St. Stephens or Saint Stephens Located near the Tombigbee River in the southwestern part of the state and 67 miles north of Mobile, it is composed of two distinct sites: Old St. Stephens and New St. Stephens. The Old St. Stephens site lies directly on the river and is no longer inhabited. It was the territorial capital of the Alabama Territory. Now encompassed by the Old St. Stephens Historical Park, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Changes in the territorial capital and transportation resulted in the Old St. Stephens site being bypassed by development. "New" St. Stephens developed two miles inland around a railway station, but adjacent to the old site. It is the location of the post office, Baptist and Methodist churches, and residences. It has one building listed on the National Register and another on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage.
Demographics
St. Stephens first appeared on the 1890 U.S. Census as an unincorporated village. It did not reappear again until 2010 when it was classified as a census designated place in the 2010 U.S. census.
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"
|+St. Stephens CDP, Alabama – Racial and ethnic composition<br><small></small>
!Race / Ethnicity <small>(NH = Non-Hispanic)</small>
!Pop 2010
!style="background-color: #ffffb3;" |Pop 2020
!% 2010
!style="background-color: #ffffb3;" |% 2020
|-
|White alone (NH)
|310
|style='background: #ffffe6; |279
|62.63%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |67.23%
|-
|Black or African American alone (NH)
|178
|style='background: #ffffe6; |126
|35.96%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |30.36%
|-
|Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)
|0
|style='background: #ffffe6; |3
|0.00%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.72%
|-
|Asian alone (NH)
|2
|style='background: #ffffe6; |1
|0.40%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.24%
|-
|Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)
|0
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0
|0.00%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.00%
|-
|Other race alone (NH)
|0
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0
|0.00%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.00%
|-
|Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)
|2
|style='background: #ffffe6; |5
|0.40%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |1.20%
|-
|Hispanic or Latino (any race)
|3
|style='background: #ffffe6; |1
|0.61%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.24%
|-
|Total
|495
|style='background: #ffffe6; |415
|100.00%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |100.00%
|}
History
Old St. Stephens was situated on a limestone bluff that the Native Americans called Hobucakintopa. It was located at a point on the Tombigbee River where rocky shoals ended navigation for boats traveling north from Mobile, 67 miles to the south. As early as 1772, British surveyor Bernard Romans noted that "sloops and schooners may come up to this rapid; therefore, I judge some considerable settlement will take place."
The Choctaw Federal Trading House was established in 1803 at St. Stephens, named for the dominant Native American tribe in the area. Americans traded manufactured goods such as tools and cloth for deerskins. George Strother Gaines was appointed by the federal government to head the Choctaw Agency in 1805 as the federal representative to the people. He continued to use the old Spanish blockhouse as the agency's store and established a land office in the former warehouse. He used the home of the former Spanish commandant as his own residence. In 1811 Gaines constructed what may have been the first brick building built by Americans in (today's) Alabama; it served as a warehouse.
Settlers living around Fort St. Stephens requested official recognition from the Mississippi Territorial legislature, which chartered the town of St. Stephens on January 8, 1807. The charter was amended on December 18, 1811, and the settlement was officially renamed Saint Stephens. By 1815, the Mississippi Territorial legislature surveyed the town site and lots were sold. Approximately 40 houses were reported in the town in 1816. Additionally, the St. Stephens Methodist Church building, completed in 1857, was listed on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage on March 25, 1976.
- Israel Victor Welch, member of the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States from 1862 to 1865
See also
- List of current and former capital cities within U.S. states