Alabama Archaeological Society

09/13/2026

Welcome to this week's Sunday Saves post!
Sunday Saves specifically features Alabama Historical Commission Places in Peril. Places in Peril is a program led by the AHC in a joint effort with the Alabama Heritage to identify and preserve historic sites through public attention. Learn more about the Places in Peril program on the AHC website: https://ahc.alabama.gov/placesinperil.aspx

The Old Alabama Penitentiary, also known as the Wetumpka Women's Prison or The Walls, in Elmore county was listed as a Place in Peril in 1995.
The prison was the site of Alabama's first state penitentiary and one of the earliest attempts at penal reform in the Southeast.
Built in 1841, the prison was built after Governor Bagby enacted criminal code that authorized the first prison in the state. Costing approximately $85,000 to build at the time, the prison was built with 208 cells surrounded by 25 foot walls. The first prisoner entered their cell in 1842. After being converted to a women's prison in 1922, a fire destroyed part of the prison in January of 1931, and was later renamed the Julia Tutwiler Prison in 1941. However, when the newly built Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women opened in 1942, the use of the prison gradually decreased.
The prison was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in May of 1973 and remained standing until the remainder of the building was demolished sometime between 1998 and 2005.
You can read more about the Old Penitentiary at the websites below:
https://www.census.gov/about/history/galleries-archives/resources-references/data-museums/elmore-county-historical-society-and-museum.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wetumpka_State_Penitentiary

Places in Peril and other sites listed by the AHC can be found on their GIS Portal at the link below:
https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/a56a0fd27c00410c8cf0bdd1294a1df2

If you know about or have pictures of this Place in Peril, leave us a comment!



Photo credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wetumpka_State_Penitentiary #/media/File:Main_building_at_Wetumpka_Prison.jpg

09/08/2026

Archaeology after Dark host, Daniel Rhodes was featured on Coffee & History presented by our friends Alabama Heritage. We appreciate all the incredible work that these folks do for the state of Alabama.

If you haven't seen our podcast yet, check it out on our Youtube channel
https://youtube.com/?si=KyrjxEvlZ-GKWjfz

09/06/2026

Welcome to this week's Sunday Saves post!
Sunday Saves specifically features Alabama Historical Commission Places in Peril. Places in Peril is a program led by the AHC in a joint effort with the Alabama Heritage to identify and preserve historic sites through public attention. Learn more about the Places in Peril program on the AHC website:
https://ahc.alabama.gov/placesinperil.aspx

This week’s site is the Mellow Valley High School in Clay County, listed as a Place in Peril in 2021.
The school was built in 1910 and operated until 2003.
While the building has not been listed in the National Register of Historic Places or the Alabama Register of Landmarks & Heritage, the school was preserved by a community non-profit, the Mellow Valley High School Alumni and Friends Association Inc.
The community was able to gather support to not only purchase the property, but preserve it and renovate the school into the Mellow Valley Community Center. The community center now hosts multiple events throughout the week and year.
Learn more about the school and the community center, below:
https://www.mellowvalleycc.org/event-list

If you or someone you know attended Mellow Valley, there is a Facebook group to reconnect with past alumni and friends:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/MellowValley/

Places in Peril and other sites listed by the AHC can be found on their GIS Portal at the link below:
https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/a56a0fd27c00410c8cf0bdd1294a1df2

If you know about or have pictures of this Place in Peril, leave us a comment!


Photo credits:
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10202363970872981&set=p.10202363970872981

08/30/2026

Welcome to this week's Sunday Saves post!
Sunday Saves specifically features Alabama Historical Commission Places in Peril. Places in Peril is a program led by the AHC in a joint effort with the Alabama Heritage to identify and preserve historic sites through public attention. Learn more about the Places in Peril program on the AHC website: https://ahc.alabama.gov/placesinperil.aspx

This week’s site is the Ariton Universalist Church in Dale County, listed as a Place in Peril in 2025.
The church was built in 1913, which stands as a monument to the dedication of the town of Ariton’s early settlers who were able to build the structure as a place of worship for Universalists.
The church was listed on the Alabama Register of Landmarks & Heritage in March of 1990.
Unfortunately there is not much information on the church available.

Places in Peril and other sites listed by the AHC can be found on their GIS Portal at the link below:
https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/a56a0fd27c00410c8cf0bdd1294a1df2

If you know about or have pictures of this Place in Peril, leave us a comment!

Each year, the Places in Peril program calls public attention to a select number of Alabama's threatened historic and archaeological sites. Places in Peril is a listing of some of the state’s most endangered historic properties and focuses on bringing state and regional attention to these places i...

08/23/2026

Welcome to this week's Sunday Saves post!
Sunday Saves specifically features Alabama Historical Commission Places in Peril. Places in Peril is a program led by the AHC in a joint effort with the Alabama Heritage to identify and preserve historic sites through public attention. Learn more about the Places in Peril program on the AHC website:
https://ahc.alabama.gov/placesinperil.aspx

This week’s site is Locust Hill, otherwise known as the John Daniel Rather House in Colbert County, listed as a Place in Peril in 2004.
Locust Hill was built in 1823 by William Winter and his wife Frances Washington (kin to George Washington) and is one of the oldest surviving brick homes in the state of Alabama. The home was used as the headquarters of Colonel Florence N. Cornyn during the Civil War, which led to the inside being destroyed and the surroundings of the home desolate.
The property was purchased by John Taylor Rather in December of 1865, the money used for the purchase hidden in the hood skirts of his daughter-in-law and her maid to keep from being burned with his Decatur home. Rather’s son John D. Rather led the effort in planting the locust trees and other plants that give Locust Hill its icon look and name.
Locust Hill passed to John D. Rather’s daughter Mary Wallace Kirk, recounting her time at Locust Hill in her 1975 book of the same name published by the University of Alabama Press.
The home is now owned by Eli Harper and Laura Gayle Smith, who have renovated the home into an event and wedding venue.
Locust Hill was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in December of 1982.

Learn more about Locust Hill below:
-https://omeka.lib.auburn.edu/items/show/1467
-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Daniel_Rather_House
-https://abandonedsoutheast.com/2022/09/15/morgan-curtis-house/

Places in Peril and other sites listed by the AHC can be found on their GIS Portal at the link below:
https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/a56a0fd27c00410c8cf0bdd1294a1df2

If you know about or have pictures of this Place in Peril, leave us a comment!


Photo credits
https://omeka.lib.auburn.edu/items/show/1467

08/19/2026

Join us for this month's Food for Thought lecture tomorrow, 8/20, at 12:00pm! Julia Brock will present "Closed Seasons: The Transformation of Hunting in the Modern South." The program will be held in the Archives’ Joseph M. Farley Alabama Power Auditorium in Montgomery. It will also be livestreamed on the ADAH’s page and YouTube channel. The program is FREE and open to the public.

In this photo from our Alabama Media Group Collection, Pat Dye and Paul "Bear" Bryant pause on a rabbit hunting trip in Hale County. Charles Nesbitt took the February 1982 photo for the Birmingham News.

Learn more about Thursday's program here: https://www.facebook.com/share/1NE4htNLtf/

08/19/2026

The deadline for submitting symposia or panels is August 31, 2026. The deadline for individual posters or papers is August 31, 2026. 

08/18/2026