What Happened to Old Tuskaloosa Road?

Here's another bit of history I've passed many times over the years but only recently noticed--this street sign in Pelham announcing Old Tuskaloosa Road. That's a mighty new looking sign for such a short road, so I'm not sure what the story is behind that. You can see where it goes below.

In the Heritage of Shelby County, Alabama [1999, p.14], a section on early transportation notes the following:

"State of Alabama, Act, May 24, 1828, Vol. 4, p. 232, Road from Shelbyville to Tuskaloosa."

This reference apparently cites an Act of Congress authorizing the road--and perhaps funding--but so far I have been unable to track it down. Shelbyville is better known as Pelham today, and was the county seat until 1826 when Coumbiana was chosen. Tuscaloosa served as state capitol from 1826 until 1846, so roads to it were no doubt important. 

In the U.S. Statutes at Large, Volume 4, 1824-1835, p. 225, I did find this entry in a list of "post-roads" authorized by Congress on March 2, 1827: "From Moulton, by Walker Courthouse, to Tuscaloosa." I did not find any mention of the Shelbyville to Tuscaloosa road on page 232. Several roads in Alabama were authorized on May 24, 1828, but not that one. 

So where is the rest of this mysterious Old Tuscaloosa Road? How long did it last as an intact road over that distance? 

A Google search turns up such a designation in Helena, but also Jasper and a couple of other places. You can see existing roads in the area in the 1833 map below.

Further investigation awaits. 

Block USA is a construction company. Old Tuskaloosa Road ends quickly at their complex. Across Lee Street is the back of one of the buildings in the Summer Classics site that faces US 31. 

Here's a satellite view from Google Earth taken November 3, 2016.

This 1833 excerpt from a state map by Henry Tanner shows the existing roads. 

Source: Historical Maps of Alabama 

Pondering Alabama Maps (4): Early State Road Maps

In the first three installments of this series I looked at the city of Pelham on some old maps. Why Pelham, you ask? I live there, silly! Now let's look at some early statewide road maps. 

One of the earliest Alabama road maps is surely the 1914 one below, which can be found at UA's Alabama Historical Maps collection. Below the state map is a detailed look at roads in Shelby, Bibb, Chilton and Autauga counties. This map was drawn by civil engineer and draftsman H.E. Anschutz under the direction of W.S. Keller and R.P. Boyd, State Highway Engineer and his assistant respectively. 

UPDATE on 2 July 2015: Historian Martin Olliff recently pointed out to me that W.S. Keller was Helen Keller's half-brother.

Notice anything interesting in the detail from Mr. Anschutz's creation?? That's right--in all this spaghetti, none of the roads have names or number designations. You'll find the same thing on the 1924 map in the digital collection. 

Now let's take a look at the state's 1925 road map:

And here's a zoom of the Selma-Clanton-Montgomery area:

Now we see some numbers on these roads. At first they seem like mileage numbers, but that doesn't work out. These numbers are the early highway designations in Alabama. 

No draftsman is identified prominently on this 1925 map, although I suspect we find his name in the lower right corner: D.E. Shields and the year 1924. 

In the next installment I'd like to continue by looking at some more state road maps from the 1920's and into the 1930's.

A fascinating history of the early "good roads" movement in Alabama is Martin Olliff's "Getting on the Map: Alabama's Good Roads Pathfinding Campaigns, 1911-1912" in the Alabama Review 2015 January; 68(1): 3-30.