Crenshaw 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 south 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 ...

. It is located immediately south of the Montgomery metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 13,194. 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 Luverne. Its name is in honor of an Alabama judge, Anderson Crenshaw.

History

Crenshaw County was established after the American Civil War on November 30, 1866, by the

Reconstruction era The Reconstruction era was a period in History of the United States, US history that followed the American Civil War (1861-65) and was dominated by the legal, social, and political challenges of the Abolitionism in the United States, abol ...

legislature. It was formed from parts of Butler, Coffee, Covington, Pike and Lowndes counties. While part of the coastal area, this county had relatively infertile soils, limiting cotton and other agriculture. Its planters used enslaved African Americans for all needed types of labor. Many of their descendants stayed in the area, and nearly one-quarter of the county population is African American. Crenshaw County became a center of timbering in the Piney Wood region, especially after the Montgomery and Florida Railroad Company constructed a line through the county in 1886. This provided transport to markets for timber. It connected with Sprague Junction in

Montgomery County, Alabama Montgomery County is a county located in the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 census, its population was 228,954, making it the seventh-most populous county in Alabama. Its county seat is Montgomery, the state capital. Montgomery County ...

. The timber camps were rough work areas where racial tensions sometimes flared.

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 (0.3%) is water. The county is 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 of the state. Much of the land is also covered by forests that are used for logging.

Major highways

* U.S. Highway 29 * U.S. Highway 331 * State Route 10 * State Route 97 * State Route 106 * State Route 141 * State Route 189

Adjacent counties

* Montgomery County (north) * Pike County (east) * Coffee County (southeast) * Covington County (south) * Butler County (west) * Lowndes County (northwest)

Demographics

2020 Census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 13,194 people, 4,943 households, and 3,384 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 13,906 people, 5,652 households, and 3,882 families living 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 6,735 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 72.6%

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 ...

, 23.4%

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 ...

, 0.4% Native American, 1.4% 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 ...

, 0.7% from other races, and 1.5% from two or more races. 1.5% 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 5,652 households, out of which 27.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.7% 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, 15.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.3% were non-families. 28.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 2.97. In the county, the population was spread out, with 23.8% under the age of 18, 8.0% from 18 to 24, 23.6% from 25 to 44, 28.7% from 45 to 64, and 15.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40.7 years. For every 100 females there were 93.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.3 males. The median income for a household in the county was $35,140, and the median income for a family was $47,685. Males had a median income of $35,598 versus $22,410 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 $19,793. About 13.7% of families and 17.7% 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 ...

, including 25.5% of those under age 18 and 16.7% of those age 65 or over. The largest self-reported ancestry groups in Crenshaw County were English (64.5%), German (12.1%), Irish (11.2%), Italian (3.9%), "American" (3.1%), Scottish (2.9%) and Portuguese (1.8%).

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 13,665 people, 5,577 households, and 3,892 families living in the county. The

was . There were 6,644 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 73.82%

, 24.79%

, 0.37% Native American, 0.11% Asian, 0.01%

, 0.20% from other races, and 0.70% from two or more races. 0.64% of the population were

or Latino of any race. There were 5,577 households, out of which 31.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.70% were

living together, 15.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.20% were non-families. 28.20% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 2.96. In the county, the population was spread out, with 24.70% under the age of 18, 7.90% from 18 to 24, 26.30% from 25 to 44, 23.90% from 45 to 64, and 17.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 89.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.60 males. The median income for a household in the county was $26,054, and the median income for a family was $31,724. Males had a median income of $27,286 versus $17,703 for females. The

for the county was $14,565. About 18.60% of families and 22.10% of the population were below the

, including 28.30% of those under age 18 and 23.50% of those age 65 or over.

Government

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

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

, who won it by a plurality in

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

Communities

City

* Luverne (county seat)

Towns

* Brantley * Dozier * Glenwood * Petrey * Rutledge

Unincorporated communities

* Fullers Crossroads * Highland Home * Honoraville * Lapine (partly in Montgomery County) * Moodys Crossroads *

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 ...

* Panola * Theba * Weedville

References

{{authority control 1866 establishments in Alabama Populated places established in 1866