Carolina is a town in Covington County,

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 ...

, United States. It is located about south of Montgomery and about west of Dothan. At the 2020 census, the population was 286.

Geography

Carolina is located west of the center of Covington County at (31.231521, -86.520607). According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, 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 U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, the town has a total area of , of which , or 0.71%, is water.

Demographics

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 297 people, 101 households, and 75 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 118 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 99.60%

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 ...

and 0.40%

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 ...

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 ...

. 0.40% 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 101 households, out of which 31.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 66.3% 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, 6.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.7% were non-families. 22.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.9% 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 2.89. In the town, the population was spread out, with 26.6% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 26.6% from 25 to 44, 21.8% from 45 to 64, and 16.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.2 males. The median income for a household in the town was $33,750, and the median income for a family was $37,708. Males had a median income of $26,250 versus $16,750 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 town was $13,491. About 12.7% of families and 10.4% 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 15.5% of those under the age of eighteen and 15.4% of those 65 or over.

History

Carolina was founded by Elzy Henderson Garvin from Wagener, South Carolina. South Carolina had been hit by an especially severe

drought A drought is a period of drier-than-normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, ...

and when

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Miss ...

from the

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian restorationist Christian denomination and the largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement. Founded durin ...

(the Mormons) arrived in the area, many members of the Garvin family converted to the Mormon faith. Elzy Garvin left South Carolina in search of better land, better climate for farming and for matters of faith. It was recorded that he once remarked, "Our family left

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

to practice our faith, and we are not becoming something new." The area reminded him so much of his home state that he named it "Carolina". Elzy was married to Emma Catherine Bass. They produced 5 children. Sherman, Ollie, Nancy, Willia & Odessa. Elzy and Emma are both buried in Carolina. Many of his relations have been found to be buried at Bethcar Baptist Church on the outskirts of Wagener, SC.

References

{{authority control Towns in Covington County, Alabama Towns in Alabama