Leesburg, AL

Leesburg is a Cherokee County town squeezed between two big pieces of northeastern Alabama geography: Lookout Mountain to the north and Weiss Lake on the Coosa River to the south. The town began as Hamptonville, with a post office in 1836, then took the Leesburg name in 1839. US 411 runs through town toward Centre, the county seat, while Weiss Dam sits just south of town and the lake is less than a mile away. That makes water and mountain, rather than just a highway sign, the quickest way to place Leesburg.

At the everyday level, the lake supplies swimming, boating, camping, and fishing, and Leesburg has parks with pavilions, grills, playgrounds, and a baseball-softball complex. Nearby Cherokee Rock Village sits atop Lookout Mountain with views over Weiss Lake, tying the town’s north and south edges together. Leesburg’s local read is a small county town with an old post-office name, a road running east-west, and the Coosa basin right outside town. Start with the lake, glance up at Lookout Mountain, and you’ve got the map.