Old Cahawba Civil War Walking Tour

Civil War Walking Tour

Saturday, August 2

10 am – 11 am

Old Cahawba Archaeological Park, Orrville (near Selma)

In the waning days of the Civil War, flooding pushed the waters of the Cahaba and Alabama rivers over their banks and across the town of Cahawba leaving over three thousand Union army prisoners of war standing for days in knee deep river. Finally released from captivity, many made their way to Vicksburg and boarded the ill fated riverboat Sultana only to perish on their way home in the worst maritime disaster in U.S. History.

This walking tour will visit Castle Morgan, the POW camp at Old Cahawba and explore the plight of these unfortunate soldiers as well as the privations of the town’s confederate residents who suffered while their husbands, fathers and sons were off to war, many never to return.

Directions: From downtown Selma, take Highway 22 (Dallas Avenue) west 8.6 miles. Cross over the Cahaba River and turn left onto County Road 9 and follow this 3.3 miles until it dead ends. Turn left onto County Road 2 and follow this 1.5 miles until you see the Welcome Center on the right. Welcome Center Address: 9518 Cahaba Road, Orrville, AL 36767.

Fee: $8.00 per person

Cahawba lies at the confluence of the Alabama and Cahaba Rivers, and from 1819 to 1826 it served as Alabama’s first capital. It was later a thriving antebellum river town, a Confederate prison for captured Union soldiers, and a rural community of African American families. Today, the Alabama Historical Commission owns and operates this significant archaeological site.

To protect, preserve, and interpret Alabama’s historic places is the mission of the Alabama Historical Commission, the State Historic Preservation Office.