Little remains from the heyday of Wilcox County's once-thriving Rehoboth community

Old Rehoboth Cemetery in Wilcox County, Ala.

The Rehoboth community in northwestern Wilcox County was once a thriving village that prospered during the latter half of the 19^th century, but little remains today from the heyday of this community just north of the Alabama River.

According to historical maps, “downtown” Rehoboth was located near Chilatchee Creek, at what is now the intersection of County Road 29 and County Road 4. If you go there today, the most remarkable thing you will see is the ABC Elementary School campus, which is just a stone’s throw away from this remote crossroads. Little else remains to show visitors that this was once one of the most prominent communities in Wilcox County.

Perhaps the best source of information about the Rehoboth community is W. Stuart Harris’s 1977 book “Dead Towns of Alabama.” According to Harris, Rehoboth “once contained stores, a hotel, the Rehoboth Male Academy (a private boarding school), and a number of homes. The cemetery of the church (for which the village was named) contains many graves; the oldest burial dates from the 1840s. The private cemetery of the Young family, surrounded by an iron fence, stands at the side of the village.”

Harris noted that in 1977, the antebellum home of the late John Laird, educator, was still occupied by his sisters, and that two other large antebellum houses were still standing. All of the other buildings of the village, including the old Rehoboth church, had already disappeared by the time of his book’s publication. He also mentioned that Rehoboth did not appear on any state maps until the early 1860s.

With all of this in mind, I jumped in my truck on Friday afternoon and rode up to Rehoboth. As I crossed the J. Lee Long Bridge at Millers Ferry, dark clouds began to gather from the northwest, and when I reached County Road 29 at Alberta, it was misting rain. By the time I reached the old Rehoboth crossroads, I had to use my windshield wipers just to see the road.

At the crossroads, I pulled over and spent several minutes taking in my surroundings. As the rain began to slacken, I noted that there was not much to see there aside from the modern school building. I tried to imagine what this spot must have looked like over a century ago when it was the center of a hustling, bustling community.

From there, I turned down County Road 4, a dirt road that runs from County Road 29 to State Highway 5. A few miles from the crossroads, on the right-hand side of the road, I came upon the remnants of the old Rehoboth cemetery. While a few of the more modern graves there are visible from the road, I discovered that almost all of the older graves are nearly hidden in the surrounding woods.

After a few minutes of paying my respects to the pioneer families buried there, I got back in the truck and continued down County Road 4 towards Highway 5. A few miles later, I came upon perhaps the most remarkable landmark in all of Wilcox County, that is, Jake Peavy’s private baseball field, which features a replica of Fenway Park’s famous “Green Monster.” From the road, I snapped a few pictures of the baseball field before continuing on my way.

On the ride home, I pondered all of the things that I had not seen during my trip to Rehoboth. Where were the antebellum homes mentioned by Harris in his 1977 book? Where was the Young family cemetery? I was pretty sure that none of these were visible from the road, but was it possible that I’d driven right by them without noticing?

In the end, I was certain of one thing: It would be a mistake to label modern-day Rehoboth as a “ghost town.” During my visit on Friday, I saw a number of residents working in their yards, kids shooting basketball and jumping on trampolines, and more than a few cars headed here and there on a surprisingly busy County Road 29. No doubt these people are proud of their community, and I’m sure that you can still say that Rehoboth continues to thrive as the home for many of Wilcox County’s finest residents.