HEART

of the BLACKBELT

 

Faunsdale, Alabama sits at the intersection of U.S. Highway 80 and Alabama Route 25, a convenient stop for loyal Bama fans making the backroad pilgrimage from south Alabama to Tuscaloosa to watch the Crimson Tide roll. Born of the cotton economy that made the  Canebrake region of the Black Belt famous, Faunsdale once bustled with two cotton gins, a cottonseed mill, five general stores, two “fancy” grocery stores, a drug store, a railroad depot and a bank.

 

Today, it still retains some of the physical characteristics of small town America from a hundred years ago: brick storefronts and covered sidewalks, a 19th century church and a small brick jail. All of these landmarks give tiny Faunsdale its sense of place, and live in the fond memories of visitors who have danced to Motown at the Faunsdale Bar & Grill or eaten Crawfish Pistolettes at the Alabama Crawfish Festival. Yet it is the town's most prominent visual landmark, the circa 1910 water tower, which announces its identity to the world whizzing by and which signals "home" to those lucky enough to claim Faunsdale as part of their history.