Chambers County AlArchives History .....Osanippa November 2020
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Ronald Williams Hopewellroad@yahoo.com September 26, 2021, 11:33 pm

Osanippa

There are a couple of places named “Berlin” in Alabama alone. “Hopewell” is a 
name that is scattered all over the South and place-names like “Glass” and 
“Bethlehem” are common names on the map—but the word “Osanippa” makes us unique. 
As far as I can tell there is only one Osanippa in the world.

Born, I suppose, somewhere around Buckalew Mountain, the tiny stream forms the 
Chambers County Lake and makes its way eastward through Cusseta to lend its name 
to a local Baptist church, skirts by Fairfax, makes an historic neighborhood in 
the far southeastern section of the county and empties into the Chattahoochee at 
Lake Harding, know locally as The Backwaters.

The historic spelling is up for grabs. There are some who use the double “s” and 
one “p.” But the other way around works just as well. I have even seen it on a 
map with a “c” and with no “i.” One map has the creek named “Osonuppah” and the 
town named “Ocannipe.”

Once you get past the spelling, the pronunciation is up for grabs. We have the 
common Osanippa followed by the old southern habit to change any name ending in 
“a” to the long “I” sound. So, we have Osanippi. Not to mention “Snapper Creek” 
and the more common “Snipper Creek.” 

Perhaps the earliest mention of Osanippa is in the journal of Benjamin Hawkins, 
Indian Agent, in the Fall of 1798. On October 6, Hawkins wrote, “The lands 
broken a mixture of chestnut, pine, post oak, hickory, red oak…Cross a creek 
running to the right, Osunnuppau, 60 feet wide. The lands broken of mixed growth 
and rich the bottom of the creek rocks with moss.” 

 As Hawkin’s seems to indicate, Osanippa means “Moss creek”.  It is from an 
ancient Indian word “assunwah’ meaning “long moss.” Some say it means “Moss up 
high.” Some believe that the Indians fed the salty moss to their hogs and 
cattle.

Hawkins also crossed the Creek Indian Path which would one day be called 
Hopewell Road. The path crossed the river and connected with Gray’s Road in 
Georgia which led to the Creek Indian Agency. On the Alabama side, the path led 
to the villages on the Tallapoosa River. 

George W. Houston built a ferry on the Chattahoochee River and called it Cave 
Springs Crossing. The ferry road became the Houston’s Ferry-Oak Bowery Road. 
Later, the ferry was run by the Collins Family and the road was known as the 
Collins Ferry-Oak Bowery Road. If you have a careful eye, the road can still be 
followed from Berlin, through Hopewell, Cusseta and Flint Hill, near Tuckersburg 
and on to Oak Bowery.

A strong community grew up around the ferry road. It was first known as Berlin 
(pronounced “Burlun”) and later known as Osanippa after the creek.  There was a 
good school located there known as Cave Springs Academy. Later, I have read of a 
school at Osanippa. Many saloons were located there, and the mail and the stage-
coach line ran through Osanippa. I have been told that along the river there is 
a long-lost cemetery with many graves which may be the Berlin Cemetery. I have 
never located this.



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