The Atlas Obscura Podcast Old Cahawba (Classic)
Feb 20, 2026
Linda Derry, site director of Old Cahawba Archaeological Park with decades at the site, guides listeners through Cahaba's layered past. She debunks name myths and recounts its rowdy frontier capital days. She traces the town's 1850s boom, Civil War disruptions, Reconstruction-era Black leadership, decline, and 20th-century revival as a historic park.
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Name Comes From Canebrake
- Cahaba was named for the canebrake along the Cahaba River, not a Native warning about 'water above'.
- The town's name reflects landscape features that disappeared over time.
Bibb Sold Land To Fund The State
- Governor William Bibb owned a free square mile where he placed the capital to raise land values by selling plots.
- The land sales funded Alabama's early treasury and attracted settlers to the new capital.
Frontier Town Origins
- Early Cahaba resembled a rough frontier town with log cabins, gunplay, and warnings for women and children to stay home at night.
- Its character shifted later as the town grew wealthier in the mid-1800s.