We started out in Courtland, taking pictures —first the Harris Simpson. Most of the other markers were in or near the city park.
This circa 1820 house is thought to be one of the oldest houses in Courtland. Occupying a lot platted by the Courtland Land Company in 1818, the house faces North toward what was once the main Tuscumbia Road. Dr. Jack Shackelford (1790-1857), an early settler and legislator, is believed to have lived in this house in the mid-1800s. After a nearby Civil War skirmish, the house served as a military hospital. In 1895, Mrs. Susan Jackson Harris, granddaughter of James Jackson of the famous Forks of Cypress Plantation near Florence and wife of John Hunter Harris of Rosemont Plantation, acquired the house. Her daughter, Caroline Harris Simpson, lived here until 19,72, and her descendants owned the house until 1995. In 2,001, the Alabama Preservation Alliance purchased and placed a protective easement on the property, which required all future owners to preserve the house and grounds.
This is a good example of the early American "I" house, so called for its tall, narrow side profile. The original part of the house is two stories, with two large rooms and a central hall on both floors. The braced-frame construction, a framing system that uses corner posts and bracing, is covered with beaded siding. Delicate Federal-period mantelpieces, molded trim, chair rails, and a paneled staircase grace the interior. Traces of faux~bois, a decorative painting technique popular in the 19th century, also survive. An unusual feature is the shed-roofed "chimney pent" (or closet) abutting the west chimney. Side and rear additions were added in the early 1900s.
The Town of Courtland 1819
Federal lands in this area were first sold in 1818 and quickly purchased by settlers and speculators. A group of investors calling themselves the "Courtland Land Company," consisting of William H. Whitaker, James M. Camp, William F. Broadnax, John M. Tifford, Benjamin Thomas, and Bernard McKiernan, acquired the future town site and had it laid out in a gridiron street pattern containing 300 lots. These were put up for sale immediately. In hopes that Courtland would become the county seat, the present square was set aside for a courthouse. Alabama's territorial legislature incorporated Courtland on December 13, 1819.
Major Lewis Dillahunty and his wife, Lucinda, reputedly settled at Courtland in 1816. Dillahunty, a surveyor, had fought with Andrew Jackson at New Orleans. Soon afterward, wealthy planters, with their families and slaves, arrived from Virginia, Tennessee, the Carolinas, and Georgia. They were joined by merchants, artisans, lawyers, doctors, preachers, and innkeepers as Courtland became the trade center for the surrounding farms and plantations. The Courtland Herald, a newspaper, was established in the 1820s. For most of its history, Courtland's population has ranged between 400 and 700.
Courtland's Early Architecture
Courtland's Early Architecture During the early 1800s, an assortment of wooden, brick, and log business structures surrounded the town square. Most of the old buildings on the square today (on the North and east sides) date from the late 1800s and early 1900s. The fronts of some of them feature characteristic Victorian detailing. At the northeast corner of the square are four 19th-century stone mounting blocks placed for the convenience of horseback riders. The tall red cedars seen throughout Courtland and along the streets radiating from the square have been a feature of the landscape since the early days.
Courtland's Early Architecture 1820-1940
Courtland's Early Architecture: Structures within the Courtland historic district represent over 150 years of changing tastes in building design. Although only a few of Courtland's earliest buildings survive, the Federal-style architecture of the oldest houses suggests the community's strong original ties to Virginia and other upper South states. Typical early residences, whether frame or brick, feature a gable roof with tall chimneys at each end. Sometimes, weatherboarding conceals log walls underneath. Many buildings dating from the 1850s through the 1930s reflect Italianate, Victorian, and neoclassical architectural influences. There are also early 20th-century "bungalows", some built of native sandstone. Courtland still counts about twenty buildings predating the Civil War (1861).
The African ~ American Experience
African Americans played a very significant role in the early history of Courtland. Most came as slaves from the older southern states to help clear the land, plant cotton and corn, and serve as household domestics. President Thomas Jefferson's great-grandson, William S. Bankhead, brought his personal servant and valet, Jupiter, from Monticello when he settled near Courtland in the 1840s. Skilled slave craftsmen also assisted in the construction of many Courtland buildings before the Civil War. After emancipation, most African Americans earned their livelihood as tenants and small farmers.
The African ~ American Experience
Before being officially denied political participation by the state constitution of 1901, Courtland's African-American community produced the most successful local Republican party organization in North Alabama, on occasion uniting with area whites to create a biracial government. H. H. Stewart, a graduate of Williams College (Mass.), was an outstanding educational and political leader of the Courtland black community during this period. In the early 20th century, many Courtland-area African Americans migrated to the North and the Upper Midwest to seek greater economic and social opportunities.
The Red Rovers / Red Rovers Roster
A volunteer military company was organized at Courtland in 1835 to aid Texas in its struggle for independence. Commanded by Dr. Jack Shackelford, a local physician, the company derived its name from the color of the homespun uniforms made by citizens of Courtland. In the first battle, Rovers were assigned to the regiment cut off, captured at Coleta, March 20, 1836. Surrendered on promise of return to U. S. On March 27, company and others, 365 men, executed at Goliad by order of Gen. Santa Anna. Shackelford and seven other Rovers were spared. He later escaped and returned to Courtland. The Goliad incident, along with the Alamo, rallied U.S. support and guaranteed Texas's freedom.
The Red Rovers / Red Rovers Roster
* Capt. J. Shackelford • * Lt. Wm. C. Francis •Sgt. F. G. Shackelford • Sgt. A. J. Foley • * Sgt. J. D. Hamilton • Sgt. J. D. Hamilton • Sgt. C. M. Short • Cpl. J. H. Barkley • Cpl. H. H. Bentley • Cpl. David Moore • Cpl. Andrew Winter • Patrick H. Anderson • John N. Barnhill • Joseph Blackwell • * George W. Brooks • * L. M. Brooks • T. E. Burbridge • F. T. Burt • J. W. Cain • Thomas Cantwell • Seth Clark • John G. Coe • * D. Cooper • Harvey Cox • R. T. Davidson • George L. Davis • H. C. Day • A. Dickson • Alfred Dorsey • H. L. Douglas • W. C. Douglas • James E. Ellis • Samuel Farley • * Joseph Fenner • Robert Fenner • J. G. Ferguson • E. B. Franklin • D. Gamble M. C. Garner • J. E. Grimes • William Gunter • William Hemphill • John Hyser • John Jackson • John N. Jackson • H. W. Jones • Charles McKinley • John H. Miller • D. A. Murdock • William Quinn • W. F. Saavage • J. N. Seaton • W. S. Shackelford • * Wilson Simpson • B. Strunk • James Vaughan • Wm. E. Vaughan • James S. Wilder • Robert W. Wilson* Escaped at execution, on patrol, or on leave when the unit was captured.
Early Roads
Tennessee Street along the north side of the square was originally part of Gaines' Trace, a horse path laid out in 1807 under the direction of Capt. Edmund Pendleton Gaines of the U. S. Army. From Melton's Bluff on the Tennessee River, the trace ran westward to Cotton Gin Port on the Tombigbee, in present-day Mississippi. Another crucial early thoroughfare was the Byler Road (1819), which ran southward through Courtland and linked the Tennessee Valley to Tuscaloosa and lower Alabama.
One of the South's First Railroads, 1832
Seeking a means to ship cotton and other goods around the treacherous Muscle Shoals of the Tennessee River, area planters and merchants met at Courtland in 1831 to consider a rail line. On January 13, 1832, the 50-mile-long Tuscumbia, Courtland & Decatur railroad was chartered. Early trains were usually horse-drawn, although an English-made steam locomotive was acquired in 1834. Absorbed by the Memphis & Charleston line after 1850, the railway was largely destroyed during the Civil War. The rebuilt railroad became part of the Southern system in 1898.
American Legion - Post 58
On April 20, 1934, a temporary charter was issued for Gen. Joe Wheeler Post 58, Courtland, Alabama. On November 12, 1946, a permanent charter was granted, and the name was changed to Wiley Horton Post 58 in honor of the deceased son of State Department Commander C.C. Horton.
American Legion - Post 58
The American Legion is the largest veterans' organization in the United States. It seeks to advance the aims and interests of all veterans. The Legion has 16,000 local posts. Each year the American Legion sponsors over 3,000 baseball and other athletic teams, 3,600 Boy Scout Troops; also, national high school oratory contests to promote the study of the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
