The James T. Staples riverboat (officially registered as the Jas. T. Staples, also known as the Big Jim) was a Tombigbee River stern-wheel paddle steamer belonging to Captain Norman Staples, the boat’s designer who named it after his father.
The Russell Cave National Monument was a sacred burial site that is at least 10,000 years old.
The Bladon Springs Cemetery is haunted by Captain Norman Staples, captain of the James T. Staples riverboat. Staples experienced hardships brought on by a large steamboat company’s unethical practices and desire to establish a monopoly over all boats on the Alabama rivers.
Gaineswood was designed and built in 1843 by General Nathan Byran Whitfield, a cotton planter from North Carolina.
Dr. John R. Drish came to Tuscaloosa, Alabama in 1822, moving from Virginia. He was a widower, but he later married wealthy widow Sarah Owen McKinney in 1835.
Sometime during the early 1800s, a man named Charles Boyington and his best friend, Nathaniel Frost, spent many of their afternoons together in the Church Street Graveyard located on Bayou Street. It is unknown why the chose this location in particular to spend their time, but the two were always remembered by the place.
