Historic Shore May Be Developed
Fort Morgan Peninsula in Alabama
Credit: Lyle Brown
Nov. 27, 2001
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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