Hoyt Cagle
Interstate Vs. History
Mon Jun 4 20:01:57 2001


Mr. Pitt:
I wish you to know of the very deep respect and high regard that I have for you. You always are on top of things; yet manage to come across as a nice guy, not an ego tripper.

As far as the endangered sites, I certainly didn't mean just Roddey, Dodge and Forrest. Fort Rose, (which I must admit I'm partial to, it being one of my little discoveries), is certainly a historic site by anyone's definition. Here we have the exact site (and know the construction date down to the exact days) of a Union fort built by slave labor under the supervision of Union troops. We know exact names and ranks of some of the Union officers involved, and can make a pretty good guess at a few of the slaves' names. All in all, a thoroughly documented site.

There is at least the possibility that this interstate will destroy the site of Spangler's Mill. An account of the engagement there can be found in the O.R.

Brown's Ferry will be, at the very least, severely compromised, and the old road bed leading from there, (shown on the 1818 Melish Map), will in part be destroyed. I could go on and on with Lawrence County sites alone, much less such Colbert County sites as Rock Cut, etc. And, if this isn't enough reason to start to get upset, please keep in mind that I'm talking of just one tiny segment of this road. I am not familiar enough with other parts of the state (much less MS and GA) to even hazard a guess as to the number and location of other important sites that will suffer.

On this issue I don't mean to sound as though I am fighting progress. North AL needs this interstate for its development and I am all for it. I just don't want it at the price of our history and heritage.

The railroad of which you spoke runs almost exactly along the original route. By the way, one large segment of this was the very first railroad in Alabama, and one of the very first in the U. S.

One other thing, this corridor is one mile wide.