Chewacla, Alabama

{{Infobox settlement

|name = Chewacla, Alabama

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|settlement_type = Unincorporated community

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|pushpin_map = Alabama#USA

|pushpin_label = Chewacla

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|subdivision_type = Country

|subdivision_name = United States

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|subdivision_name1 = Alabama

|subdivision_type2 = County

|subdivision_name2 = Lee

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|population_as_of = 2000

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|timezone = CST

|utc_offset = -6

|timezone_DST = EDT

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|elevation_ft = 771

|coordinates = {{coord|32|37|12|N|85|20|14|W|region:US_type:city|display=inline,title}}

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|blank1_info = 156176{{gnis|156176}}

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Chewacla, {{IPAc-en|tʃ|u|'|w|ɑː|k|l|ə}} {{respell|choo|ahk|lə}} also known as Yongesborough {{IPAc-en|j|ɔː|ŋ|ɡ|ʊ|s|b|ɔː|r|ɔː}} {{respell|yawn|guus|baw|raw}}, is an unincorporated community in the northeast corner of Lee County, Alabama, United States.

History

The name Chewacla is derived from the Hitchiti word sawackla, with sawi meaning "racoon" and ukli meaning "town".{{cite book |last=Read |first=William A. |date=1984 |title=Indian Place Names in Alabama |location=Tuscaloosa |publisher=The University of Alabama Press |page=15 |isbn=0-8173-0231-X }} Chewacla was located on the Central of Georgia Railway. It was once home to the Chewacla Lime Works, which operated a quarry.[http://quarriesandbeyond.org/states/al/alabama_photo_1a.html List of Quarries in Alabama & Quarry Links, Photographs and Articles] A specific type of marble, known as Chewacla marble, was mined in this quarry. Chewacla marble was described as "a highly crystalline dolomite, for most part a beautiful pearly white stone".{{cite book|title=Lexicon of Geologic Names of the United States: A-L|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uh3wAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA423|year=1938|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|pages=423}} Gneiss was also mined in the quarry and used to make millstones.{{cite book|author=Charles D. Hockensmith|title=The Millstone Industry: A Summary of Research on Quarries and Producers in the United States, Europe and Elsewhere|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dOgUSeTAXaQC&pg=PA78|date=May 12, 2009|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-5380-1|pages=78}}

Chewacla was the location of one of the first Rosenwald schools in Alabama.{{cite book|author1=Ellen Weiss|author2=Robert Robinson Taylor|title=Robert R. Taylor and Tuskegee: An African American Architect Designs for Booker T. Washington|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XGYKEFz8Cd0C&pg=PA257|year=2012|publisher=NewSouth Books|isbn=978-1-58838-248-1|pages=257}}

A post office operated under the name Yongesborough from 1859 to 1886 and under the name Chewacla from 1886 to 1907.{{cite web | url=http://www.postalhistory.com/postoffices.asp?task=display&state=AL&county=Lee | title=Lee County | publisher=Jim Forte Postal History | access-date=January 1, 2015}}

Gallery

Below are photographs taken in Chewacla as part of the Historic American Buildings Survey:

File:CONVICT QUARTERS OR KEEP FROM THE SOUTHWEST. - Chewacla Limeworks, Limekiln Road, Chewacla, Lee County, AL HABS ALA,41-CHEWA,1-6.tif|Convict quarters, Chewacla Lime Works

File:OLD COMMISSARY BUILDING, FROM SOUTH EAST. - Chewacla Limeworks, Limekiln Road, Chewacla, Lee County, AL HABS ALA,41-CHEWA,1-3.tif|Old commissary building, Chewacla Lime Works

File:Old Mule Stable. - Chewacla Limeworks, Limekiln Road, Chewacla, Lee County, AL HABS ALA,41-CHEWA,1-9.tif|Old mule stable, Chewacla Lime Works

File:REMAINS OF OLD LIME KILNS. - Chewacla Limeworks, Limekiln Road, Chewacla, Lee County, AL HABS ALA,41-CHEWA,1-1.tif|Remains of old lime kilns

File:THE OLD LIME PIT LOOKING SOUTH. - Chewacla Limeworks, Limekiln Road, Chewacla, Lee County, AL HABS ALA,41-CHEWA,1-2.tif|Old lime pit

References

External links

[http://www.historicmapworks.com/Buildings/index.php?state=AL&city=Chewacla&id=797 Pictures of the Chewacla Lime Works]

{{Short description|Unincorporated community in Alabama, United States}}

Category:Unincorporated communities in Alabama

Category:Unincorporated communities in Lee County, Alabama

Category:Alabama placenames of Native American origin

Category:Lime kilns in the United States