Demopolis is the largest city in
Marengo County, in west-central
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 ...
. The population was 7,162 at the
2020 census.
The city lies at the
confluence
In geography, a confluence (also ''conflux'') occurs where two or more watercourses join to form a single channel (geography), channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main ...
of the
Black Warrior River and
Tombigbee River. It is situated atop a cliff composed of the
Demopolis Chalk Formation, known locally as
White Bluff, on the east bank of the Tombigbee.
It is at the center of Alabama's
Canebrake region and is also within the
Black Belt region.
Demopolis was founded in the early 1800s after the fall of
Napoleon's empire. It was named by a group of French expatriates, a mix of exiled
Bonapartists
Bonapartism () is the political ideology supervening from Napoleon Bonaparte and his followers and successors. The term was used in the narrow sense to refer to people who hoped to restore the House of Bonaparte and its style of government. In ...
and other French refugees who had settled in the United States after the overthrow of the colonial government in
Saint-Domingue
Saint-Domingue () was a French colonization of the Americas, French colony in the western portion of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, in the area of modern-day Haiti, from 1659 to 1803. The name derives from the Spanish main city on the isl ...
by enslaved workers. Napoleon had sent troops there in a last attempt to regain control of the island, but they were defeated, largely by high mortality due to
yellow fever.
The name, meaning in Greek "the People's City" or "City of the People" (from
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...
''δῆμος'' + ''πόλις''), was chosen to honor the democratic ideals behind the endeavor. First settled in 1817, it is one of the oldest continuous settlements in the interior of Alabama. French colonists had founded
Mobile on the coast in the early 18th century.
Demopolis was incorporated on December 11, 1821.
History
Colonization
Organizing first in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
, French expatriates petitioned the U.S. Congress to sell them property for land to colonize. Congress granted approval by an act on March 3, 1817, that allowed them to buy four townships in the
Alabama Territory
The Territory of Alabama (sometimes Alabama Territory) was an organized incorporated territory of the United States. The Alabama Territory was carved from the Mississippi Territory on August 15, 1817 and lasted until December 14, 1819, when i ...
at $2 per acre, with the provision that they cultivate grape vines and olive trees. Following advice obtained from experienced pioneers, they determined that Alabama would provide a good climate for cultivating these crops. By July 14, 1817, a small party of pioneers had settled at
White Bluff on the Tombigbee River, at the present site of Demopolis, founding the
Vine and Olive Colony.
Among the wealthiest and most prominent of the group was
Count Lefebvre Desnouettes, who had been a cavalry officer under Napoleon, with the rank of
lieutenant-general
Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was normall ...
. He had ridden in Napoleon's carriage during his
failed invasion of Russia. Other prominent figures among the immigrants included Lieutenant-General Baron
Henri-Dominique Lallemand, Count
Bertrand Clauzel,
Joseph Lakanal, Simon Chaudron, Pasqual Luciani, Colonel Jean-Jerome Cluis, Jean-Marie Chapron, Colonel Nicholas Raoul, and Frederic Ravesies. Most of these expatriates had little interest in pioneer life and sold their shares in the colony, remaining in Philadelphia.
[.] By 1818, the colony consisted of only 69 settlers.
The party encountered a variety of adversities. Following a survey in August 1818, they learned that their new properties did not fall under the territories encompassed by the congressional approval, and the Vine and Olive Colony was soon forced to move. Their actual land grants began less than a mile to the east of their newly cleared land. After abandoning the settlement of Demopolis, they soon established two other towns,
Aigleville
Aigleville () is a commune in the Eure department in Normandy in northern France.
Population
See also
*Communes of the Eure department
The following is a list of the 585 communes of the Eure department of France
France, official ...
and
Arcola.
[.]
American settlement

Upon learning of the survey and that the French grants lay elsewhere, American settlers began to quickly purchase the property of the former French settlement, intending to develop it as a major river port on the Tombigbee. A land company, the White Bluff Association (later renamed as the Company of the Town of Demopolis), was formed in 1819 with the express purpose to purchase the land and lay off a town.
George Strother Gaines
George Strother Gaines (1 May 1784 – 21 January 1873) was a federal Indian agent in the Mississippi Territory (today's Alabama and Mississippi). He began as the US Indian agent to the Choctaw, explored the country west of the Mississippi Riv ...
was named as the company spokesman, and he bought the town site atop White Bluff as soon as it was offered for sale. Commissioners for the company were George Strother Gaines,
James Childress, Walter Crenshaw, Count Charles Lefebvre Desnouettes, and Dr. Joseph B. Earle.
The commissioners were responsible for overseeing the site survey, lot sales, and the early operations of the town. The commissioners laid off the site into streets, blocks, and lots, with a block of roughly two acres divided into eight lots.
Demopolis Town Square, encompassing one city block, was established in 1819. The first lots were sold beginning on April 22, 1819. When Count Desnouettes died in 1822, Allen Glover was appointed to replace him. As other commissioners retired, they were succeeded by David E. Moore, William H. Lyon, Thomas McGee, and George N. Stewart.
The streets were laid off using a
grid plan
In urban planning, the grid plan, grid street plan, or gridiron plan is a type of city plan in which streets run at right angles to each other, forming a grid.
Two inherent characteristics of the grid plan, frequent intersections and orthogon ...
, with the city of Philadelphia as a model. The original streets running north–south were named for trees, such as Ash, Cedar, Cherry, and Chestnut. Exceptions were made for Commissioners, Strawberry, and Market (now Main) streets. Several short north–south streets were also named for commissioners, such as Desnouettes, Earle, Glover, Griffin, and McGee. The east–west streets were named for national and local heroes, as well as commissioners, such as Childress, Fulton, Gaines, Lyon, Monroe, Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, and Jackson. Most streets were designed to be wide. A strip of land that remained public property, for the use of all, was the land adjoining the Tombigbee River. This extended from where Riverside Cemetery is today, to the southwest of the city proper, to the Upper Landing in the north, with Arch Street following the route along the top of the cliff. Only the portion of Arch Street adjacent to the cemetery remains intact.
Some flaws and limitations of the original town plan became apparent by the late 1820s and 1830s. The typical town lots, at wide and deep, were not conducive to construction of the stately homes desired by the more prosperous residents. Some grand mansions were completed by the late 1820s. One of the first was the brick -story
Federal-style Allen Glover house at the foot of Capitol Street. It was one of the, if not the first, neoclassical structures to be built in Marengo County. Glover built
Bluff Hall (1832) for his daughter, Sarah Serena, and son-in-law,
Francis Strother Lyon.
The town plan was also lacking a clearly defined business district, resulting in commercial and residential buildings mixed together all over town. As development shifted, some areas became blighted because of less desirable uses. Some stores opened around the town square, however, and warehouses started to appear adjacent to the town's three major river landings, Upper Landing, above the modern Demopolis Yacht Basin and Marina; Webb's Landing at the western terminus of Washington Street; and Lower Landing to the west of Riverside Cemetery and the Whitfield Canal.
By the 1830s Demopolis had developed into a regional commercial river hub, attracting American and European-born craftsmen and merchants, including the Beysiegle, Breitling, Breton, Dupertuis, Foster, Hummell, Kirker, Knapp, Marx, Michael, Mulligan, Oberling, Rhodes, Rudisill, Rosenbaum, Schmidt, Shahan, Stallings, and Zaiser families. Numerous
plantation
Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...
owners also established townhouses in the community or on its outskirts, including the Allen, Ashe, Curtis, DuBose, Foscue, Glover, Griffin, Lane, Lyon, McAllister, Prout, Reese, Strudwick,
Tayloe, Whitfield, and Vaughan families.
But Demopolis was not dominated by a homogeneous elite planter class, as happened in other towns of the region. During these years and in the future, the river trade also brought numerous people with a desire for raucous entertainment. This created a profitable and brisk trade for those operating taverns and did much to earn early Demopolis a reputation for decadence.
During the 1840s many of the streets laid out by the town fathers had yet to be opened to traffic. The town council focused attention on clearing the intended streets and opening them to traffic, making other street improvements, and building wooden sidewalks along major thoroughfares to lift pedestrians above the mud. The council also approved measures to protect trees in the common areas and streets.
Several town ordinances were enacted in 1842 to restrain the
enslaved African-American population. They were prohibited from selling or purchasing any article or commodity from or to a slave without written permission from their master or overseer. No slave was allowed to purchase alcohol without written consent; if any slave were convicted of assault upon "any white man,
negro
In the English language, the term ''negro'' (or sometimes ''negress'' for a female) is a term historically used to refer to people of Black people, Black African heritage. The term ''negro'' means the color black in Spanish and Portuguese (from ...
, or
mulatto
( , ) is a Race (human categorization), racial classification that refers to people of mixed Sub-Saharan African, African and Ethnic groups in Europe, European ancestry only. When speaking or writing about a singular woman in English, the ...
", the owner would be fined $50; any slave caught running "any horse,
gelding
A gelding (Help:IPA/English, /ˈɡɛldɪŋ/) is a castration, castrated male horse or other equine, such as a pony, donkey or a mule. The term is also used with certain other animals and livestock, such as domesticated Camelidae, camels. By compa ...
, or
mule
The mule is a domestic equine hybrid between a donkey, and a horse. It is the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). The horse and the donkey are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes; of the two ...
" through town would be subject to fifteen
lashes unless the owner paid a fine of $1; any slave caught driving any wagon or cart or driving a horse or mule on or across the sidewalks of the town would be subject to 10 lashes, unless the owner paid a fine of 50 cents.
The robust, frontier river town did not support the orderly organization of churches. A group of
Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...
ministers who convened nearby in 1843 said that Demopolis was "wholly irreligious".
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 ...
churches were slow to take root; no churches were built in Demopolis until 1840. Prior to that time, various denominations met in a log assembly house on the town square. It was torn down in 1844. A
Baptist
Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...
group was established in the 1820s but disbanded due to a lack of support. The
Episcopalians established a congregation in 1834, but did not build Trinity Episcopal Church until 1850. A
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 ...
congregation was established in 1839 and completed its first church in 1843, a brick structure on the town square. The Methodist congregation was established in 1840 and completed its first building in 1843.
Present in Demopolis from the beginning, with the French Catholic immigrants, the Catholic congregation in town was listed in 1851 as a mission of Saint John the Baptist in
Tuscaloosa. It was switched to being supported by a church in
Selma in 1880. They met in a small frame church and private homes until 1905, when the current Saint Leo the Great was built.
The Jewish congregation,
B'nai Jeshurun, was established in 1858, although the community had been present since the 1840s. B'nai Jeshurun was the fourth Jewish congregation established in Alabama.
They initially met in homes and businesses until eventually building a
Moorish Revival
Moorish Revival or Neo-Moorish is one of the exotic revival architectural styles that were adopted by architects of Europe and the Americas in the wake of Romanticism, Romanticist Orientalism. It reached the height of its popularity after the mi ...
-style temple in 1893.
By the 1850s several palatial
steamboat
A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. The term ''steamboat'' is used to refer to small steam-powered vessels worki ...
s were visiting the town as a regular stop on the
Mobile to
Columbus, Mississippi
Columbus is a city in and the county seat of Lowndes County, Mississippi, Lowndes County, on the eastern border of Mississippi, United States, located primarily east, but also north and northeast of the Tombigbee River, which is also part of the ...
, route along the Tombigbee. These included the ''Forest Monarch'', ''Alice Vivian'', and the ill-fated ''
Eliza Battle''. Several others were dedicated almost exclusively to Demopolis and the cotton trade, including the ''Allen Glover'', ''Canebrake'', ''Cherokee'', ''Demopolis'', ''Frank Lyon'', ''Marengo'', and the ''Mollie Glover''. Major hotels during this same period included the Planter's Hotel, later known as Madison House Hotel, and the River Hotel.
[.]
In 1853 a
yellow fever epidemic struck the city. Some people were buried in an ill-defined two-acre cemetery to the north of town in the river bend. The Jewish Cemetery was established in 1878 to the east of town on Jefferson Street. The
Glover Mausoleum had been completed on the banks of the Tombigbee in 1845, with the burial of many family members in and around it. Finally the city established its main burial ground, Riverside Cemetery, selling plots to the public in 1882.
A circular
Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...
-style
amphitheater
An amphitheatre ( U.S. English: amphitheater) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ('), meaning "place for vie ...
, complete with a
crenelated roof-line, was completed in 1859 north of town in Webb's Bend at the fairgrounds. The fairgrounds and its buildings covered approximately and hosted a variety of events until the outbreak 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 ...
.
[.]
By 1860, the population within the town limits had grown to approximately 1,200 people.
The town began to attract new entertainments, such as musical and dramatic performances, concert artists, lecturers, circuses, and carnivals.
[.]
Civil War and aftermath

Marengo County, with its large number of slaveholders, favored secession from the
Union and the formation of the
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America (CSA), also known as the Confederate States (C.S.), the Confederacy, or Dixieland, was an List of historical unrecognized states and dependencies, unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United State ...
. White residents of Demopolis shared these sentiments. Prominent secessionists included Nathan B. Whitfield, Francis S. Lyon, Goodman G. Griffin, Kimbrough C. DuBose, George B. Lyon, Dr. James D. Browder, and George E. Markham. But many other powerful men in town opposed secession, including Benjamin Glover Shields, William H. Lyon, Jr., William B. Jones, Pearson J. Glover, Gaius Whitfield, Alfred Hatch, Joel C. DuBose, Robert V. Montague, and
Henry Augustine Tayloe. In the end, most men on both sides of the argument joined in the Confederate cause once secession was inevitable.
[.] It is not known whether the Jewish community supported or not the Union or opposed slavery.
With the start 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 ...
, several
Confederate companies recruited from the population of Demopolis and Marengo County. The 4th,
11th, 21st, 23rd, and 43rd Alabama Infantry Regiments, in addition to the 8th Alabama Cavalry, Company E of the
Jeff. Davis Legion, and Selden's Battery, were all established by local men. During the course of the war, more of these men would be lost to disease, exhaustion, and malnutrition than to battle casualties, as happened in both armies.
The city, based on two navigable rivers and a railroad, was used as the base for a number of Confederate installations and offices. These included
commissary
A commissary is a government official charged with oversight or an ecclesiastical official who exercises in special circumstances the jurisdiction of a bishop.
In many countries, the term is used as an administrative or police title. It often c ...
and
quartermaster
Quartermaster is a military term, the meaning of which depends on the country and service. In land army, armies, a quartermaster is an officer who supervises military logistics, logistics and requisitions, manages stores or barracks, and distri ...
offices and warehouses, engineers' offices and workshops, a large
ordnance depot, two large hospitals, and offices of the medical purveyor of the Department of Alabama, Mississippi, and East Louisiana. A huge military encampment was established at the fairgrounds in Webb's Bend. After the
fall of Vicksburg and
Port Hudson in July, 1863, several regiments of paroled Confederate troops were sent to a camp at Demopolis to await
exchange
Exchange or exchanged may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Film and television
* Exchange (film), or ''Deep Trap'', 2015 South Korean psychological thriller
* Exchanged (film), 2019 Peruvian fantasy comedy
* Exchange (TV program), 2021 Sou ...
. Thousands of soldiers entered the town at a time, which had only one thousand inhabitants prior to the war. Residents struggled to provide and secure sufficient food and accommodations.
Many hundreds of the soldiers who died in the hospitals during the war were buried in a Confederate cemetery on the south end of Webb's Bend. Today the site is underwater, following the damming of the river below Demopolis in the 20th century.
After the loss of its primary east–west railroad during the war, in 1862 the Confederate government completed the
Alabama and Mississippi Rivers Railroad from
Selma through Demopolis and to
Meridian, Mississippi
Meridian is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, eighth most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, with a population of 35,052 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the county seat of Lauderdale County, Mississippi, ...
. The project had been in the works since the 1850s, but several miles between Demopolis and
Uniontown had not been finished when war erupted. As the war raged in all directions around Demopolis in 1864, the city was subjected to a huge influx of war refugees. Nathan B. Whitfield noted in his journal that those from Mobile had taken every available vacant house, and others were crowded with local people, along with their descendants and relatives.
In March 1865 the people of Demopolis prepared to defend the town against
Union threats, and fortified key positions. Three circular
batteries, surrounded by earthworks, were constructed and other fortifications built across the southern reaches of town. With the impending fall of Selma in early April, during
Wilson's Raid, all of the railroad's rolling stock was sent full of supplies westward through Demopolis and on to Meridian. A flotilla of eighteen Confederate
gunboat
A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.
History Pre-steam ...
s and
packet ship
Packet boats were medium-sized boats designed mainly for domestic mail and freight transport in European countries and in North American rivers and canals. Eventually including basic passenger accommodation, they were used extensively during t ...
s were relocated to the Tombigbee River at Demopolis around this same time. These included the
CSS ''Nashville'',
CSS ''Morgan'',
CSS ''Baltic'', the ''Southern Republic'', ''Black Diamond'', ''Admiral'', ''Clipper'', ''Farrand'', ''Marengo'' and ''St. Nicholas''.
With the surrender of the last of the Confederates, Demopolis found itself a much different city from what it had been prior to the war. At the end of May 1865, the townspeople learned that an occupying force of Federal soldiers, the 5th Minnesota Infantry, were en route to occupy the town. Once there, they occupied the former fairgrounds. Despite the usual unpleasantness associated with the occupation of many defeated Southern towns, two of the Minnesota commanders, Colonel William B. Gere and General
Lucius Frederick Hubbard, apparently came to be well-liked by the townspeople. Despite some bright spots in relations, the Episcopal Church in the South was slow to give up on the notion of the Confederacy, resulting in the military governor of Alabama closing all Episcopal churches in the state, effective on September 20, 1865. Trinity Episcopal Church in Demopolis was put under Federal guard, and during this time the church mysteriously burned down. Blame was placed on the soldiers for intentionally burning it, but this has never been borne out by the facts. Aside from all of this, the more pressing matter was the devastated economy of the community and surrounding countryside, a problem that would continue through 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 ...
.
[.]
During Reconstruction, the new authorities in charge of the government decided to move the
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 ...
of Marengo from its central location in
Linden to Demopolis by an act approved on December 4, 1868. The county appointed Richard Jones Jr., Lewis B. McCarty, and Dr. Bryan W. Whitfield to build or buy a new courthouse in Demopolis. They negotiated the purchase of the Presbyterian church on the town square, now known as Rooster Hall, for the sum of $3,000. It was conveyed to the county on April 8, 1869. The county built a fireproof brick building next door to the former church in 1869–70 to house the probate and circuit clerk offices. This building serves as Demopolis City Hall today. The move of the county seat was highly controversial, and the
Alabama Legislature
The Alabama Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of Alabama. It is a bicameral body composed of the House of Representatives and Senate. It is one of the few state legislatures in which members of both cham ...
set April 18, 1870, as the date for a county-wide referendum to decide if
Dayton
Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...
, Demopolis, or Linden would become the county seat. Due to the closeness of the vote and voting irregularities, a run-off between Linden and Demopolis was set for May 14, 1870. Irregularities appeared again and votes from Dayton, mostly in favor of Linden, were rejected by the board of supervisors. Linden continued an attempt to persuade the state legislature to move the county seat back to their town, with success in February 1871. The former courthouse buildings reverted from county ownership to Demopolis and remain city property today.
[.]
20th century

The struggle to rebuild the economy of Demopolis and the surrounding region continued into the 20th century. The growing, trading, and
milling
Milling may refer to:
* Milling (minting), forming narrow ridges around the edge of a coin
* Milling (grinding), breaking solid materials into smaller pieces by grinding, crushing, or cutting in a mill
* Milling (machining), a process of using ro ...
of cotton continued to be a major basis of the economy up until the
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
-era. The
boll weevil infestations of the 1920s and the
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
of the 1930s finally ended the one-crop farming system.
Demopolis had
electric light
Electric light is an artificial light source powered by electricity.
Electric Light may also refer to:
* Light fixture, a decorative enclosure for an electric light source
* Electric Light (album), ''Electric Light'' (album), a 2018 album by James ...
s,
water works and a
sewerage
Sewerage (or sewage system) is the infrastructure that conveys sewage or surface runoff ( stormwater, meltwater, rainwater) using sewers. It encompasses components such as receiving drains, manholes, pumping stations, storm overflows, and scr ...
system,
chert
Chert () is a hard, fine-grained sedimentary rock composed of microcrystalline or cryptocrystalline quartz, the mineral form of silicon dioxide (SiO2). Chert is characteristically of biological origin, but may also occur inorganically as a prec ...
-covered streets, paved sidewalks, and a
fire department
A fire department (North American English) or fire brigade (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as a fire company, fire authority, fire district, fire and rescue, or fire service in some areas, is an organi ...
by the second decade of the 20th century. It was increasingly serving as a major banking and retail hub in the region during this time. Major financial institutions included the Commercial National Bank, City Bank and Trust Company, and
Robertson Banking Company. One of the first large
department store
A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store under one roof, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store mad ...
s of note in the area, Mayer Brothers, built its three-story brick building across from the public square in 1897 and operated for most of the 20th century. That building is now utilized by Robertson Banking Company. The Rosenbush Furniture Company was established in 1895 and operated until 2002.
The J. H. Spight Grocery was established in 1901 as one of the earliest and most successful
grocery store
A grocery store ( AE), grocery shop or grocer's shop ( BE) or simply grocery is a retail store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday US usage, however, "grocery store" is a synon ...
s for more than 50 years, prior to the era of corporate chain stores. Although the community had many newspapers throughout its first 100 years, the only one to survive into the 21st century,
''The Demopolis Times'', was established in 1904.

Theaters sprang up in the city, beginning in the late 19th century. Rooster Hall, following its incarnations as a church, courthouse, and then a city property, was leased for use as the Demopolis Opera House from 1876 to 1902. It hosted live dramatic performances, civic lectures, and
minstrel show
The minstrel show, also called minstrelsy, was an American form of theater developed in the early 19th century. The shows were performed by mostly white actors wearing blackface makeup for the purpose of portraying racial stereotypes of Afr ...
s. The
Braswell Opera House, with its ornate interior and private
box galleries, opened on October 23, 1902, with a performance of Louisiana playwright
Epsy William's ''Unorna'', from
Francis Marion Crawford
Francis Marion Crawford (August 2, 1854 – April 9, 1909) was an American writer noted for his many novels, especially those set in Italy, and for his classic weird and fantastical stories.
Early life
Crawford was born in Bagni di Lucca, in th ...
's ''The Witch of Prague''. It continued as an entertainment venue into the 1920s and was eventually demolished in 1972–73. The first theater built for the presentation of motion pictures, the Elks Theater, opened on October 1, 1915. It was renamed the Si-Non in 1916. The building was restored during the 1990s.
Following the demise of cotton production, beef cattle farming and, more recently,
catfish aquaculture became new major agricultural pursuits. Industrial activities became the major sources of employment by mid-century, with the cement,
lumber
Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...
, and paper industries playing a prominent role in the city's economy into the 21st century.
Geography
This city is located at (32.5176361, -87.8364020).
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 city has a total area of , of which is land and , is water.
Demopolis is on the northern edge of Marengo County, bordered to the north, across the
Black Warrior River, by
Greene County and to the northwest, across the
Tombigbee River, by
Sumter County.
U.S. Route 43 passes through the city center as North Walnut Avenue, East Capitol Street, and South Cedar Avenue, while
U.S. Route 80 runs along the southern edge of the downtown. US 43 leads north to
Eutaw and south to
Linden, while US 80 leads east to
Uniontown and west to
Cuba
Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
.
Climate
The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the
Köppen Climate Classification
The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
system, Demopolis has a
humid subtropical climate
A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...
, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.
Demographics
2020 census
As of the
2020 census, there were 7,162 people, 2,973 households, and 1,883 families residing in the city. 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 3,400 housing units.
2010 census
As of the
2010 census, there were 7,483 people, 3,049 households, and 1,998 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 3,417 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 50.1%
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 ...
or
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 ...
, 47.3%
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 ...
, 0.1%
Native American, 0.5%
Asian, none
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 ...
, 1.1% from
other races, and 0.8% 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 3,049 households, out of which 31.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.6% were married couples living together, 23.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.5% were non-families. 31.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.0% 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 3.04.
In the city, the population was spread out, with 27.0% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 24.1% from 25 to 44, 25.3% from 45 to 64, and 14.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37.1 years. For every 100 females, there were 80.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 78.2 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $35,583, and the median income for a family was $49,973. Males had a median income of $50,734 versus $31,520 for females. The per capita income for the city was $21,116. About 19.1% of families and 26.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.4% of those under age 18 and 27.5% of those age 65 or over.
2000 census
As of the
2000 census, there were 7,540 people, 3,014 households, and 2,070 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 3,311 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 50.90%
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 ...
or
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 ...
, 47.75%
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 ...
, 0.09%
Native American, 0.20%
Asian, none
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 ...
, 0.48% from
other races, and 0.58% from two or more races. 0.98% 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 3,014 households, out of which 34.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.1% were married couples living together, 22.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.3% were non-families. 28.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.3% 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 3.05.
In the city, the population was spread out, with 29.1% under the age of 18, 8.4% from 18 to 24, 26.6% from 25 to 44, 21.6% from 45 to 64, and 14.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 81.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 75.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $26,481, and the median income for a family was $35,752. Males had a median income of $37,206 versus $20,265 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,687. About 26.0% of families and 30.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 38.3% of those under age 18 and 21.1% of those age 65 or over.
Arts and culture
Historic sites
Gaineswood is an antebellum
historic house museum
A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that is preserved as a museum. Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. Historic house museums are held to a variety of ...
on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
and is a listed
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...
. It was built between 1843 and 1861 in an asymmetrical
Greek Revival
Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...
style. It features domed ceilings, ornate plasterwork, columned rooms, and most of its original furnishings. Gaineswood is owned and operated by the
Alabama Historical Commission.
Bluff Hall is an antebellum
historic house museum
A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that is preserved as a museum. Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. Historic house museums are held to a variety of ...
on the National Register of Historic Places. It was built in 1832 in the
Federal style and modified in the 1840s to reflect the Greek Revival style. It is owned and operated by the Marengo County Historical Society.
Laird Cottage is a restored 1870 residence with a mix of the Greek Revival and
Italianate
The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century It ...
styles. It currently serves as the headquarters of the Marengo County Historical Society and also houses history exhibits and the works of
Geneva Mercer, a Marengo County native who gained fame as an artist and sculptor. She served as an intern to
Giuseppe Moretti, the sculptor who created
Birmingham's monumental ''
Vulcan''. Following her internship, she lived and worked with Moretti and his wife until his death.
Other historic sites in Demopolis include
White Bluff, the
Demopolis Historic Business District,
Demopolis Town Square,
Lyon Hall,
Ashe Cottage, the
Curtis House, the
Glover Mausoleum, and the
Foscue-Whitfield House.
Government
Demopolis is governed by a
mayor–council system. The mayor is elected at large to a four-year term and functions as the
executive officer
An executive officer is a person who is principally responsible for leading all or part of an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization.
In many militaries and police forces, an executive officer ...
, appointing department heads and advisory board members and signing off on all motions, resolutions and ordinances passed by the council.
The city council consists of five members who are elected from single member districts. The council controls all legislative and policy-making for the city through the use of ordinance, resolution or motion. The council also adopts the annual budget and confirms appointments made by the mayor.
Education
The city runs its own citywide public school system, the
Demopolis City School District. Private schools in the city included one integrated Christian school, West Alabama Christian School, which closed in 2018. The city is also home to the Demopolis Higher Education Center. The facility, which opened in 2004, is a 15,000 square foot structure, including a library and open area student atrium, a science lab, conference room, six multimedia classrooms, and two computer labs; Community Rooms provide one of the largest and most modern meeting spaces in Marengo County.
Infrastructure
Transportation
*
U.S. Highway 80
*
U.S. Highway 43
*
State Route 28
*
State Route 69
Major roads include two U.S. Highways:
U.S. Route 80 (US 80) runs east–west through the city and
US 43 runs north–south.
Alabama state highways include
State Route 8 (SR 8),
SR 13, and nearby
SR 69 and
SR 28. A proposed
Interstate 85 (I-85) extension from
I-59/
I-20 I20, I 20 or I-20 may refer to:
* Interstate 20, a highway in the southeastern United States
* I-20 (form), a United States government document that provides supporting information for the issuance of a student visa or change of status
* I-20 (rap ...
near the
Mississippi
Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...
state line to
I-65 near
Montgomery is planned to pass near the city.
A bus system is operated by West Alabama Transportation.
Demopolis is served by several railway companies, including
Norfolk Southern Railway
The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The comp ...
,
BNSF Railway
BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three Transcontinental railroad, transcontine ...
, and the
Alabama and Gulf Coast Railway.
The Alabama State Port Authority has inland docks at the Port of Demopolis with direct access to inland and Intracoastal waterways serving the
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...
, the
Ohio
Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...
and
Tennessee
Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...
rivers and the
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...
via the
Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway.
The
Demopolis Municipal Airport is located northwest of the city, adjacent to Airport Industrial Park and the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway. It has a 5,000-foot runway and a ten-unit
hangar
A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...
.
Intercity bus service was provided by
Greyhound Lines
Greyhound Lines, Inc. is an American operator of Intercity bus service, intercity bus services. Greyhound operates the largest intercity bus network in the United States, and also operates charter and Amtrak Thruway services, as well as interci ...
, but the service has since been discontinued.
Notable people
*
A. G. Gaston, business man and supporter of civil rights
*
Spencer Turnbull, professional baseball pitcher
*
Theo Ratliff
Theophalus Curtis Ratliff (born April 17, 1973) is an American former professional basketball player who played 16 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Born in Alabama, Ratliff played for and graduated from the University of Wyo ...
, professional basketball player
In popular culture

The Marx and Newhouse families of Demopolis were reputedly the inspiration for ''
The Little Foxes'', a Broadway play. The melodrama was written by
Lillian Hellman
Lillian Florence Hellman (June 20, 1905 – June 30, 1984) was an American playwright, Prose, prose writer, Memoir, memoirist, and screenwriter known for her success on Broadway as well as her communist views and political activism. She was black ...
, whose maternal ancestors were all natives of Demopolis. It was first performed in 1939, with Alabama-born actress
Tallulah Bankhead
Tallulah Brockman Bankhead (January 31, 1902 – December 12, 1968) was an American actress. Primarily an actress of the stage, Bankhead also appeared in several films including an award-winning performance in Alfred Hitchcock's ''Lifeboat (194 ...
in the lead role of Regina. This production ran a year on Broadway. The
1941 film version was directed by
William Wyler
William Wyler (; born Willi Wyler (); July 1, 1902 – July 27, 1981) was a German-born American film director and producer. Known for his work in numerous genres over five decades, he received numerous awards and accolades, including three Aca ...
and starred
Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress of film, television, and theater. Regarded as one of the greatest actresses in Hollywood history, she was noted for her willingness to play unsympatheti ...
,
Herbert Marshall and
Teresa Wright
Muriel Teresa Wright (October 27, 1918 – March 6, 2005) was an American actress. She won the 1942 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Carol Beldon in ''Mrs. Miniver''. She was nominated for the same award in 1941 for her ...
. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture in 1941. In 1949 the play was adapted into an opera by
Marc Blitzstein
Marcus Samuel Blitzstein (March 2, 1905January 22, 1964), was an American composer, lyricist, and Libretto, librettist. He won national attention in 1937 when his pro-Trade union, union musical ''The Cradle Will Rock'', directed by Orson Welles, ...
, under the title ''Regina''.
Lillian Hellman's 1946 play, ''
Another Part of the Forest'', was also loosely based on her Demopolis ancestors.
The 1949 film ''
The Fighting Kentuckian'' is set in Demopolis and tells a story about an interaction with the original French settlers. The basic plot features two Kentuckians returning from service with Andrew Jackson's forces in the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...
. Their unit passes through the port of
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobil ...
, where John Breen, played by
John Wayne
Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne, was an American actor. Nicknamed "Duke", he became a Pop icon, popular icon through his starring roles in films which were produced during Hollywood' ...
, meets the pretty Fleurette De Marchand, played by
Vera Ralston, from Demopolis. He makes sure the unit passes through Demopolis on its way back home and he stays there as the unit leaves. He discovers that De Marchand is about to marry a wealthy riverman and a love triangle ensues, with Breen eventually winning out.
The 2015 play ''Alabama Story'' has a subplot featuring the characters Joshua Moore and Lily Whitfield, who grew up in Demopolis as childhood friends on Lily's father's cotton plantation, now estranged.
See also
*
Christmas on the River
*
List of people from Demopolis, Alabama
*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Marengo County, Alabama
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
External links
*
Demopolis Area Chamber of Commerce
{{authority control
Cities in Alabama
Populated places established in 1817
Vine and Olive Colony
Former county seats in Alabama
1817 establishments in Alabama Territory
Cities in Marengo County, Alabama
French-American culture in Alabama