1. FT: Fort Mims 4 miles W Tensaw. Built by settlers in 1813, more than 100 houses surrounded the fort. It was attacked by Indians and all but 36 of the 500 area residents were massacred by the Creek Indians who burnt the fort and houses to the ground.

2. Ghost Town: Scrange in the NE corner of the county, 5 miles SE Blacksher.

3. GT Latham 4 miles SW Tensaw.

4. GT Clare 2 miles E Rabun.

5. GT Morrison on RR, 5 miles SE Rabun.

6. GT Dyas on RR, 6 miles S Rabun.

7. GT Carney on RR, 5 miles NE Bay Minette.

 8. While being pursued by hostile Indians around 1780, Spaniards buried an enormous treasure of gold bars near Bay Minette. There are numerous legends about treasure in the area ….one such cache is valued at $70,000.

9. Unidentified pirate treasure is said to be buried in the area of Bay Minette.

10. GT Dolives on RR, 2 miles WSW Bay Minette.

11. Morris Slater, alias Railroad Bill, was a train robber in the 1890’s in SW Alabama. None of the loot he acquired over his 6 years of banditry was ever recovered. Many believe the cash was buried, possibly in a cave. The only clue he left before he was gunned down at Atmore in 1896 was that he never strayed far from the RR tracks between Atmore and Bay Minette.

12. There are several old logging townsites containing relics and artifacts along this same route.

13. A cache of gold and silver coins worth $90,000 and known locally as the Gaineswood Treasure, remains buried near Stapleton.

14. GT Carpenter on RR, 5 miles WSW Bay Minette.

15. GT Hurricane on RR, 8 miles WSW Bay Minette.

16. GT Gateswood Junction on RR, 10 miles SE Gateswood.

17. GT Rosinton 5 miles NE Robertsdale.

18. From 1815-1864, Henry Numez operated a very profitable ferry on the Perdido River, about where hwy. 90 now crosses the river, about 16 miles NW of Pensacola, Florida on the Alabama side. He died around 1866 and it was believed by area residents that over $100,000 in gold and silver coins was never recovered. The hoard is presumed to be in several different caches and buried somewhere near the old ferry landing or the ruins of his old house.

19. Local stories claim that 2 small treasurecaches have been found in the immediate area but are not believed to have been a part of the Numez cache.

20. GT Battles Wharf on Mobile Bay, 2 miles SW Fairhope.

 21. GT Euclid 4 miles E Point Clear.

22. GT Marlow 8 miles E Point Clear.

 23. Fort Morgan on Mobile Point, 20 miles W GulfShores. First built by the Spaniards in 1559, and later occupied by the British, French and American forces.

24. Pirate treasure is buried on the tip of a long sandy peninsula separating Bon Secor Bay from the Gulf of Mexico near Fort Morgan.

 25. The pirate Jean LaFitte is reported to have cached upwards of $10 million in booty in the Fort Morgan area.

 26. The area of Fort Morgan was a haunt for the 19th century pirates and it is believed that a considerable number of treasure remains buried in the area that still awaits recovery. Individual coins have been found at the site.

27. In 1822, the American merchantman Margaret Ann, coming from New York, wrecked off the beach near Fort Morgan.

28. In 1559, a fleet of 13 Spanish vessels sailed from Vera Cruz to start a colony at Pensacola. While at anchor in Mobile Bay, a hurricane struck and 7 of the ships were cast up onto the beach and another hoisted into a grove of trees 300 feet inland on the E side of the bay. Those who survived were later picked up and returned to Mexico.

29. GT Gasque on Bon Secours Bay, 2 miles NW Pine Beach.

 30. GT Oak 5 miles NNW Gulf Shores.

31. GT Roscoe 5 miles due N Gulf Shores.

32. GT Swift 2 miles NW Miflin.

33. GT Josephine on Perdido Bay, 4 miles NE Orange Beach.

 2.Along the Alabama seacoast pirate treasures may be buried, including some caches by Jean Lafitte at Bayou LaBatre and elsewhere.

 3.On the shore of Bay Minette in Baldwin County some Spanish-American gold may have been cached. Nearby and not far from Fort Morgan pirates may have buried some treasure.

 4.C.E. Sharps, a wealthy mill owner in Alabama, liked to keep his money in gold coins, and hidden, according to one account. In June 1899 he drowned, taking his secret to the grave. 

1. Ghost Town: Murphrees Valley 3 miles SE Clarence.

2. GT Taits Gap on RR, 3 miles SW Altoona.

3. GT Champion on RR, 3 miles E Oneonta.

4. GT Inland on RR, 5 miles SW Allgood.

5. GT Royal 5 miles due S Allgood.

6. Gold nuggets can be found in the Little River area between Jamestown and Blanche. This area extends into Cherokee county as well.

7. Site: Blount Springs about 35 miles N of Birmingham, was used as early as 1825 and finally declined around 1915. 7A). Cullom Springs was located 1 mile to the W of Blount Springs.

 8. GT Rockland on RR, 2 miles SW Blount Springs.

 9. GT Linton on RR and S county line, 3 miles N Warrior.

10. GT Lehigh 5 miles S Locust Fork.

1.The old town of Maplesville was located on Hi-way 191 about 3 miles from the present town. Nothing remains but the old cemetary.

2.Stanton was built in the middle of Ebenezer church battlefield.Located on hi-way 22 about 6 miles south of Maplesville.

I have found many civil war relics here. A church and a few houses remain.

3.  Gold was first discovered in Chilton County west of the Coosa River along tributaries of the Chestnut Creek and Blue Creek in the 1830s.  Most of Alabama's gold deposits were discovered in an area called the Piedmont Upland which include the following counties: Chilton, Clay, Cleburn, Coosa, Randolph, Talladega, and Tallapoosa. Twenty years later, the California Gold Rush caught the dreams of these early prospectors, and Alabama's gold was largely forgotten.

Placer Deposits

A placer deposit is a concentration of a natural material that has accumulated in unconsolidated sediments of a stream bed, beach, or residual deposit.  Gold derived by weathering or other process from lode deposits is likely to accumulate in placer deposits because of its weight and resistance to corrosion.  In addition, its characteristically sun-yellow color makes it easily and quickly recognizable even in very small quantities.

The gold pan or miner's pan is a shallow sheet-iron vessel with sloping sides and flat bottom used to wash gold-bearing gravel or other material containing heavy minerals. The process of washing material in a pan, referred to as "panning," is the simplest, most commonly used, and least expensive method for a prospector to separate gold from the silt, sand, and gravel of the stream deposits.  It is a tedious, back-breaking job and only with practice does one become proficient in the operation. Thankfully, technology finally caught up with our gold fever and brought us metal detectors!

    You can always ask for permission to hunt on any private property, but there are also several places you can pan and metal detect in public access areas.  The following lands are controlled by the the Talladega National Forest Service.  Contact the local Local Forest Ranger for more information including maps, regulations, and mineral rights.

• Talladega County: Between Chandler Springs and Waldo in the Talladega River; and stream beds south of Waldo
• Cleburn County: SW of Chulafinnee in the Chulafinnee Creek and nearby / connecting streams and washes.

 

This one I have personal knowledge of! About 6 miles north of Montevallo, near moores cross roads, just before the arrival of General Wilson's union troops, slaves were ordered to bury all family silverware,money and valuables in a swamp behind the Cunningham Plantation. According to all family records, this was never recovered.