Jacksons' Gap, AL

Jackson's Gap is a town in Tallapoosa County, in east-central Alabama, with land along Lake Martin. It incorporated in 1980 and had 828 residents at the 2010 census. The community sits among lake shoreline, wooded ridges, and roads linking the central county to Dadeville and Alexander City. Horseshoe Bend National Military Park is nearby, adding a major piece of Creek and U.S. military history to the wider landscape. Lake Martin's shoreline arrived later, changing the map around the town and bringing water to its edge.

ATTRSaverivers / CC BY-SA 4.0

The town's name comes from a local settler who built a cabin and traded with Creek people, travelers, and later settlers in the 1810s or 1820s. A blacksmith shop, post office, sawmill, cotton gin, and the Tallapoosa Baptist Church followed as the settlement grew. The church, established in 1854 and now known as Jackson's Gap Baptist Church, is a surviving local thread. The town's map today is shaped by both old trade routes and Lake Martin's broad shoreline.