Alabama Hills Sunrise
Alabama Hills, Eastern Sierra, California
You would expect the location "Alabama Hills" to be somewhere in the state of Alabama, would you not? So why is it in California, on the other side of the country?
The name is a relic of the United States Civil War between the Union and the Confederacy. Prospectors in this region were Confederate partisans who were excited by the exploits of the Confederate warship CSS Alabama. They named many of their claims in honor of the warship. The name Alabama Hills eventually came to be applied to the entire region.
After the CSS Alabama was sunk off the coast of France in 1864 by the Union warship USS Kearsarge, prospectors supporting the Union started their own naming frenzy. A mining district, a town (now abandoned), and a mountain peak and pass were named Kearsarge.
Explored January 18, 2016
Alabama Hills Sunrise
Alabama Hills, Eastern Sierra, California
You would expect the location "Alabama Hills" to be somewhere in the state of Alabama, would you not? So why is it in California, on the other side of the country?
The name is a relic of the United States Civil War between the Union and the Confederacy. Prospectors in this region were Confederate partisans who were excited by the exploits of the Confederate warship CSS Alabama. They named many of their claims in honor of the warship. The name Alabama Hills eventually came to be applied to the entire region.
After the CSS Alabama was sunk off the coast of France in 1864 by the Union warship USS Kearsarge, prospectors supporting the Union started their own naming frenzy. A mining district, a town (now abandoned), and a mountain peak and pass were named Kearsarge.
Explored January 18, 2016