Choccolocco Creek


The Choccolocco Creek is one of two main tributaries of the Coosa River in central Alabama. The watershed of the creek comprises 246,000 acres of drainage area. The waterway runs through the Talledega National Forest, and crosses through Calhoun, Talladega, and Cleburne counties, in central Alabama.

Hydrology and etymology

The headwaters of the creek are located in the Appalachian Mountains near Liberty Hill, Alabama, in the Talladega National Forest. The origin of the creek's name is from the Muskogean chahko lago, meaning "big shoals" or "big house".

Ancient sites

The Choccolocco Creek Archaeological Complex near Boiling Spring, Alabama, contains the remains of at least one temple and three burial mounds, and is an important piece of the history of early Middle Woodland period inhabitants in the area. There are indications of land usage along the creek stretching back to the Archaic Period, that includes evidence of extended habitation by the Mound Builders and peoples of the Mississippian culture.
Creek Chief Selocta Chinnabby's village was located on the north shore of Choccolocco Creek near the influx of Wolfskull Creek, An ally of the U.S., and a friend to Andrew Jackson during the War of 1812, in 1813 he and his tribe helped build a defensive stockade just three miles north of the settlement. Completed in 1813, the fort was known as Fort Chinnabee. Another Native American village further down stream, Estaboga, means "where the people reside" in the Muscogee language. It is today an unincorporated community in Talladega County. Following the Indian Removal of 1836, the creek valley was quickly settled by White settlers.

Condition

The creek is home to over 70 species, several of which are endangered, including the pygmy sculpin, the holiday darter, and the blue shiner. The wicker ancylid —a freshwater snail once thought extinct —was surprisingly found in the creek in 2011, and is still extant as of 2023. Environmental concerns in creek pollution have been focused primarily on discharges of Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs) into Snow Creek, a feeder stream of the Choccolocco, from the Monsanto plant that had operated at Anniston, Alabama from 1935 to 1971. The dumping and discharges have badly damaged the creek's ecosystem. There were still signs of continuing damage through at least 2007.