Dale County is a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

located in the

southeastern The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

part of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

. As of the 2020 census the population was 49,326. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

and largest city is

Ozark The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and the extreme southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover a significant porti ...

. Its name is in honor of General

Samuel Dale Samuel Dale (1772 – ), known as the "Daniel Boone of Alabama", was an American frontiersman, trader, miller, hunter, scout, courier, soldier, spy, army officer, and politician, who fought under General Andrew Jackson, in the Creek War, la ...

. Dale County comprises the Ozark, AL Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the

Dothan Dothan is a place-name from the Hebrew Bible, identified with Tel Dothan. It may refer to: * Dothan, Alabama, a city in Dale, Henry, and Houston counties in the U.S. state of Alabama * Dani Dothan, lyricist and vocalist for the Israeli rock and ne ...

-Ozark, AL

Combined Statistical Area Combined statistical area (CSA) is a United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB) term for a combination of adjacent metropolitan (MSA) and micropolitan statistical areas (µSA) across the 50 US states and the territory of Puerto Ric ...

. It was originally a part of

Enterprise–Ozark micropolitan area The Enterprise–Ozark Micropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, was an area consisting of two counties in southeastern Alabama, anchored by the cities of Enterprise, Alabama, Enterprise and Ozark, Alabama, Ozar ...

before being split, and for a longer while was originally part of the Dothan-Enterprise-Ozark

combined statistical area Combined statistical area (CSA) is a United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB) term for a combination of adjacent metropolitan (MSA) and micropolitan statistical areas (µSA) across the 50 US states and the territory of Puerto Ric ...

but Coffee County is now its own separate primary

statistical area The federal government of the United States, United States federal government defines and delineates the nation's metropolitan areas for statistical purposes, using a set of standard statistical area definitions. the U.S. Office of Management an ...

in later censuses. The vast majority of

Fort Rucker Fort Rucker is a U.S. Army post located primarily in Dale County, Alabama, United States. It was named for a Civil War officer, Confederate General Edmund Rucker. The post is the primary flight training installation for U.S. Army Aviators and ...

is located in Dale County.

History

The area now known as Dale County was originally inhabited by members of the

Creek Indian The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language), are a group of related indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands, indigenous (Native American) peoples of the Southe ...

nation, who occupied all of southeastern Alabama during this period. Between the years of 1764 and 1783 this region fell under the jurisdiction of the colony of

British West Florida British West Florida was a colony of the Kingdom of Great Britain from 1763 until 1783, when it was ceded to Spain as part of the Peace of Paris. British West Florida comprised parts of the modern U.S. states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alab ...

. The county, together with the surrounding area, was ceded to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in the 1814

Treaty of Fort Jackson The Treaty of Fort Jackson (also known as the Treaty with the Creeks, 1814) was signed on August 9, 1814 at Fort Jackson near Wetumpka, Alabama following the defeat of the Red Stick (Upper Creek) resistance by United States allied forces at ...

, ending the Creek Indian Wars. A blockhouse had been constructed during the conflict on the northwestern side of the

Choctawhatchee River The Choctawhatchee River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map , accessed 15 April 2011 river in the southern United States, flowing through southeast Alabama and the Panhandle o ...

, and the first non-

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

residents of Dale County would be veterans who began to settle in the area around 1820. Dale County was established on December 22, 1824. It originally included the whole of what is now Coffee County and Geneva County, together with the "panhandle" portion of Houston County. The original county seat was located at Dale's Court House (now the town of Daleville), but when Coffee County split from Dale in 1841, the seat was moved to Newton. Here it remained until 1870 when, following a courthouse fire in 1869 and the formation of Geneva County (which took the southern third of Dale County), the county seat was moved to the town of Ozark, where it remains. In 1903 a small portion of the southeast part of Dale county was joined to the newly formed Houston County. Portions of the 15th Regiment of Alabama Infantry, which served with great distinction throughout the

U.S. Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states t ...

, were recruited in Dale County, with all of Co. "E" and part of Co. "H" being composed of Dale County residents. This unit is most famous for being the regiment that confronted the 20th Maine on the

Little Round Top Little Round Top is the smaller of two rocky hills south of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania—the companion to the adjacent, taller hill named Big Round Top. It was the site of an unsuccessful assault by Confederate troops against the Union left f ...

during the

Battle of Gettysburg The Battle of Gettysburg () was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. In the battle, Union Major General George Meade's Army of the Po ...

on July 2, 1863. Despite several ferocious assaults, the 15th was ultimately unable to dislodge the Union troops, and was ultimately forced to retreat after a desperate bayonet charge led by the 20th Maine's commander, Col. Joshua L. Chamberlain. This assault was vividly recreated in Ronald F. Maxwell's 1993 film '' Gettysburg''. The 15th would continue to serve until the final capitulation of Lee's army at Appomattox Court House in 1865. Another regiment recruited largely from Dale County was the 33rd Alabama; Companies B, G and I were recruited in the county, with Co. G coming from Daleville; Co. B from Newton, Skipperville, Clopton, Echo and Barnes Cross Roads; and Co. I from Newton, Haw Ridge, Rocky Head, Westville and Ozark. This regiment fought with great distinction in the

Army of Tennessee The Army of Tennessee was the principal Confederate army operating between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River during the American Civil War. It was formed in late 1862 and fought until the end of the war in 1865, participating i ...

, mostly under famed General

Patrick Cleburne Major-General Patrick Ronayne Cleburne ( ; March 16, 1828November 30, 1864) was a senior officer of the Confederate States Army who commanded infantry in the Western Theater of the American Civil War. Born in Ireland, Cleburne served in the 4 ...

, once winning the Thanks of the Confederate Congress for its action at Ringgold Gap. The regiment was largely annihilated during the battles of Perryville and

Franklin Franklin may refer to: People * Franklin (given name) * Franklin (surname) * Franklin (class), a member of a historical English social class Places Australia * Franklin, Tasmania, a township * Division of Franklin, federal electoral d ...

, but a few men survived and returned to Dale County after the war.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.3%) is water. The county is located in the

Wiregrass region The Wiregrass region or Wiregrass country is an area of the Southern United States encompassing parts of southern Georgia, southeastern Alabama, and the Florida Panhandle. The region is named for the native ''Aristida stricta'', commonly known ...

of southeast Alabama. It is the fifth-smallest county in Alabama by land area and third-smallest by total area.

Major highways

* U.S. Highway 84 *

U.S. Highway 231 U.S. Route 231 (US 231) is a north-south United States Numbered Highway System, U.S highway that is a parallel route of U.S. Route 31, US 31. It runs for from St. John, Indiana, St. John, Indiana, at U.S. Route 41 in Indiana, US 41 ...

* State Route 27 * State Route 51 * State Route 85 * State Route 92 * State Route 123 * State Route 134 * State Route 248 * State Route 249

Adjacent counties

* Pike County (northwest) * Barbour County (north) * Henry County (east) * Houston County (southeast) * Geneva County (southwest) * Coffee County (west)

Demographics

2000 census

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

of 2000, there were 49,129 people, 18,878 households, and 13,629 families living in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

was 88 people per square mile (34/km²). There were 21,779 housing units at an average density of 39 per square mile (15/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 74.4%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

, 20.4%

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.60% Native American, 1.1%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 0.15%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, 1.3% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 2.2% from two or more races. 3.4% of the population were

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race. 2.85% of the population reported speaking

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

at home, while 1.51% speak

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

br>
There were 18,878 households, out of which 36% had ch—ildren under the age of 18 living with them, 55% were Marriage, married couples living together, 13.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.8% were non-families. 24.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.5 and the average family size was 3.0. In the county, the population was spread out, with 26.6% under the age of 18, 9.6% from 18 to 24, 30.3% from 25 to 44, 21.8% from 45 to 64, and 11.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95 males. The median income for a household in the county was $31,998, and the median income for a family was $37,806. Males had a median income of $29,844 versus $19,988 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the county was $16,010. 15% of the population and 12.6% of families were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

. 19.4% of those under the age of 18 and 16.5% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.

2010 census

As of the

of 2010, there were 50,251 people, 20,065 households, and 13,721 families living in the county. The

was 90 people per square mile (35/km²). There were 22,677 housing units at an average density of 40 per square mile (15/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 74.1%

, 19.3%

, 0.7% Native American, 1.1%

, 0.1%

, 1.8% from

, and 3.0% from two or more races. 5.6% of the population were

of any race. There were 20,065 households, out of which 30.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.9% were Marriage, married couples living together, 14.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.6% were non-families. 27.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 2.98. In the county, the population was spread out, with 24.8% under the age of 18, 9.4% from 18 to 24, 26.7% from 25 to 44, 25.7% from 45 to 64, and 13.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36.1 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.0 males. The median income for a household in the county was $43,353, and the median income for a family was $50,685. Males had a median income of $24,569 versus $34,856 for females. The

for the county was $21,722. 14.8% of the population and 11.4% of families were below the

. 19.6% of those under the age of 18 and 10.2% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.

2020 census

As of the

2020 United States census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...

, there were 49,326 people, 18,806 households, and 12,515 families residing in the county.

Government

Dale County is reliably Republican at the presidential level. The last Democrat to win the county in a presidential election is

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

, who won it by a majority in

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

Education

Most areas are zoned to Dale County School District. However four municipalities have their own school districts: Daleville City School District, Dothan City School District, Enterprise City School District, and Ozark City School District. Additionally residents of

are assigned to schools operated by the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA), for elementary school. Students beyond the elementary level at Fort Rucker may attend non-DoDEA schools for secondary levels, with an on-post family choosing one of the following three options: Daleville City, Enterprise City, or Ozark City. - From a .mil site.

Communities

Cities

* Daleville *

(partly in Houston County and Henry County) *

Enterprise Enterprise (or the archaic spelling Enterprize) may refer to: Business and economics Brands and enterprises * Enterprise GP Holdings, an energy holding company * Enterprise plc, a UK civil engineering and maintenance company * Enterpris ...

(partly in Coffee County) * Level Plains *

(county seat)

Towns

* Ariton * Clayhatchee *

Grimes Claire Elise Boucher (; born March 17, 1988), known professionally as Grimes, is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Her early work has been described as extending from "lo-fi R&B" to futuristic dance-pop, and has i ...

* Midland City *

Napier Field Napier Field is a town in Dale County, Alabama. At the 2020 census, the population was 409. It is part of the Ozark micropolitan statistical area. The town was originally constructed as a military air base during the Second World War. It is curr ...

* Newton * Pinckard

Census-designated place

(

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

base)

Unincorporated communities

* Arguta * Asbury *

Barnes Barnes may refer to: People * Barnes (name), a family name and a given name (includes lists of people with that name) Places United Kingdom *Barnes, London, England **Barnes railway station ** Barnes Bridge railway station ** Barnes Railway Bri ...

Bertha Bertha is a female Germanic name, from Old High German ''berhta'' meaning "bright one". It was usually a short form of Anglo Saxon names ''Beorhtgifu'' meaning "bright gift" or ''Beorhtwynn'' meaning "bright joy". The name occurs as a theonym, s ...

* Clopton * Dillard *

Echo In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the lis ...

Ewell Ewell ( , ) is a suburban area with a village centre in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, approximately south of central London and northeast of Epsom. In the 2011 Census, the settlement had a population of 34,872, a majority of wh ...

Gerald Gerald is a male Germanic given name meaning "rule of the spear" from the prefix ''ger-'' ("spear") and suffix ''-wald'' ("rule"). Variants include the English given name Jerrold, the feminine nickname Jeri and the Welsh language Gerallt and Iris ...

Kelly Kelly may refer to: Art and entertainment * Kelly (Kelly Price album) * Kelly (Andrea Faustini album) * ''Kelly'' (musical), a 1965 musical by Mark Charlap * "Kelly" (song), a 2018 single by Kelly Rowland * ''Kelly'' (film), a 1981 Canadi ...

* Mabson * Rocky Head * Skipperville * Sylvan Grove

Notable people

(1772 – May 24, 1841), was an American frontiersman, known as the "Daniel Boone of Alabama", is buried here. * Nolan Williams (1941-2022), Alabama state representative

References

External links

Dale County Sheriff's Office
{{coord, 31, 26, N, 85, 36, W, region:US-AL_type:adm2nd_source:dewiki, display=title Enterprise–Ozark micropolitan area 1824 establishments in Alabama Populated places established in 1824

History

Geography

Major highways

Adjacent counties

Demographics

2000 census

2010 census

2020 census

Government

Education

Communities

Cities

Towns

Census-designated place

Unincorporated communities

Notable people

See also

References

External links