Archaeological Survey of the Old Federal Road in Alabama

Figure 8-4. Old Federal Road (not labeled) running east-west on James Weakley’s 1846 survey plat ofTownship 16 North, Range 20 East (courtesy of the Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office).Abraham Bradley’s 1812 map of postal routes shows the original route of the Federal Road(Figure 8-5). The modern limits of Montgomery County fall between “Laula C” [Pintlala Creek] and thenorth-south creek west of “Point Comfort.” Bradley’s “Otter C” is Catoma Creek. The stop labeled“Laula C” is Samuel Manack’s (or Moniac’s) store, which later served as a post office. Manacks’s placewas actually located near Pinchony Creek, about 2 miles southwest of Pintlala Creek. The map alsodepicts a postal stop at “Otter C,”’ but historical research to date has not identified a postmaster at thatlocation. The postal stops indicated on Bradley’s map were proposed stops, not existing ones, at that earlydate. Maxfield Ludlow’s 1816 map and John Melish’s 1818 Map of the Alabama Territory both show theoriginal route of the Federal Road, as well as Manack’s Store (Figures 8-6 and 8-7).169