Alabama's Black Belt region derives
its name from a narrow sash of
dark, fertile soil across the state's
midsection. Covering 1000 square
miles, the Black Belt occupies just 2%
of the state's landmass, but its history
and transformations have shaped
both the state and the nation.
For 10,000 years, rolling grasslands
blanketed the Black Belt, rooted in
its rich limestone soils. Native people
farmed and fished along the rivers
and hunted on the prairie. In 1540,
Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto
marched into the region and sparked
changes—disease, warfare, and
settlement—that dismantled these
indigenous cultures.
Settlers quickly found that the Black
Belt's soil grew cotton like no other.
"Alabama Fever" brought thousands
of settlers here in the early 1800s.
Prairie expanses became cotton
plantations. Slave labor drove the
cotton industry, and made this one of
the country's richest regions.
Where Nature and Culture Entwine
Just as people have shaped this landscape, so the
landscape has shaped the people who live here.
For more than ten thousand years, humans have
inhabited the Black Belt and left their mark on the
landscape. Run a handful of Black Belt soil through
your fingers. Walk through the dappled light of
a bottomland
hardwood forest. Explore remnant
prairie grasslands. These natural riches not only
nurture a tremendous diversity of wildlife—they
sustain dynamic human communities as well.
Evolving Communities
As long as humans have inhabited this landscape,
Black Belt communities have continuously changed
and evolved. Community members have begun
working together to conserve and honor this rich
social history. Archaeological sites reveal pre-
settlement history. Historic trails and cultural
centers convey the region's key role in the Civil
Rights movement. Regional museums showcase
local art and architecture, and festivals celebrate
traditional music, dance, and handcrafts.
Changing Landscape
For millennia, natural forces have slowly altered the
Black Belt landscape. In recent centuries, humans
brought rapid changes to the land. Native Black
Belt prairie gave way to croplands and pastures.
The region's primeval longleaf pine forests, once
shaped by fire, were sculpted by ax and saw to
yield pulp and lumber. Mighty rivers bisect the
region, continually reshaped by floodwaters and
modified by humans to facilitate travel and
produce hydropower.
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