Chewacla, Alabama

Chewacla
Unincorporated community
Chewacla

Location within the state of Alabama

Coordinates: 32°37′12″N 85°20′14″W / 32.62000°N 85.33722°WCoordinates: 32°37′12″N 85°20′14″W / 32.62000°N 85.33722°W
Country United States
State Alabama
County Lee
Elevation 771 ft (235 m)
Time zone CST (UTC-6)
  Summer (DST) EDT (UTC-6)
GNIS feature ID 156176[1]

Chewacla, also known as Yongesborough, is an unincorporated community in the northeast corner of Lee County, Alabama, United States.

History

The name Chewacla is derived from the Hitchiti word sawackla, with sawi meaning "racoon" and ukli meaning "town".[2] Chewacla was located on the Central of Georgia Railway. It was once home to the Chewacla Lime Works, which operated a quarry.[3] A specific type of marble, known as Chewacla marble, was mined in this quarry. Chewacla marble was described as "a highly crystalline dolomite, for most part a beautiful pearly white stone".[4] Gneiss was also mined in the quarry and used to make millstones.[5]

Chewacla was the location of one of the first Rosenwald schools in Alabama.[6]

A post office operated under the name Yongesborough from 1859 to 1886 and under the name Chewacla from 1886 to 1907.[7]

References

  1. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Chewacla, Alabama
  2. Read, William A. (1984). Indian Place Names in Alabama. Tuscaloosa: The University of Alabama Press. p. 15. ISBN 0-8173-0231-X.
  3. List of Quarries in Alabama & Quarry Links, Photographs and Articles
  4. Lexicon of Geologic Names of the United States: A-L. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1938. p. 423.
  5. Charles D. Hockensmith (12 May 2009). The Millstone Industry: A Summary of Research on Quarries and Producers in the United States, Europe and Elsewhere. McFarland. p. 78. ISBN 978-0-7864-5380-1.
  6. Ellen Weiss; Robert Robinson Taylor (2012). Robert R. Taylor and Tuskegee: An African American Architect Designs for Booker T. Washington. NewSouth Books. p. 257. ISBN 978-1-58838-248-1.
  7. "Lee County". Jim Forte Postal History. Retrieved 1 January 2015.

External link