River, in T. 3, S., R. 1 E. (In Transactions Alabama Historical Society, 1899-1900, vol. iv; and Hamilton’s Colonial Mobile, p. 5.)
• Mounds and shell banks. (Noted by Mrs. W. E. Sorsby, in Transactions Alabama Historical Society, 1898-99, vol. iii, pp. 50-51.)
• Mound on creek about 8 miles inland from Stockton, perhaps 40 ft. high, 40 wide and 100 long, on McMillan lands.
• Shell Banks high and extensive on Bon Secour Bay, near Gasque P. O. These are used for market gardens and produce watermelons and vegetables famous for their early date and fine quality.
• Mound half mile inland, about one mile from mouth of Perdido Bay, not so high as last but larger. Scrub oaks and other trees are growing on it. It has been dug into more than once. A handsome clay head, pitcher handle and other articles from it are in the Y. M. C. A. Museum at Mobile. (Reported by Peter J. Hamilton, Mobile, Ala.)
• Mounds on Tensaw at and above Stockton, the former residence of Maj. Robert Farmer. (Described by Bartram, 1777. See also Hamilton’s Colonial Mobile, p. 238.)
• Canal connecting Bay John with lagoon east of Fort Morgan. (Now almost obliterated.)
• Mound on island at Battle Creek, described as 50 ft. High and perhaps the largest of this section. (In Hamilton’s Colonial Mobile, p. 42.)

Barbour County

• Mounds near Eufaula. (Noticed by J. M. McEIroy, in Smithsonian Report, 1879, p. 444.)
• Remains of an old Creek town, 3 miles northeast of Eufaula, on the St. Francis bend of the Chattahoochee River. (In Twelfth Annual Report Bureau of Ethnology, 1890-91, p. 289.)

Blount County

• Cache of seventeen chipped implements, spear heads, etc., in a field near Blountsville. (Reported by Frank Burns, in Smithsonian Report, 1882, p. 826).
• Burial cave, known as “Camp’s Cave,” 15 miles south of Blountsville, in which skeletons, wooden trough, bark matting, copper articles, etc., have been found. (Ibid. p. 826. See. also Twelfth Annual Report Bureau of Ethnology, 1890-91, p. 286; Brewer’s Alabama, p. 139; and Tuomey’s Second Biennial Report on the Geology of Alabama, p.)
• Mounds in Murphree’s Valley, also in the trough of the Locust Fork of the Warrior, in Blountsville Valley, in Brown’s Valley, and northwest of the Mulberry Fork. (In George Powell’s “History of Blount County,” in Transactions of Alabama Historical Society, 1855, pp. 58-59.)
• Old fortification near the junction of the Little Warrior and Locust Fork. (Ibid)

Bullock County

• Mound on plantation of J. H. Fielder, ten miles from Union Springs. (In Transactions Alabama Historical Society, 1899-1900, vol. iv.)

Butler County

• Ancient mounds in this county. (In John B. Little’s History of Butler County. (1885), pp, 143-145)

Calhoun County

• Large isolated mound about 3 miles southwest of Oxford on the Carver place, near Choccolocco. Creek. (Noticed by Elston Luttrell, in Smithsonian Report, 1882, p. 827. Also reported by J. P. Rogan)

Cherokee County

• Ancient parallel ditches at the falls of Little River, in the northwest corner of the county, near the DeKalb County line. Also rock houses, or caves in the vicinity. (In Pickett’s. Alabama (1st ed.), vol. 1, pp, 175-176; Owen’s edition (1900). Pp. 156-157. See also Brewer’s Alabama, pp. 1-66, 236.)

Chilton County

• Mounds at Varna, on the South and North Alabama Railroad, (L. & N.), near the old Repito “Gold Mine,” on_ Sec. 16, T. 21 N., R. 16 E. (Reported by Dr. Eugene A. Smith.)
• Stone heaps in T. 23 N., R. 14 E., of St. Stephens’ Meridian, 3 ½ miles northeast of Jemison Station, South and North’ Alabama Railroad (L. & N.) (Described by William Gesner, in Smithsonian Report, 1881, pp. 616-617).

Clarke County

Burying ground and mound on, the site of old Fort Mauvila (the latter now obliterated), 4 ½ miles east of Gainestown on the bank of Alabama River, in Sec. 2, T. 5 N., R. 4. E. (In Twelfth Annual Report Bureau of Ethnology, 1890-91, p. 289)

Morrisette mound, near Marshall’s Bluff landing, Alabama River. (Described by Clarence B. Moore, in Journal Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, 1899, vol. xi, p. 296.)

Group of mounds, with Indian ball ground, and burial ground, five miles north of Wood’s bluff, and one-half mile from Alabama River. (In T. H. Ball’s Clarke County, and its Surroundings (1882), pp. 672-673}

Clay County

• Stone mound in Sec. 26, T. 19 S., R. 7. E. (Briefly described by William Gesner, in Smithsonian Report, 1879, p. 382)
• Ancient mica quarry in Sec. 26, T. 19 S., R. 7 E. (Ibid).

Coffee County

• Mound in T. 6, R. 19 W. (In Transactions Alabama Historical Society, 1899-1900, vol. iv.)

Conecuh County

• Turk’s cave, near Brooklyn. (In Brewer’s Alabama, p. 194)

Covington County

• Three mounds on Conecuh River. (In Brewer’s Alabama, p. 202)
• Cave on Yellow River, of vast extent. (Ibid)

Dallas County

• Ancient ditches at Cahaba. (Incidental mention in Pickett’s Alabama (1st. ed.), vol. i, p. 172. Owen’s edition (1900), p. 155. See also Brewer’s Alabama, p. 209.)
• Mound on the Joel Mathew’s place, Alabama River, about one mile below Cahaba on the right bank.
• Mound on the Hunter place, Alabama River, about four miles below Selma on the right bank.
• Aboriginal Cemetery, Durand’s Bend, Alabama River, about 13 miles above Selma by water. (Described by Clarence B. Moore, in Journal Academy Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, 1899, vol. xi, pp. 302-319; figures.)

Elmore County

• “Old Fort Jackson Works,” mounds and house-sites, and remains of old French Fort Toulouse and United States Fort Jackson, near the junction of the Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers. (In Twelfth Annual Report Bureau of Ethnology, 180-91, pp. 288-289. See also Brewer’s Alabama, p. 239.)
• Mound at Wetumpka. (Reported by James D. Middleton.)
• Mounds and house remains on the west bank of the Coosa River, about a mile above where it is joined by the Tallapoosa. .
• Mound on an island in Jackson’s lake, 6 miles north of Montgomery.
• The “Parker Mound” on the Coosa River, near its junction with the Tallapoosa. (In Twelfth Annual Report Bureau of Ethnology, 1890-91, pp. 286-288.)
• Mound near Horse-Shoe bend about 5 miles below Montgomery, on the right bank of Alabama River.
• Mound at Jackson’s Bend, on the Coosa River. (Described by Clarence B. Moore, in Journal Academy Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, 1899, vol. xii. pp. 333, 346.)

Greene County

• A group of mounds on the Black Warrior River, near Knoxville, in the Northeast corner of the County. (Reported by E. A. Smith.)
• Mound on Warrior River, about a half mile below Stephens’ Bluff.
• Lamberth’s mound, on the roadside, about three miles southeast of Forkland.
• Old Fortification on the Tombigbee River, three miles southwest of Forkland. (In V. Gayle Snedcor’s Directory of Green County (1856), pp. 71-73.)
• Indian burial ground near Sardis Church. (In Transactions Alabama Historical Society, 1899-1900, vol. iv.)

Hale County

• A group of flat-topped, square and conical mounds known as the “Prince Mounds,” about half a mile from Carthage, in the north-western part of the County. (Noticed in Pickett’s Alabama (1st ed.), vol. i, p. 168; Owen’s edition (1900), p. 151. See also Thruston’s Antiquities of Tennessee (1897), pp. 186-187. 333-334, and Brewer’s Alabama, p. 271.)
• Mound (7 miles below Carthage. (Reported by James D. Middleton.)

Jackson County

(All reported by James Mooney, Bureau of Ethnology.)

• Mound on west bank of Tennessee River, one mile above Bridgeport.
• Three small mounds on west bank of Tennessee River, 3 miles below Bridgeport.
• Two mounds on west bank of Tennessee River just above Widow’s Creek.
• Mound on west bank of Tennessee River due east of Stevenson.
• Mound on east bank of Tennessee River nearly opposite last, below the mouth of Morgan’s Creek.
• Three small mounds on west bank of Tennessee River, at Sublette ferry, near Bellefonte.

Jefferson County

• Group of mounds in T. 17 S., R. 1 W., about 4 miles north of Birmingham and west of the South and North Alabama Railroad (L. & N.)(Described by William Gesner, in Smithsonian Report, 1881, p. 616.)
• Large quadrangular mound a few miles from Elyton. 9Mentioned in Pickett’s Alabama (1st. ed), vol. i, p. 178; 0wen’s edition (1900), p. 159.)
• Mounds and “furnaces” on Village Creek. (General mention by C. McKinley.)
• The Talley mounds near old Jonesborough (south-west from Bessemer), on Sec. 8, T. 19, S., R. 4 W. (In Twelfth Annual Report Bureau of Ethnology, 1890-91, pp. 290292; figures.)
• An Indian grave beside an old trail on a small ridge near Bullard’s shoals on Valley Creek. It is covered with stones, and around it in a crescent or half moon shape is a rude stone rampart.
• Several graves on Red mountain near Red Gap, in Sec. 21, T. 19 S. R. 4, W., East and opposite the Thomas McAdory place. (Reported by Thomas M. Owen.)

Lauderdale County

• The “Douglass Mounds” near lock No. 10 of the Muscle Shoals Canal, 12 miles east of Florence. (In Twelfth Annual Report Bureau of Ethnology, 1890-91 pp. 284-285. )
• Hexagonal mound surrounded by a wall, on the bank of the Tennessee near Florence. (Figured and described in Squier and Davis’s Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley (1848), pp. 109-110. See also Pickett’s Alabama (1st. ed.), vol. i, pp. 168; Owen’s edition (1900), p. 151; and Thruston’s Antiquities of Tennessee (1897), p. 274.)
• “Stafford Mound” (or shell heap), a mile south of Florence on the bank of the Tennessee River.
  (In Twelfth Annual Report Bureau of Ethnology, 1890-91, pp. 283-284. See also Transactions Alabama Historical Society, 1899-1900, vol. iv.)

Lee County

• Workshop, east of Youngsborough, on the Western Railroad, at the foot of Storey’s Mountain, T 19, N ., R. 27, E. (Brief notice by William Gesner, in Smithsonian Report, 1879, p. 443.)

Lowndes County

• Village site, or burial ground, in the Northeastern corner of the county, on the South bank of the Alabama River, at the junction of Pintlala Creek with the river, in which human bones inclosed in double pots, and ashes, have been found.
• Mound in the southern -part of the county, on Mussel Creek, on land of Fisher Merritt, in T. 12 N ., R. 14 E.
• Mound on Big Swamp Creek, in the centre of the county, in T. 14 N., R. 14 E.
• Mound in the northern part, on the Alabama River, between Whitehall and Benton. (Brief mention of the three mounds by W. M. Garrett, in Smithsonian Report, 1879, p. 443.)
• “Workshops,” near Mount Willing, one on Mr. Hartley’s plantation, Sec. 36, T. 13 N., R. 13 E.. and one on Mr. Lee’s plantation, Sec. 32, T. 13 N., R. 14 E. Ibid. )

Macon County

• Group of three mounds, 10 miles below Little Tallassee, on the Alabama River. (In Schoolcraft’s History Indian Tribes, (1856), vol. 5, p. 282.)

Madison County

• Mounds on Jones’s plantation, near Newmarket.
• Mounds at Hazel Green, on the old Jeffries place. (Reported by Gilbert Thompson, U. S. Geological Survey.)
• Shell heaps at Huntsville. (Reported by Dr. E. Palmer, Smithsonian Institution. )
  Large shell heap on the North bank of the Tennessee River, near Whitesburg. (In Twelfth Annual Report Bureau of Ethnology, 1890-91, p. 285.)
• Huntsville Cave, a short distance from the Spring, “a great natural curiosity, and affords the mineralogical student a rich harvest in limestone formations and fossil remains.” (In William’s Huntsville Directory, 1859, p. 19.)

Marengo County

• Choctaw cemetery in the north central part of the county.(Described by H. S. Halbert, in American Antiquarian, 1896, vol. xviii, p. 334.)
• Indian burial ground near Prairieville. (In Transactions Alabama Historical Society, 1899-1900, vol. iv.)

Marshall County

• Burial cave, known as “Hampton Cave,” about one mile west of Guntersville. ( In Twelfth Annual Report Bureau of Ethnology, 1890-91, p. 285. See also Brewer’s Alabama, p. 333; and O. D. Street, in Transactions Alabama Historical Society, 1899-1900, vol. iv.)
• Camping ground of the Cherokee Indians at Gunter’s Landing, one mile east of Guntersville. (Dr. E. Palmer’s field notes, 1883.)
• Mounds on the Tennessee River. (Mentioned in Brewer’s Alabama, p. 383. – See also O. D. Street in Transactions Alabama Historical Society, 1899-1900, vol. iv.)
• Burial cave on the north bank of Tennessee River, just above the mouth of Paint Rock River on the farm of John H. West. (Referred to by O. D. Street, in Transactions Alabama Historical Society, 1899-1900, vol. iv.)
• Shell Deposits occurring frequently along the Tennessee River and its larger tributaries, in which are sometime found human skeletons.(Ibid.)
• Small Mound on farm of M. M. Downey on Paint Rock River, about 10ft. in diameter and two feet high; said to cover Indian graves.
• Three graves at the “Old Missionary” inclosed with stones; said to be the graves of Indians buried there in the early part of this century.
• Group of three mounds on the farm of Thomas M. Patterson, two miles south of Guntersville in South-East portion Sec. 15, T. 8 R. 3 E. The largest is about 40 feet in diameter and at present 6 or 8 feet high; the two smaller stand close together about 50 yards north of the first, and have been partially explored, lumps of galena, beads and bones being found. The largest has never been opened. All have been plowed over for years which has considerably reduced their height. They stand on the first bend above the Brown’s Creek bottom.
• Group of four or five mounds in the south bend of Tennessee River on the farm of R. M. Reives about three miles above Guntersville. All have been plowed over for years and occasionally human bones are turned up. (Reported by O. D. Street, Guntersville, Ala.)

Mobile County

• Large shell heap at the south end of the county on the north side of Bayou Coq d’Inde, near its mouth, a few miles from Bayou la Batre.(Described by Maj. W. T. Walthall, in Mobile Tribune. Aug. 11, 1859. Reprinted in 16th Report Peabody Museum, pp. 186-189. Also reported by Charles Mohr, in Smithsonian Report. 1881, p. 619. This, the next and other mounds on the Portersville coast have been much reduced by being used to make local shell roads. In them have been found much pottery, clay heads, ducks and other ornaments, and sometimes human bones.)
• Shell heaps along the coast, one of them at the mouth of Bayou Como. (Ibid. )
• An earth mound surrounded by a shell mound near Mobile. (Mentioned by W. S. McNeil.)
• A burial ground, near Mount Vernon, about 30 miles from Mobile and 3 miles from the Alabama River. (Reported by Charles Mohr, in Smithsonian Report, 1881, p. 619.)
• Shell banks on the north side of Dauphine Island at the landing, over grown with cedars. From here was obtained, by burning, much of the lime for building Forts Morgan and Gaines.
• Nannahubba Bluff was an Indian burying ground, and there and in what is now a cotton field, near the county line have been found many arrow heads and other Indian remains.
• Shell mounds at Shell Beach on Fowl River about a mile south of the county bridge to Mon Louis Island. (Reported by Peter J. Hamilton, Mobile, Ala.)
• Piles of human bones gave the first name of Massacre Island to what is now known as Dauphine; but they cannot now be identified. This was at the S. W. extremity, which is much exposed to storms and has probably been washed away. (In Hamilton’s Colonial Mobile, p. 30.)
• Mound at Twenty-One-Mile Bluff, Mobile River, about 300 yards west of the landing.
• Mound near Twenty-Four-Mile Bend, Mobile River, about three-quarters of a mile in a westerly direction from the landing.(Described by Clarence B. Moore, in Journal Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, 1899, vol. xi, p. 291.)
• Shell banks and Indian Remains in the County, passim. (In Hamilton’s Colonial Mobile, pp. 92, 152, 384, 715, 6, 340.)

Monroe County

• Mound about one-half mile from the mouth of Little River, on the left hand side going up, in which human bones, pottery, shells, etc., have been found.
• Mound about one mile in a southerly direction from Pott’s landing, Alabama River.
• Cemetery at Nancy Harris Landing, Alabama River. (Described by Clarence B. Moore, in Journal Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, 1899, vol. xi, pp. 291-296; figures.)

Montgomery County

• Group of five mounds, 9 miles southwest of Montgomery, on the bank of the Alabama River. (In Twelfth Annual Report Bureau or Ethnology, 1890-91, pp. 289-290.)
• Four Mounds on the Charlotte Thomson place, about six miles below Montgomery on the left side of the Alabama River.
• Mound on the Rogers’ place, Alabama River, about one mile east from the Charlotte Thomson mounds.
• Two mounds in Thirty-Acre Field, Alabama River, about one mile below the junction of the Coosa and Tallapoosa Rivers.
• Mound on Bic Eddy, Alabama River, about one-half mile southwesterly from mound in Thirty-Acre Field. (Described by Clarence B. Moore, in Journal Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, 1899, vol. xi, pp. 319-346; figures.)
• Two mounds originally on Alabama River “just below and adjoining Montgomery.” but now removed. (In Blue’s History of Montgomery (1878), p. 4. See also reference to by Dr. W. S. Wyman in Transactions Alabama Historical Society, 1897-98, vol. ii, p. 31.)
• Old Augusta Mound. (Referred to by Dr. W. S. Wyman in Transactions Alabama Historical Society, 1899-1900, vol. iv.)

Pickens County

• Mound at Carrollton. (In Transactions Alabama Historical Society, 1899-1900, vol. iv.)

St. Clair County

• Old Indian fortification on the S. E. 1-4 Sec. 16, T. 17 S., R. 1 E . (Reported by Hiram Haines, in Smithsonian Report, 1879, p. 443. )

Shelby County

• Stone heap, about 1 mile east of Siluria, on the South and North Alabama Railroad (L. & N.) , in T. 21 S., R. 3 W. (Noted by William Gesner, in Smithsonian Report, 1881, p. 617.)

Sumter County

• “The “Cedar Hammock Group,” situated on Sec. 5, T. 17 N. R. 1 E., consisting of some small mounds. (In Twelfth Annual Report Bureau of Ethnology, 1890-91, p. 286.)

Talladega County

• Old Creek settlement on the bank of Talladega Creek, 4 miles southeast of Talladega, at Cragsdale, at which bones, shell ornaments and pottery have been found. (In Twelfth Annual Report Bureau of Ethnology, 1890-91, p. 290.)
• Mounds and Indian cemetery in the vicinity of Talladega. (Reported by John P. Rogan and Dr. E. Palmer. )
• Ancient mica quarry in Sec. 12, T. 20 S., R, 6 E. (Noted by William Gesner, in Smithsonian Report, 1879, pp. 382, 443. )
• Workshops in T. 18 S., R. 7 E., on the headwaters of Talladega Creek, at the eastern end of Cedar ridge. (Ibid, 1881, p. 627.)
• A group of mounds “orderly arranged,” 15 miles southwest of Oxford, on south bank of Choccoloco Creek. (Noted oy Elston Luttrell, in Smithsonian Report, 1882, b. 827.)
  A shell bed at Fort Williams on the Coosa River, See. 6 or 7. 22 S, R. 2 E. (Mentioned in Michael Tuorney’s Second Biennial Report on the Geology of Alabama (1858), p. 157. )
  Indian village on Tallasahatchie Creek, bordering on the Sycamore and Childersburg road, and 13 miles southwest of Talladega. (In Transactions Alabama Historical Society, 1899-1900, vol. iv.)

Tallapoosa County

• Aboriginal soapstone quarry, not definitely located. (Mentioned by Charles Mohr, in Smithsonian Report, 1881, pp. 617-618.)

Tuscaloosa County

• Mounds, Indian Remains, the “Alabama Stone.” (In Thomas Maxwell’s Tuscaloosa, (Alabama Historical Society), 1876, passim. Figures.)

• Indian graves on H. Wynn’s plantation. (In Transactions Alabama Historical Society, 1899-1900, vol. iv.)
• Indian camps on the Warrior River. (Mentioned in Transactions Alabama Historical Society, 1850-1897, Vol. 1)
• Old fortification in Tuscaloosa County. (Described by R. S. Owen, in Transactions Alabama Historical Society, 1899-1900, vol. iv.)

Wilcox County

• Mounds near Webb’s landing, Alabama River, about three quarters of a mile in a northwesterly direction.
• Mound near Burford’s landing, Alabama River, 15 miles in a southerly direction.
• Mound on Burford’s Plantation, on right bank of Alabama River, one half mile below Holly Ferry.
• Four mounds near Mathew’s Landing from one of which 23 burials are noted. (Described by Clarence B. Moore, in Journal Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, 1899, vol. xi, pp. 296-302; figures.)