The Chief Ladiga Trail was named for a Creek Indian leader who signed the Cusseta Treaty in 1832. Under the terms of that treaty, the Creeks gave up claim to their remaining land in northeast Alabama. Because he signed the treaty, Ladiga was allowed to select some land in Benton County (later Calhoun County) for his wife and himself.
A year after the treaty, he sold his part of his holding for $2,000 to a group of land speculators headed by Charles White Peters.
The land became Jacksonville. After selling the lead, Ladiga and his wife moved to the Cherokee Nation and settled in what is now Piedmont.
His cabin stood until about 1900 and he is buried in an unmarked grave near his home place.
Jacksonville was first called Drayton and was established in the early 1800’s on the site of the Creek Indian Chief Ladiga’s trading post, which was located on the southwest corner of the square.
In 1834, the town was renamed in honor of Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United States.
As the first county seat of Calhoun County, Jacksonville remained the center of local goivernment until 1899 when the county seat was moved to Anniston.
We enjoy riding by the old train depot in Jacksonville which was constructed in 1860 by the Selma, Rome and Dalton Railroad. It was used as a transfer and storage point for Confederate trooped and materials during the War Between the States.
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