Oak Grove is a town in

Talladega County, Alabama Talladega County (pronounced Talla-dig-a) is a county located in the east central portion of the U.S. state of Alabama."ACES Winston County Office" (links/history), Alabama Cooperative Extension System (ACES), 2007, webpageACES-Talladega As of t ...

, United States. It incorporated in 1966. At the 2020 census, the population was 564.

Geography

The town of Oak Grove is located at (33.189772, -86.303163). According to the

U.S. 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 town has a total area of , all land. Oak Grove is a suburb of the city of Sylacauga. The two municipalities are contiguous, and both run along U.S. Highway 280, which runs from

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

, southeastward to

Columbus, Georgia Columbus is a consolidated city-county located on the west-central border of the U.S. state of Georgia. Columbus lies on the Chattahoochee River directly across from Phenix City, Alabama. It is the county seat of Muscogee County, with which it ...

, and then through Georgia toward Savannah. Oak Grove is southeast of Birmingham and north of Montgomery via U.S. Highway 231. Oak Grove is a hilly town occupying both sides of Landers Hill and Merkle Mountain. There is no town square or downtown. There are numerous businesses along U.S. Highway 280, locally called "the four-lane", and County Road 511, which was formerly U.S. 280 before construction of the four-lane. In the middle of Oak Grove between its two hills there was a cut-your-own Christmas tree farm which yearly drew hundreds of families to Oak Grove. It was started in 1978 by later Oak Grove Mayor Bloise Zeigler, who operated the farm through 2009. Zeigler grew the official Alabama state Christmas tree, which was displayed at the Alabama Governor's Mansion in 2004. The Christmas tree farm was closed in 2010 and donated by the former Mayor to the Town of Oak Grove as a community garden named "Comet Grove". It provides free produce to low-income people and cheap produce to everyone else. It has ordinary open gardens and two acres of experimental "

plasticulture The term plasticulture refers to the practice of using plastic materials in agricultural applications. The plastic materials themselves are often and broadly referred to as "ag plastics". Plasticulture ag plastics include soil fumigation film, i ...

Demographics

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 in ...

of 2000, there were 457 people, 178 households, and 124 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 203 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 96.72%

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 ...

, 2.84%

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 ...

and 0.44% Native American. 0.44% of the population were

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, 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 viceroyalties forme ...

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. There were 178 households, out of which 32.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.7% were married couples living together, 10.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.8% were non-families. 25.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 2.96. In the town, the population was spread out, with 24.5% under the age of 18, 7.4% from 18 to 24, 26.7% from 25 to 44, 26.9% from 45 to 64, and 14.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 87.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 77.8 males. The median income for a household in the town was $28,625, and the median income for a family was $29,625. Males had a median income of $29,417 versus $19,375 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 town was $12,865. About 10.4% of families and 15.7% of the population 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 ...

, including 21.0% of those under age 18 and 21.8% of those age 65 or over.

Notable events

Oak Grove gained national recognition in 1954 when it became the first reported site in the history of the world of a

meteor A meteoroid () is a small rocky or metallic body in outer space. Meteoroids are defined as objects significantly smaller than asteroids, ranging in size from grains to objects up to a meter wide. Objects smaller than this are classified as mi ...

striking a human. Mrs. Ann E. Hodges was on her sofa in her Oak Grove home when something crashed through her roof, striking her on the hip. It turned out to be a meteorite. The incident gained national news coverage, including an appearance by Mrs. Hodges on Garry Moore's TV show, ''

I've Got a Secret ''I've Got a Secret'' is an American panel game show produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman for CBS television. Created by comedy writers Allan Sherman and Howard Merrill, it was a derivative of Goodson-Todman's own panel show, ''What's My Line ...

''. Celebrity participant

Henry Morgan Sir Henry Morgan ( cy, Harri Morgan; – 25 August 1688) was a privateer, plantation owner, and, later, Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica. From his base in Port Royal, Jamaica, he raided settlements and shipping on the Spanish Main, becoming we ...

guessed the secret. Oak Grove has a "

Gravity Hill A gravity hill, also known as a magnetic hill, mystery hill, mystery spot, gravity road, or anti-gravity hill, is a place where the layout of the surrounding land produces an optical illusion, making a slight downhill slope appear to be an uphi ...

" where cars appear to coast uphill, but is actually an optical illusion. The phenomenon has generated news coverage and curiosity seekers. It is on Old Highway 280, now named "Gravity Hill Road", just off Highway 280 in the western part of Oak Grove toward Childersburg. One native son of Oak Grove was elected to the Alabama Public Service Commission. Jim Zeigler, born in neighboring Sylacauga in 1948 and raised in Oak Grove, won the PSC seat in 1974, becoming the youngest person to hold a state office. He won the seat two years after graduating from the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and largest of the publi ...

, where he had been elected President of the Student Government Association, defeating the fraternity political party, " The Machine".

Notable person

* Skinny Graham, former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

References

External links

Town of Oak Grove
{{authority control Towns in Talladega County, Alabama Towns in Alabama