Prairie Bluff, Alabama

Prairie Bluff, also known as Dale and Daletown, is a ghost town in Wilcox County, Alabama.HistoryPrairie Bluff first appeared on maps in 1819, the same year that Alabama was admitted to the Union as a state. It was listed erroneously as Prairie Blue on Fielding Lucas' Geographic, Statistical, and Historical Map of Alabama, printed in Philadelphia in 1822. However, another of Lucas' Alabama maps, also printed in 1822, lists it as Prairie Bluff. It is interchangeably listed as Dale, Daletown, or Prairie Bluff on subsequent maps from the 1830s until the mid-1850s, after which time Prairie Bluff is the only name used. It disappeared from maps altogether around 1900. The historic Greek-Revival style Dale Masonic Lodge No. 25 in Camden, completed in 1848, was originally established in what was known as Dale during 1827. The members voted to move their lodge during the 1840s to the county seat in Camden, incorporated in 1842. The county seat had been a short distance from Prairie Bluff, in the community of Canton Bend, until moved to Barboursville (later renamed Camden) in 1833.The town was located at the midpoint of an early road that connected Cahaba, the first state capital, and St. Stephens, the territorial capital. Situated atop a cliff overlooking the Alabama River, the town grew as river trade increased. A large cotton slide, used to move bales of cotton from the top of the cliff to paddle steamers on the river below, was located at the site. The steamboat Pittsburg sank near Prairie Bluff in May 1828, followed by the Jewess on October 28, 1841.