Historical marker tells of old stage stop, Conecuh's first post office

Longmire Stagecoach Stop & First Conecuh Co. Post Office

This week’s featured historical marker is the “LONGMIRE STAGECOACH STOP & FIRST POST OFFICE IN CONECUH COUNTY” marker on the Monroe-Conecuh County line. The marker is located on the west side of County Road 5, just a few miles north of Burnt Corn, Alabama.

This marker was erected by the Alabama Historical Association in 2012. There’s text on both sides of this marker, but both sides are identical. What follows is the complete text from the marker.

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“LONGMIRE STAGECOACH STOP & FIRST POST OFFICE IN CONECUH COUNTY: Garrett Longmire had an early trading center, tavern and stage stop near here. He served as the postmaster when his store became a post office in 1818, one of the earliest in what was then the Alabama Territory. The Burnt Corn Post Office served as a distribution point for mail to many early post offices in south Alabama. In December of 1820, Longmire became Justice of the Conecuh County Court. Alabama Historical Association, 2012.”

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The “Archaeological Survey of the Old Federal Road” by Raven M. Christopher and Gregory A. Waselkov, which was published in April 2012, contains some interesting information about Garrett Longmire and his stagecoach stop. According to that publication, Longmire operated a tavern or inn along the Old Federal Road, a route which County Road 5 follows today. He and his wife, Susannah Winn Longmire, are believed to have come to Alabama in 1816 and opened their inn and store a short time later, the survey said.

“In 1821, the Longmires were members of Bethany Baptist Church at Burn Corn,” the survey said. “In 1835, they were granted letters of dismissal. This is likely the year they moved to Turnbull, Ala. The tavern is mentioned in several travelers’ accounts.”

The survey goes on to indicate that the exact location of Longmire’s Tavern is currently unknown. “In 1826, Garrett Longmire purchased a tract of land on the Old Federal Road,” the survey said. “According to the census records of 1820, Longmire was a resident of Conecuh County and owned 18 slaves. The family also acquired lands in Monroe County. With this information, it is very likely the old tavern site could be identified through archaeological testing.”

The historical marker above also mentions the Burnt Corn Post Office, which began operations in 1817. The Burnt Corn Post Office lasted for 185 years before it was eventually shut down in 2002. The old zip code for Burnt Corn was 36431.

Before I close this thing out, I'd like to say just a few words about the archaeological survey mentioned above. I highly recommend that those of you in the reading audience with any interest in early Alabama history, especially in Monroe and Conecuh counties, read this survey. You can view it online at http://www.usouthal.edu/archaeology/pdf/ofr.pdf. It’s 303 pages long, and it contains a wealth of interesting information about the early history of Alabama.

In the end, visit this site next Wednesday to learn about another historical marker. I’m also taking suggestions from the reading audience, so if you know of an interesting historical marker that you’d like me to feature, let me know in the comments section below.