Larkinsville, Alabama
Unincorporated community
Larkinsville Railroad Depot, 1920s
Larkinsville Railroad Depot, 1920s
Larkinsville is located in Alabama
Larkinsville
Larkinsville
Larkinsville is located in the United States
Larkinsville
Larkinsville
Coordinates: 34°41′23″N 86°7′36″W / 34.68972°N 86.12667°W / 34.68972; -86.12667
CountryUnited States
StateAlabama
CountyJackson
Time zoneUTC-6 (Central (CST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP code
35766
Area code(s)256 & 938
GNIS feature ID121399

Larkinsville is a historic village and populated place in Jackson County, Alabama, United States. Founded in 1828 by David Larkin,[1] it was incorporated into the nearby City of Scottsboro in the late 1960s.[2] In 1895, Larkinsville had a population of 216.[3] As late as 1940, the population was 320 according to the U.S. Census.[4] The historic Blue Spring Cemetery is located one mile southwest of the old village center.

History

David Larkin, third son born to a family of pioneers in Tennessee, established a trading post at Larkin's Landing on the Tennessee River near Goosepond Island shortly after Alabama gained statehood in 1819.[5] In the 1820s, he established a plantation of 32,000 acres[6] two miles west of present-day Scottsboro, and the village of Larkinsville developed around it. A post office was established in 1830, with David Larkin as postmaster, and Larkinsville became the most populous town in Jackson County up until the Civil War.[7] The first overland route through Larkinsville, now known as the Old Stage Road or County Road 30[8] ran from Huntland, Tennessee, across Cumberland Mountain and ended at Larkin's Landing. In 1850 the Memphis and Charleston railroad extended its line through Jackson County; David Larkin, as a railroad commissioner, established a station at Larkinsville.[9]

In the Civil War, Company K, the Larkinsville Guards, was organized in Larkinsville and served with the 4th Alabama Regiment under Captain A.C. Murray.[10] The war devastated Larkinsville, as it did most of North Alabama. On June 30, 1862, shortly after the fall of Huntsville, the Tenth Wisconsin regiment occupied Larkinsville.[11] As a stop along the strategically important railroad, Larkinsville would be occupied by Union forces for the remainder of the war, including the 13th Wisconsin,[12] the 10th Iowa,[13] the 116th Illinois,[14] and the 101st U.S. Colored Regiment.[15]

The postwar establishment of the county seat at Scottsboro began a gradual movement of people and business away from Larkinsville.[16] The railroad kept the village alive into the 1930s, but Alabama State Road 35 and U.S. 72, the main east-west highways in Jackson county, bypassed Larkinsville entirely. [17] Today the formerly thriving village remains a tiny rural community.[18]

References

  1. ↑ Kennamer, John Robert, Sr., History of Jackson County Alabama, Jackson County Historical Association, Scottsboro, Alabama 1935 (reprinted 1993), page 164
  2. ↑ "Notification Service | Post Offices". www.postalhistory.com. Retrieved 2023-09-04.
  3. ↑ "Larkinsville (Jackson County, AL): Nearby in 1890s". roadsidethoughts.com. Retrieved 2023-09-04.
  4. ↑ Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, United States of America, Bureau of the Census, Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1940
  5. ↑ Kennamer, p. 23
  6. ↑ 1850 Agricultural Census - Jackson Co., AL, Alabama Department of Archives and History,http://files.usgwarchives.net/al/jackson/census/1850/1850jacksonag.txt
  7. ↑ Kennamer, page 164
  8. ↑ Kennamer, page 26
  9. ↑ "The Democrat 21 Mar 1850, page 1". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2023-09-04.
  10. ↑ Larkin, Priscilla (2021). Miss Priscilla Larkin: The Civil War Diary of a Southern Belle, January 1-December 21, 1862. Malbuff.
  11. ↑ Miss Priscilla Larkin, 6/30/1862
  12. ↑ "Union - Wisconsin Infantry (Part 1)". www.civilwararchive.com. Retrieved 2023-09-04.
  13. ↑ "Union - Iowa Infantry (Part 2)". www.civilwararchive.com. Retrieved 2023-09-04.
  14. ↑ "Default | eHISTORY". ehistory.osu.edu. Retrieved 2023-09-04.
  15. ↑ "101st Regiment U.S. Colored Infantry". www.buffalosoldier.net. Retrieved 2023-09-04.
  16. ↑ Kennamer, page 165
  17. ↑ Milepost Maps (Map) (1999 ed.). Alabama Department of Transportation
  18. ↑ Larkinsville United Methodist Church,photo and caption,https://www.flickr.com/photos/auvet/451426598
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