Review of Lost Capitals of Alabama, by Herbert James Lewis

Jim Lewis’ slim book chronicling the story of Alabama’s several seats of government, Lost Capitals of Alabama, is a welcome addition to the literature on the state’s early history. It explores one of the lesser known chapters in the development of the state, detailing the five capitals it had in the span of its first two and a half decades of statehood. It’s an interesting read, but not simply because it chronicles the stories behind how and why the center of the early state’s political world came to be located in turns at St. Stephens, Huntsville, Cahaba, Tuscaloosa, and Montgomery. Lewis sheds light on what life was like in the communities which hosted the capitals, as well as what life was like in the larger state at important milestones in its early years, such as the famed visit of Lafayette, the founding of University of Alabama, and the Second Creek War. Along the way, he also introduces readers to leaders and key personalities of the era, many of whom unfortunately, and undeservedly, are largely forgotten today. Lost Capitals is destined to serve as a reference source on its topic for years to come.

JMB