Northport in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama — The American South (East South Central)

Alabama's Historic Byler Road

Alabama's First Road

Photographed by Darren Jefferson Clay, July 12, 2026

1. Alabama's Historic Byler Road Marker

Inscription. Byler Road Pioneer's settled path to new lands, agriculture, transport and commerce that began in Northwest Alabama.

140 mile corridor/route designated on December 19th, 1819 by the State Legislature. This was Alabama's first legislative action. It started at the junction of Shoal Creek and Jackson Military Road (north end), 10 miles NE of Florence AL in Lauderdale County. It ended at the Warrior River Falls at the State Capitol crossing at Tuscaloosa (south end).

Byler Road in the Beginning The Byler Road was not surveyed. It was built along an ancient Indian Road (during the Archaic Period, about 7,000 years ago), and later called the Cherokee Trail. Evidence indicates that woodland bison may have created the trail as a migration path between the grassland of the mid Alabama/Mississippi region to the natural salt licks in Tennessee and Kentucky.

Byler Road - A State of Alabama Priority From the Creek Treaty of Ft. Jackson in 1814, a settlement came in the form of 22 million acres (federally owned). This area was widely settled in a land rush using rivers, roads, and trails to access the new lands. Settlers

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bought the land after 1818 for inexpensive prices set at the land offices in Huntsville, AL and Nashville, TN. Since the new state of Alabama (1819) had no treasury funds for road building, the first roads were built as toll roads using private capital and with state oversight using a license mechanism.

Road Visionaries Andrew Jackson's Army, returning from the Battle of New Orleans (1815), had a mission to locate a road that was a shortcut thru Northwest Alabama (the construction of Jackson Military Road was from 1816 to 1820).

Byler Road was intended to connect Jackson Military Road in Lauderdale County and to direct settler traffic from Nashville and points east into Alabama.

They saw the fertile potential of what became West Alabama.

Entrepreneurs of Byler Road: Jacob Pruitt - Captain • John Welsh Pruitt • John Byler - Captain, 3rd W. TN Mounted Infantry • William Russell - Major, Chief of Staff, and Road Overseer

Land Cost Highly Valued Cotton Land $50 to $150 per Acre • Average Cotton Land $20 per Acre • Marginal Land $2 per Acre

• Average and Highly Valued Cotton Lands were auctioned off to the highest

Photographed by Darren Jefferson Clay, July 12, 2026

2. Alabama's Historic Byler Road Marker

bidder.
• Marginal Lands were simply nominated by the buyer and usually purchased with 10% down and the remainder of the cost was paid in 4 annual payments.

Representations of Elements of the Road Travel Inns - Also known as "A Stand" • General Stores • Barber Shops • Taverns
Transport Conveyances for: Wagons • Ox Carts • Stage Coaches
Living Structures such as: Plantations • "Dog Trot" Homes • One Room Log Cabins
Land Usage for: Cotton Fields • Forest Lands • Topographic Watersheds

Traveler Destinations - Tuscaloosa/North Port State Capitol • Jemison's/Partlow/Bryce • Snow's Cotton Warehouses • J. Chism's Inn and Tavern • University of Alabama

Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Roads & Vehicles. A significant historical date for this entry is December 19, 1819.

Location. 33° 12.939′ N, 87° 34.64′ W. Marker is in Northport, Alabama, in Tuscaloosa County. It is at the intersection of Main Avenue and 1st Street, on the right when traveling south on Main Avenue. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 102 Main Ave, Northport AL 35476, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally,

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this marker is in the American South

and specifically in the Deep South.

Globally, it is in North America,

a Gulf of Mexico state,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Northport's Cotton Industry / Original Village of North Port (here, next to this marker); Home Guard Defended Covered Bridge / Bridging The Black Warrior River (approx. ¼ mile away); Shirley Place (approx. ¼ mile away); Horace King (approx. 0.3 miles away); Captain Benjamin F. Eddins (approx. 0.3 miles away); Medeiros Point (approx. 0.3 miles away); Burns’ Shoals (approx. 0.3 miles away); Navigation and Shipbuilding On The Black Warrior River (approx. 0.4 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Northport.

Credits. This page was last revised on August 17, 2026. It was originally submitted on August 15, 2026, by Darren Jefferson Clay of Duluth, Georgia. This page has been viewed 7 times since then. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on August 15, 2026, by Darren Jefferson Clay of Duluth, Georgia. • James Hulse was the editor who published this page.