Site of Old St. Stephens

Site of Old St. Stephens. . , A landmark on the Tombigbee River, the massive limestone bluff called Hobuckintopa by Choctaw Indians, became the site of Alabama's Territorial Capital. , In 1789, while under Spanish rule, Governor Estevan Miro sent a detachment of soldiers upriver from Mobile and established a crude fort on this site as an outpost for Spanish Mobile. , In 1799 in compliance with the Treaty of San Lorenzo, which set the southern boundary of the United States at the 31 degree parallel, the Spanish found that Fort San Estevan was on its soil. On May 5, they evacuated the fort leaving the keys to the fort with US Militiamen. , In 1803, the US government established the St. Stephens Land Office and Choctaw Trading Factory adjacent to the blockhouse of the fort. Settlers began moving to the vicinity Trade flourished and a town grew up on the hill behind the fort. , In 1811, an Act of the Mississippi Territorial Legislature incorporated the town of St. Stephens, translating the name from Spanish San Estevan. In 1817, when Mississippi became a state, Alabama became a territory, with St. Stephens as the territorial capital until 1819. , St. Stephens became the site of many firsts in Alabama: the first bank, the Tombeckbe Bank; the first school, Washington Academy; the first steamboat, the first U.S. Land Office, the first theater, and others. , The St Stephens Historical Commission and the State of Alabama are grateful to Southdown, Inc. and its CEO Clarence C. Comer for donating 178 acres of land. The donation of this historic land enabled the St. Stephens Historical Commission to further preserve this rich period of history and provide recreational opportunities for Alabamians and visitors.