Small Town USA: Exploring Cusseta, Alabama – Into Georgia & Beyond!

Cusseta, Alabama

“Cusseta is a town in Chambers County, Alabama, United States. Situated between Opelika and Lanett, it was named for the ancient Creek Indian town of Cusseta. As of the 2010 census, its population was 123.” – Wikipedia.org

Interesting Fact: “Pat Garrett, the lawman famed for killing the outlaw Billy the Kid, was born near Cusseta in 1850.”

“The community was believed to be unincorporated until 2006, when rediscovered documents indicated that Cusseta had been incorporated as a city in 1853. As the community diminished in size over the years, its status was forgotten.”

Cusseta, Alabama Ride Experience Video

In this video, JOM of the Gravel Cyclist crew charts a course into the unknown wild lands of Alabama, along a journey that meanders from Cusseta, to Lanetta, Alabama / West Point, Georgia, and beyond. As is with the nature of exploring on the mixed-surfaced roads less traveled, JOM may have briefly ventured onto private land. A revised route may be published soon.

Continued from above:

Lanett, Alabama

“Lanett is a city in Chambers County, Alabama, United States. At the 2010 census, the population was 6,468, down from 7,897 in 2000. Lanett, originally called Bluffton, is located in eastern Alabama, on the Chattahoochee River, southwest of Atlanta. The city’s name is derived from Lafayette Lanier and Theodore Bennett, founders of the West Point Manufacturing Company.”

West Point, Georgia

“West Point is a city in Troup and Harris counties in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is located approximately halfway between Montgomery, Alabama, and Atlanta along Interstate 85. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 3,474 and in 2015 the estimated population was 3,728.”

“The city’s present name comes from its being near the westernmost point of the Chattahoochee River, where the river turns from its southwesterly flow from the Appalachian Mountains to due south – for all practical purposes – and forms the boundary with Alabama. The large nearby reservoir, West Point Lake, was created by the Army Corps of Engineers by the building of the West Point Dam, for water storage and hydroelectric power generation. The reservoir stores water which can be released during dry seasons, in order to maintain the water level of the navigable inland waterway from Columbus, Georgia, south to the Gulf of Mexico.”

LaFayette, Alabama

“LaFayette is the county seat of Chambers County, Alabama, United States, 47 miles (76 km) northwest of Columbus, Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city was 3,003.”

“Chambers County was formed in 1832. The newly elected county officials opted to locate the county seat as near as possible to the center of the county. Lots for the new town were auctioned in October 1833, with proceeds from the sale financing the construction of a courthouse and jail. The town was first called “Chambersville”, but by the time of incorporation on January 7, 1835, the town name had been changed to “Lafayette”, named after the Marquis de Lafayette;

Its spelling was changed to “LaFayette” due to the influence of newspaper editor Johnson J. Hooper, who created a fictional character called Captain Simon Suggs, a backwoods southerner who pronounced the town’s name as “La Fait”.  The city’s newspaper, The LaFayette Sun, was founded under the name The Alabama Standard in April 1841 and adopted its current name on August 3, 1881.”

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Links of Interest:

• Opelika, Alabama Ride Experience
• LaFayette, Alabama Ride Experience
• Ribble Cycles CGR SL Carbon Gravel Bike Review
• SRAM Force eTap WIDE Review on Gravel!
• Gravel Cyclist’s Route Library

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