Historic Shore May Be Developed
Readers seek help for preservation emergencies
/ Nov. 27, 2001
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(Lyle Brown)
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Dear Preservation 911,
The Fort Morgan Civic Association is trying to preserve
a historic tract of land on the Fort Morgan Peninsula in Alabama,
west of Gulf Shores, Ala., and south of Mobile Bay.
During the War of 1812, Navy pilots were stationed
on a base there, so the several-hundred-acre site was called Navy
Cove. Later, in the 1820s, boat pilots worked to guide ships into
Mobile Bay, so the site was known as Pilot Town. At the peninsula,
workers transferred goods from seagoing ships to shallow-draft
vessels for transport to Mobile, Ala. In 1906, a deadly hurricane
wiped out Pilot Town, destroying its 30 homes.
The land also was the site of Indian habitation
in 500 B.C. and may contain Indian graves.
In 1998, a developer bought 96 acres of the original
Pilot Town. The land is within the preservation boundaries of
the nearby Bon Secour wildlife refuge, but the owner/developer
wants more than the "fair market value" offered by the Fish and
Wildlife Service. The Fort Morgan Civic Association is looking
for alternative means to preserve the tract. We need help.
Sincerely,
Lyle Brown
Fort Morgan Civic Association
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