Most ghost towns tend to die once, but Bellefonte, Alabama, has experienced multiple deaths throughout its history. Bypassed by railroads, gutted by Civil War fires, and overshadowed by a suspended nuclear power plant, the settlement is now a historical marker in desolate woodlands alongside the Tennessee River. The abandoned town is situated around two hours from Birmingham, Alabama, and an hour from Chattanooga, Tennessee, on U.S. Highway 72. Today, Bellefonte greets visitors with only an eerie cemetery, a solitary chimney, and abandoned cooling towers.
Tangled overgrowth now claims what was once a successful river port. The town is named for a spring whose name means “beautiful fount” in French. By 1844, 400 people lived in the relatively thriving town, but development halted with a fateful 1849 decision regarding the construction of a railroad. Afraid that the trains would cannibalize their river trade, locals refused to cooperate, which sealed the town’s fate. That unfortunate judgment caused the Memphis and Charleston Railroad to route through the neighboring city of Scottsboro instead. Located just 10 minutes west, Scottsboro’s claim to fame today is being the home of America’s only retailer of unclaimed airline luggage.
Bellefonte became even more devastated during the Civil War, when the town’s courthouse was burned. The economy never fully recovered, causing the residents to leave town by the 1920s, thus abandoning it to become an isolated stretch of woods. The somber seclusion of the land eventually made it a candidate for a nuclear project. However, this second life for Bellefonte has been just as complicated as its first.
What to expect when visiting Bellefonte, Alabama, today
Today, a solitary vine-draped chimney and the eerie Old Bellefonte Cemetery are the only reminders that this was once an actual town. The cemetery contains 229 burial plots, though only 57 markers are visible beneath the overgrowth; this disproportionate ratio suggests many unmarked graves and possible grave robberies. Visitors exploring deep into the backwoods have even stumbled upon a deteriorating cabin of unknown origin that remains a mystery to locals…