Archaeological Survey of the Old Federal Road in Alabama

Figure 5-10. Fletcher Hale’s copy of page 1 of Rumbley and Straughn’s 1891 survey notes of the Monroe-Conecuh county boundary, with one of Hale’s recreated plat maps on the right (courtesy of the AlabamaDepartment of Archives and History).The route of the Old Federal Road through the two counties today generally corresponds withmodern paved roads and well maintained public dirt roads. The road enters the southern boundary ofMonroe-Conecuh counties from Escambia County on Butler Street, which becomes Conecuh CountyRoad 45. After approximately 1.7 miles the Old Federal Road leaves Conecuh County Road 45 andmerges into Old Stage Road/ Conecuh County Road 5 (Figure 5-11 and 5-12). Conecuh County Road 5turns from a paved to a graded dirt road after about 2 miles, near Enon Church. The road then crosses abridge over Big Escambia Creek . Conecuh County Road 5 continues as a dirt road along the county linefor about 5 miles, at which point paving resumes to the intersection with US Highway 84/ State Highways41 and 12 (Figure 5-13). The Old Federal Road veers off Conecuh County Road 5 approximately one-halfmile south of US Highway 84 onto a grass trail for about 2,000 feet before it rejoins the main road. Thegrass trail crosses Escambia Creek, but no remnants of a bridge are visible (Figure 5-14). Perhaps thecreek was fordable here before construction of the modern bridge.107