Ardela

Ardela is a ghost town in Bibb County, Alabama, located close to the community of West Blocton within the Cahaba coal field. It began as a railroad junction in the 1880s, developed to support the coal mining operations of the Cahaba Coal Mining Company. The company's nearby Blocton mines were shipping coal by 1884, and Ardela functioned as a key part of that infrastructure. The town's name honors Cornelius Cadle, a Union Army colonel who co-founded the mining company.

Today Ardela exists largely as a historical footnote on the landscape. Visitors drawn to Alabama ghost towns may find the setting evocative, but should expect little in the way of standing structures or formal access — this is a quiet, rural site rather than a developed heritage attraction.