Train Depot, Stevenson, Alabama

34°52'7.00"N
85°50'22.00"W
About 107 miles NE of Birmingham

Prompted by an entry in Alabama Off the Beaten Path, we visited Stevenson on our way to Russell Cave. The depot houses a museum of local history that we spent an enjoyable hour browsing through. The attendant graciously narrated our tour through each room, bringing the culture of the area alive. She explained that the stuffed eagle was electrocuted just outside of town and that the Christmas tree of kitchen gadgets stayed up year round because it turned out to be the best way to display them. She also showed us the Christmas decorations she was sorting through, explaining how she'd stretched the museum's meager budget at after-Christmas sales. My favorite exhibit was the room hung with a long series of class photos from the high school. Each included the staff, so I watched the secretary and principal as they aged and the students documented the march of fashion.

Next to the depot is the former hotel, currently hosting city offices. Only the truly exhausted must have slept well so few inches away from the tracks.

Stevenson Depot Days are held every year in June. And the depot is decorated annually for the winter holidays.

When we go back, we will look for Fort Harker and Little Brick.

Russell Cave National Monument, Alabama

34 deg 58' 46.39" N
85 deg 48' 34.68"W
About 5.8 miles NW of Bridgeport

Nestled in Doran's Cove in the Appalachian foothills up against the Tennessee border, Russell Cave National Monument had few visitors when we dropped by last fall. It seems to have been more popular with prehistoric Americans. The cave has evidence of 10,000 years of human occupation. A free ranger-guided tour goes over the site of an extensive excavation conducted jointly by the Smithsonian Institution and National Geographic in the 1950's. There are fine exhibits and a movie in the visitor center, but I preferred the booklet we purchased reprinting an article from the October, 1956 National Geographic Magazine.

There are picnic tables at the visitor center with a large open area that hosts a Native American Festival in May. There is also a nature walk that is a stop on the North Alabama Birding Trail.

The ranger that gave our tour through the cave shelter was from Orme, Tennessee, just up the valley. She said that when there is flooding along the stream that comes to the surface in the park and flows into the cave, the rangers are always surprised by the quantity and variety of debris from Orme that ends up in the cave. We decided to slip briefly into another state to investigate. Orme is a former railroad town with little to offer the tourist beyond a picturesque train station. We didn't mind. We were very satisfied to soak up the intense fall colors all along the valley.