Autauga County is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

located in the central portion 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 so ...

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

. As of the 2020 census the population was 58,805. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

is Prattville. Autauga County is part of the Montgomery metropolitan area.

History

Autauga County was established on November 21, 1818, by an act of the Alabama Territorial Legislature (one year before Alabama was admitted as a State). As established, the county included present-day Autauga County, as well as Elmore County and

Chilton County Chilton County is a County (United States), county located in the Central Alabama, central portion of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 45,014. The county seat is Clanton, Alabama, C ...

. At the time,

Autauga Autauga County is a County (United States), county located in the Central Alabama, central portion of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the population was 58,805. Its county seat is Prattville, Alabama, ...

(aka, Tawasa) Indians lived here. They were concentrated at ''Atagi'' (meaning "pure water") village situated on the banks of a creek by the same name (called "Pearl Water Creek" by settlers); it is a tributary of the

Alabama River The Alabama River, in the U.S. state of Alabama, is formed by the Tallapoosa River, Tallapoosa and Coosa River, Coosa rivers, which unite about north of Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery, near the town of Wetumpka, Alabama, Wetumpka. Over a co ...

. Other scholars suggest the Creek word ''atigi'', meaning "border," as the source of the name Autauga. The Autauga were a band of the Alibamu tribe, and named after their geographic location. The Alibamu eventually were absorbed into the Creek Confederacy. During

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before Presidency of Andrew Jackson, his presidency, he rose to fame as a general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses ...

's invasion of the area during the

Creek War The Creek War (also the Red Stick War or the Creek Civil War) was a regional conflict between opposing Native American factions, European powers, and the United States during the early 19th century. The Creek War began as a conflict within th ...

, as part of the War of 1812, the Autaga sent many warriors to resist. The county was part of the territory ceded in 1814 by the Creek Confederacy in the

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 ...

. The territorial legislature designated the first county seat as Jackson's Mill, but the court met there only briefly, choosing to select a permanent seat at

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. The new county seat was built on the former site of Atagi village in the southeast corner of the county. With population growth more in the west of the county, the county seat was moved to a more central location at

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

in 1830. Losing business and residents to the new county seat, the town of Washington dwindled until it was completely deserted by the late 1830s. Daniel Pratt arrived in Autauga County in 1833 and founded the new town of Prattville, north of Atagi on the fall line of Autauga Creek. His

cotton gin A cotton gin—meaning "cotton engine"—is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, enabling much greater productivity than manual cotton separation.. Reprinted by McGraw-Hill, New York and London, 1926 (); ...

factory quickly became the largest manufacturer of gins in the world; it was the first major industry in Alabama. Pratt financially backed the recruitment at his factory of men for the Prattville Dragoons, a fighting unit for the Confederacy. It was organized in anticipation of the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

. Other units formed in Autauga County included the Autauga Rifles (Autaugaville), The John Steele Guards (western Autauga Co.) and the Varina Rifles (northern Autauga Co.). None of the fighting of the Civil War reached Autauga County. Pratt was able to secure payment of debts from Northern accounts soon after the war, lessening the disabling effects of the

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...

period in the county. Immediately after

emancipation Emancipation generally means to free a person from a previous restraint or legal disability. More broadly, it is also used for efforts to procure Economic, social and cultural rights, economic and social rights, civil and political rights, po ...

in early 1863, Charles Atwood, a freedman who had formerly been enslaved by Daniel Pratt, bought a house in the center of Prattville. He became one of the founding investors in Pratt's South and North Railroad. It was exceptional for an

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

to become so economically successful and prominent, and to own land in an Alabama city in this period. In 1866 and 1868, the legislature established Elmore and Chilton counties from Autauga County. The county seat was newly designated as Prattville, which was the population center of the redefined jurisdiction. A new courthouse was completed there in 1870 by local builder George L. Smith. In 1906, a new and larger courthouse was erected a block north; it was designed in a modified

Richardsonian Romanesque Richardsonian Romanesque is a architectural style, style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after the American architect Henry Hobson Richardson (1838–1886). The revivalism (architecture), revival style incorporates 11th- and 12th-century ...

style. The building was designed by Bruce Architectural Co. of

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

and built by Dobson & Bynum of Montgomery.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.6%) is water. The county is mostly located in the

Gulf Coastal Plain The Gulf Coastal Plain extends around the Gulf of Mexico in the Southern United States and eastern Mexico. This coastal plain reaches from the Florida Panhandle, southwest Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, the southern two-thirds of Alabama, over m ...

region, with a few rolling hills and forests due to its close proximity to the

fall line A fall line (or fall zone) is the area where an upland region and a coastal plain meet and is noticeable especially the place rivers cross it, with resulting rapids or waterfalls. The uplands are relatively hard crystalline basement rock, and the ...

of the eastern

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Climate

The county has a prevailing humid subtropical climate dominated by its location in the Southern Plains ecological sub-region of the United States.

Major highways

Interstate 65 Interstate 65 (I-65) is a major north–south Interstate Highway System, interstate highway in the central United States. As with most primary interstates ending in 5, it is a major crosscountry, north–south route, connecting between th ...

* U.S. Highway 31 * U.S. Highway 82 * State Route 14 * State Route 111 * State Route 143

Adjacent counties

- north * Elmore County - east * Montgomery County - southeast * Lowndes County - south * Dallas County - west

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 58,805 people, 21,397 households, and 15,076 families residing in the county.

2010 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2010, there were 54,571 people, 20,221 households, and 15,064 families residing in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), 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 geog ...

was . There were 22,135 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 78.5%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 17.7%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

, 0.4% Native American, 0.9% Asian, 0.1%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, and 1.6% from two or more races. 2.4% of the population were

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race. There were 20,221 households, out of which 34.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.2% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 13.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.5% were non-families. 22.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.68, and the average family size was 3.13. In the county, the population was spread out, with 26.8% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 27% from 25 to 44, 25.7% from 45 to 64, and 12.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.9 males. The median income for a household in the county was $53,682, and the median income for a family was $66,349. Males had a median income of $49,743 versus $32,592 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the county was $24,571. About 8.3% of families and 12.1% 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 ...

, including 17.5% of those under age 18 and 7.0% of those age 65 or over. In 2000, the largest denominational groups were

Evangelical Protestant Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of the Christian ...

s (with 18,893 adherents) and

Mainline Protestant The mainline Protestants (sometimes also known as oldline Protestants) are a group of Protestantism in the United States, Protestant denominations in the United States and Protestantism in Canada, Canada largely of the Liberal Christianity, theolo ...

s (with 3,657 adherents). The largest religious bodies were The

Southern Baptist Convention The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), alternatively the Great Commission Baptists (GCB), is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist organization, the largest Protestant, and the second-largest Chr ...

(with 14,727 members) and The

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant Christian denomination, denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was ...

(with 3,305 members).

Education

Autauga County contains one public school district. There are approximately 9,000 students in public K-12 schools in Autauga County.

Districts

School districts include: * Autauga County School District

Government

The sheriff of Autauga County is Mark Harrell (R). The Revenue Commissioner for the county is Kathy Evans (R), the Probate Judge is Kim Kervin (R), the Circuit Clerk is Deb Hill (R), the Circuit Judge is Ben Fuller (R), the District Attorney is Randall Houston (R) and the District Judge is Joy Booth (R). The legislature is the county commission which consists of five members all of whom are elected from single member districts. The current Commissioners are: *District 1: Rusty Jacksland, Republican *District 2: John L. Thrailkill, Republican *District 3: Bill Tatum, Republican *District 4: Jay Thompson, Republican - ''Chairman'' *District 5: Larry Stoudemire, Democratic Like much of the Southern U.S., Autauga County was historically a Democratic stronghold, voting for the party's presidential nominee in every election between 1880 and 1960. However, the county has switched in affiliation to the Republican Party over the past 50 years. The last Democrat to win the county in a presidential election is

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

, who won it by a plurality in

1976 Events January * January 2 – 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 18 – Full diplomatic ...

Emergency Services

Fire protection in Autauga County is provided by several local fire departments. Emergency Medical Services are provided by Haynes Ambulance, with the exception of the city of Prattville, where the Prattville Fire Department staffs Ambulances. Law enforcement agencies are the Autauga County Sheriffs Office and the Prattville Police Department.

Education

The Autauga County School System is the county's sole public school system. East Memorial Christian Academy is located in an

unincorporated area An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

of the county, near Prattville.Home
." East Memorial Christian Academy. Retrieved on August 3, 2013. "1320 Old Ridge Road Prattville, Alabama 36066"

Places of interest

Autauga County is home to several parks, such as Wilderness Park, Cooters Pond Park, Pratt Park, Swift Creek Park, Newton Park, Spinners Park, Heritage Park, and Overlook Memorial Park.

Communities

Cities

* Millbrook (mostly in Elmore County) * Prattville

Towns

* Autaugaville * Billingsley * Pine Level

Census-designated place

* Marbury

Unincorporated communities

* Booth *

Evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

* Jones *

Mulberry ''Morus'', a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae, consists of 19 species of deciduous trees commonly known as mulberries, growing wild and under cultivation in many temperate world regions. Generally, the genus has 64 subordinat ...

Ghost town

County subdivisions

The

divides counties into county subdivisions. In Autauga County, these are currently in to form of

census county division A Census County Division (CCD) is a country subdivision, subdivision of a county (United States), county used by the United States Census Bureau for the purpose of presenting data, statistical data. A CCD is a relatively permanent statistical area ...

s. The county's historical subdivisions and their populations in the decennial censuses are as follows:

1850–1880

1890–1950

1960–present

County subdivision notes

Notable people

* Samuel Smith Harris, (1841-1888), born in Autauga County,

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

clergyman Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

, founder and editor of ''Living Word'' magazine, and

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

of the Diocese of Michigan. * William Henry Lanier, (1855-1929), born in Autauga County, was a prominent educator who served as president of Alcorn A. and M. from 1899 to 1905. He also served as superintendent of Yazoo City and

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city sits on the Pearl River (Mississippi–Louisiana), Pearl River and is locate ...

black schools. *

Wilson Pickett Wilson Pickett (March 18, 1941 – January 19, 2006) was an American singer and songwriter. A major figure in the development of soul music, Pickett recorded more than 50 songs that made the US R&B charts, many of which crossed over to the '' ...

, (1941-2006), born in

Prattville, Alabama Prattville is a city located within both Autauga and Elmore counties in the State of Alabama, United States, but serves as the county seat of Autauga County. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 37,781. Nicknamed "The Fount ...

, American recording artist best known for singing In the Midnight Hour and Mustang Sally.

In popular culture

*Autauga County is the main setting of Rita Williams-Garcia's novel ''Gone Crazy in Alabama''.

References

External links

Autauga County's Official WebsiteAutauga County Genealogical Information at Rootsweb.com
* Autauga Count
map of roads/towns
(map © 2007 Univ. of Alabama).
River Region Tourism Site
{{authority control Alabama placenames of Native American origin Montgomery metropolitan area 1818 establishments in Alabama Territory Populated places established in 1818

History

Geography

Climate

Major highways

Adjacent counties

Demographics

2020 census

2010 census

Education

Districts

Government

Emergency Services

Education

Places of interest

Communities

Cities

Towns

Census-designated place

Unincorporated communities

Ghost town

County subdivisions

1850–1880

1890–1950

1960–present

County subdivision notes

Notable people

In popular culture

See also

References

External links