Childersburg
About Childersburg
- 570 miles of shore on two lakes, a sportsman’s paradise for fishing and hunting.
- The heart of the greatest recreation area in the southwest.
- The Coosa River – third largest stream east of the Mississippi River.
- Desoto Caverns – first recorded cave in the United States. The onyx draperies are among the largest free hanging formations. They’re over 30 feet long.
- Only 30 minutes south of Birmingham.
- The oldest settlement in the United States – precedes St. Augustine, Florida by 25 years – 1540
Childersburg, Alabama is proclaimed as the Oldest Continually Occupied City in America…dating to 1540. The city’s beginnings date back to Coosa, a village of the Coosa Indian Nation that was located in the area. Hernando DeSoto, Governor of Cuba and Adelantado of Florida, accompanied by an army of six hundred men, began his march across the Southeastern section of North America in June, 1539. Traveling from Espiritu Santo, known now as Tampa Bay on the west coast of Florida, northward through Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, and then into Alabama, his men began their desperate search for gold and other riches unequal to any of those found by others in this new wild land of North America.
DeSoto’s expedition was in what would become the State of Alabama, having discovered it “not by sea, but after dangerous and difficult marches.” Following seven days of slowly marching down the bank of the Tennessee River, DeSoto entered the town of Coste on July 2, 1540. From Coste the expedition proceeded to Tali also located on the Tennessee River and then to the banks of the Coosa River. The middle of July saw DeSoto and his expedition reach the mighty empire of the great Coosa. On July 16, 1540, the vast army of Spaniards arrived at the town of Coca Coosa, located on the east bank of the river between the mouths of two creeks, now known as Talladega and Tallaseehatchee.
The twenty-six year old Chief of the Coosas came out to receive DeSoto…”bourne in a litter on the shoulders of his principal men…surrounded by many attendants playing flutes and singing.” For approximately a month, these travel weary invaders enjoyed the hospitality of the youthful chief and his tribe, even receiving an offer of a region of land to establish a Spanish colony. After offering many reasons for not accepting, DeSoto and his men left the Coosa in August of 1540. Over a period of approximately two hundred fifty years, explorers, conquistadors, traders, and pioneer settlers penetrated the vicinity of what today is known as Childersburg, Alabama.
This area, so rich in Indian lore and artifacts, abounding in culture and traditions, and substantiated by much written documentation, can support its claim to being the “oldest continuously occupied town in the United States.
Don’t Miss these attractions
- Coosa River
- Natch’s BBQ & Grill
- Old Towne Grill
- Hometown Barbecue
- DeSoto Caverns
- Green Hill Cemetery
- Butler Harris Rainwater Museum
- Kymulga Mill and Covered Bridge
- Fourmile Creek
- Griffen Branch
Visit town website, ,
201 8th Avenue, SW Childersburg, Alabama 35044-0369 |