Alabama’s Stagecoach Route Through Leeds
Road, River and Cultures Connect Three Counties at Leeds
Where Alabama’s Appalachian Experience Displays State Treasures
Central Alabama’s longest-lived stagecoach route passes through Leeds as it curves and slopes alongside the Little Cahaba River and nestles between Appalachian foothills. The historic quality of the farms, neighborhoods and the small city of Leeds promises tourists an authentic view of rich Appalachian Alabama. The scenic route connects three counties: Shelby, Jefferson and St. Clair.
State Highway 119 in Shelby County at U.S. Highway 280 travels north 11 miles to the beginning of Alabama’s Stagecoach Route Through Leeds. Scenic 119 continues north until it reaches U.S. highway 78 where the byway turns east until it passes through Old-Town Downtown Leeds. It ends at Interstate 20 and U.S. Highway 411 in Leeds–St. Clair County. Surrounded by mountain ridges, the stagecoach road is an ideal historic byway.
Alabama’s Stagecoach Route Through Leeds began as an American Indian trail traversing a vast watershed. It served as a staging ground for three emerging Alabama cultures. Early Christian Cherokees, along with European circuit riders, used the path to plant Methodist churches. The Christian Indian culture arrived from North Carolina.
The War of 1812 brought Andrew Jackson. His scouts widened the Indian trail as they made roadways for supply wagons. By 1820, European settlers arrived, drawn by stories of artesian wells and good bottomland. They were largely veterans of the Creek Indian skirmishes of the War of 1812.
The Ashville-to-Montevallo stagecoach road was mapped through present-day Leeds by 1820. The original roadbed served as central Alabama’s crossroads when the first black settlers came to Leeds in the 1880s to work on the railroads. In Leeds, at Oak Tunnel, John Henry lost his life in the famous contest with the steam machine. Local descendants of early black settlers say that his spirit haunts whomever has the last spike he drove into Oak Mountain. For almost 200 years the stagecoach road changed little. It still bears the landmarks and family names of the early settlers.
More than 22 markers in Leeds document the stagecoach road. More than 33 homes, businesses, churches and cemeteries appearing on the eight-mile byway through Leeds display county, state or national markers. Leeds Historical Society opens to the public by appointment Rowan House Stagecoach Stop at state Highway 119 and Elliott Lane as well as Bass House Museum at state Highway 119 and Leslie Street.
The historic park two blocks south of Bass House Museum displays a monument to three Medal of Honor recipients who were Leeds natives. Leeds is considered to have the most Medal of Honor recipients per capita of any city in the United States. The Alabama Legislature has named state Highway 119 through Leeds “Erwin, Lawley & McLaughlin Medal of Honor Highway.” It also designated Interstate 20 from Leeds to the Georgia state line as “Medal of Honor Highway.”
All of the bridges along state Highway 119 and U.S. Highway 411 through Leeds have markers identifying the historic Little Cahaba River. The river is uniquely beautiful and entwined with early Alabama history. The stagecoach road through Leeds travels beside the Cahaba River when not crossing it. The valley contains archival treasures and historic sites existing within a setting of natural beauty that is largely untouched by developers. Among the historic treasures are American Indian archives and horse and cattle farms. These treasures also include historic homes, churches, businesses and cemeteries.
Today, nature enthusiasts enjoy the Leeds scenic setting for bicycling, canoeing, horseback riding, nature photography and fishing. Canoes, flatboat and houseboat rentals are available at Lake Purdy. Local horse farms offer riding lessons by appointment. Bank-side fishing is free, and picnic sites locate beside the Little Cahaba River. Turning off state Highway 119 onto Zeigler Road leads about a mile west to the sites of Bass Pro Shops and Barber Vintage Motorsports, where more than 2.5–million tourists visit annually.
Turning east at state Highway 119 and Parkway Drive leads to Old-Town Downtown Leeds, which incorporated in 1887. Old-Town is decorated with hanging baskets trailing flowers in the breeze from May through November. Leeds is a tree city and a bird sanctuary. Flowers on downtown streets display the hues of each season.
Pocket parks, gazebos and benches appear along Parkway Drive. Shops and antique dealers locate in Old-Town. The Leeds cement plant’s downtown office building is a design of acclaimed industrial architects of the 1930s. The small town operates banks, a pharmacy, a grocery store, printing companies, a hometown newspaper, a hardware store, a library, a performing arts theater and an arts center. ATROX, the largest “haunted house” in the Southeast, is in an old factory at the east end of Parkway Drive.
The 9th Street district, turning north off Parkway Drive, is listed on the National Register of Historic Districts. The Historic Depot and Davis House located here are open to the public by appointment. Three blocks north, 9th Street becomes Whitmire Street, and two blocks farther north it intersects U.S. Highway 411. Two blocks south of the traffic light is Shiloh Cemetery, the oldest Cumberland Presbyterian cemetery in middle Alabama, with graves dating as early as 1819.
Continuing north leads to I-20. Sites along this route include historic homes and churches. Cedar Grove Cemetery was a 19th-century burial ground. A large flea and antique market locates across the street from Cedar Grove. Fast food and other restaurants, such as Santa Fe Cattle Co. and Chick-Fil-A, are near the interstate. The Days Inn motel is at the end of the byway in Leeds. Across the freeway, in Moody, are a Best Western, Comfort Inn and Super 8 Motel.
Ultimately, Leeds is “Central Park” to largely urban Jefferson County. It is a getaway for those who love a small-town atmosphere but also like the cultural and social events of a large city with arts, zoos, theaters and more.
