Archaeological Survey of the Old Federal Road in Alabama

The Old Federal Road spans the northwest corner of Butler County from the Monroe-Conecuhcounty line to the Lowndes County line. For most of its 25-mile route through the county, the roadfollows paved public county roads. The Old Federal Road follows Butler County Road 38 from theMonroe-Conecuh county line for about 10 miles to the intersection with Butler County Road 10, at whichit continues northeast onto private property for about 2 miles before merging with paved Butler CountyRoad 54/Ridge Road (Figure 6-9). The segment of road on private property was not accessed during oursurvey. Aerial photographs of that area do not indicate any sign of old roads in the vicinity, so it is likelythe old road bed has been lost as a result of farming.The road follows Ridge Road for 2.3 miles before it deviates from the paved road onto privateproperty for about 2,000 feet and then turns onto Butler County Road 44/Sherling Lake Road (Figure 6-10 and 6-11). An old road cut is visible from the aerials, but this private property was not accessed duringthe survey. The Old Federal Road continues northwest on Sherling Lake Road for about 3 miles beforemerging with Butler County Road 185/Fort Dale Road, which it follows for 6 miles to the LowndesCounty line (Figure 6-12). An entrenched segment of the Old Federal Road is situated in a wooded areajust east of the main road, south of Oak Grove Church, a little over half a mile north of the intersectionwith Fort Dale Road. The 800-foot segment is well preserved with banks as high as 5 feet (Figure 6-13).Figure 6-10. The Old Federal Road in Butler County, map 2.145