Escambia 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 ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 36,757. 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 Brewton. Escambia County is coextensive with the Atmore, AL Micropolitan Statistical Area; which is itself a constituent part of the larger Pensacola-Ferry Pass, FL-AL Combined Statistical Area. The county is the base of the state's only federally recognized Native American tribe, the

Poarch Band of Creek Indians The Poarch Band of Creek Indians ( ;) are a federally recognized tribe of Native Americans with reservation lands in lower Alabama. As Mvskoke people, they speak the Muscogee language. They were formerly known as the Creek Nation East of the Mi ...

. They have developed gaming casinos and a hotel on their reservation here, but also a much larger business extending to locations in other states and the Caribbean.

Etymology

The name "Escambia" may have been derived from the

Creek A creek in North America and elsewhere, such as Australia, is a stream that is usually smaller than a river. In the British Isles it is a small tidal inlet. Creek may also refer to: * Creek people, a former name of Muscogee, Native Americans * C ...

name ''Shambia'', meaning "clearwater", or the

Choctaw The Choctaw ( ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States, originally based in what is now Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choct ...

word for "cane-brake" or "reed-brake".

History

Historic American Indian tribes in the area included the

Muskogean Muskogean ( ; also Muskhogean) is a language family spoken in the Southeastern United States. Members of the family are Indigenous Languages of the Americas. Typologically, Muskogean languages are highly synthetic and agglutinative. One docume ...

-speaking

, and

, who had inhabited the lands for centuries and had many settlements. The former two tribes were among those in the Southeast whom the European-American settlers called the

Five Civilized Tribes The term Five Civilized Tribes was applied by the United States government in the early federal period of the history of the United States to the five major Native American nations in the Southeast: the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee (Cr ...

, as they adopted some European-American cultural ways. Many of their members had close working relationships with traders and settlers moving into the area in the early 19th century. Following the 1814 Treaty of Fort Jackson, several Creek families, including the Colberts, Gibsons, Manacs and Weatherfords, secured small reservations from federal government in the vicinity of present-day Poarch. Members of these families had remained friendly towards the United States during the Creek wars of 1813 and 1814. In 1836, the federal government permitted several additional Creek families to secured reservations.Clements, John (1991). ''Alabama Facts: A Comprehensive Look at Alabama Today County by County''. Dallas, Texas: Clements Research H, Inc. p. 304. Escambia County was organized and established after the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, on December 10, 1868, during 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 ...

. The state legislature created it from parts of

Baldwin Baldwin may refer to: People * Baldwin (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname Places Canada * Baldwin, York Regional Municipality, Ontario * Baldwin, Ontario, in Sudbury District * Baldwin's Mills, ...

and Conecuh counties, to the west and north, respectively. The area was part of the coastal plain. It was largely agricultural into the 20th century. The county is subject to heavy winds and rains due to seasonal

hurricanes A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its locat ...

. In September 1979, the county was declared a

disaster area A disaster area is a region or a locale that has been heavily damaged by either natural, technological or social hazards. Disaster areas affect the population living in the community by a dramatic increase in expense, loss of energy, food and se ...

due to damage from

Hurricane Frederic Hurricane Frederic, known in Latin America as Federico, was an intense and damaging tropical cyclone that carved a path of destruction from the Lesser Antilles to Quebec, in particular devastating areas of the United States Gulf Coast. Though ...

. It was declared a disaster area again in September 2004 due to damage from

Hurricane Ivan Hurricane Ivan was a large, long-lived, and devastating tropical cyclone that caused widespread damage in the Caribbean and United States. The ninth named storm, the sixth hurricane, and the fourth major hurricane of the active 2004 Atlantic h ...

. In the 20th century, the

organized to gain recognition as a tribe, and established a government under a written constitution. The federal government recognized the Boarch Band on August 11, 1984. It had control of some lands that were taken into trust on their behalf by the federal government as part of the federal recognition process. It is the only federally recognized tribe in the state. Since the late 20th century, they have developed three gaming resorts to generate revenues for tribal health and welfare. In addition, Alabama has recognized nine tribes, generally descendants of Choctaw, Creek, and Cherokee Native Americans who had historically lived here.

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 (0.8%) is water.

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 29 * U.S. Highway 31 * State Route 21 * State Route 41 * State Route 113

Adjacent counties

* Conecuh County (north) * Covington County (east) *

Okaloosa County, Florida Okaloosa County is a county located in the northwestern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, extending from the Gulf of Mexico to the Alabama state line. As of the 2020 census, the population was 211,668. Its county seat is Crestview. Okaloo ...

(southeast) *

Santa Rosa County, Florida Santa Rosa County is a county located in the northwestern portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2020, the population was 188,000. The county seat is Milton, which lies in the geographic center of the county. Other major communities withi ...

(south) *

Escambia County, Florida Escambia County is the westernmost and oldest County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 321,905. The county seat and largest city is Pensacola, Florida, Pe ...

(southwest) * Baldwin County (west) * Monroe County (northwest) Escambia County in Alabama and Escambia County in Florida are two of 22 counties or parishes in the United States with the same name to border each other across state lines.

National protected area

Conecuh National Forest The Conecuh National Forest in southern Alabama covers , along the Alabama - Florida line in Covington and Escambia counties. Topography is level to moderately sloping, broad ridges with stream terraces and broad floodplains. The Conecuh Tra ...

(part)

Demographics

2020 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 2020, there were 36,757 people, 13,089 households, and 8,019 families residing in the county.

2010 census

According to the 2010 United States census: *62.1%

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 ...

*31.9%

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 ...

*4.4% Native American *0.2% Asian *0.0%

Native Hawaiian Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians; , , , and ) are the Indigenous peoples of Oceania, Indigenous Polynesians, Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaiʻi was set ...

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 ...

*1.5%

Two or more races Multiracial Americans, also known as mixed-race Americans, are Americans who have mixed ancestry of two or more races. The term may also include Americans of mixed-race ancestry who self-identify with just one group culturally and socially (cf. t ...

*1.9%

Hispanic or Latino ''Hispanic'' and '' Latino'' are ethnonyms used to refer collectively to the inhabitants of the United States who are of Spanish or Latin American ancestry (). While many use the terms interchangeably, for example, the United States Census Bureau ...

(of any race) As of 2012 the largest self-reported ancestry groups in Escambia County were: *30.5%

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

*12.1% "American" *9.9% Irish

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 38,440 people, 14,297 households, and 10,093 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 16,544 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 64.40%

, 30.79%

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 ...

, 3.01% Native American, 0.24% Asian, 0.03%

, 0.40% from other races, and 1.13% from two or more races. 0.99% 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 14,297 households, out of which 32.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.70% 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, 15.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.40% were non-families. 26.40% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 2.99. In the county, the population was spread out, with 24.10% under the age of 18, 9.70% from 18 to 24, 28.90% from 25 to 44, 23.70% from 45 to 64, and 13.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 102.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.70 males. The median income for a household in the county was $28,319, and the median income for a family was $36,086. Males had a median income of $30,632 versus $18,091 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 $14,396. About 15.20% of families and 20.90% 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 24.70% of those under age 18 and 17.80% of those age 65 or over.

Government and infrastructure

The

Holman Correctional Facility William C. Holman Correctional Facility is an Alabama Department of Corrections prison located in Atmore, Alabama. The facility is along Alabama State Highway 21. The facility was originally built to house 581 inmates. Holman held as many as ...

of the

Alabama Department of Corrections The Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) is the agency responsible for incarceration of convicted felons in the state of Alabama in the United States. It is headquartered in the Alabama Criminal Justice Center in Montgomery. Alabama has re ...

(ADOC) is in Atmore, north of the Atmore city center.Annual Report Fiscal Year 2003
"

. 33/84. Retrieved on August 15, 2010. Holman has a male death row and the State of Alabama execution chamber. In addition the ADOC

Fountain Correctional Facility Fountain Correctional Facility is an Alabama Department of Corrections prison located in Atmore, Alabama. The facility is located along Alabama Highway 21, about north of the Atmore city center.Fountain / JO Davis Correctional Facility
."

. Retrieved on July 4, 2011. The city of Atmore annexed both prisons in 2008. Escambia County is reliably Republican at the presidential level. 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 majority 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 ...

Communities

Cities

* Atmore * Brewton (county seat) * East Brewton

Towns

* Flomaton * Pollard * Riverview

Unincorporated communities

Canoe A canoe is a lightweight, narrow watercraft, water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using paddles. In British English, the term ' ...

* Dixonville * Foshee * Freemanville * Huxford * McCullough *

Nokomis Nokomis is the name of Nanabozho's grandmother in the Ojibwe traditional stories and was the name of Hiawatha's grandmother in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, ''The Song of Hiawatha'', which is a re-telling of the Nanabozho stories. Nokomis is ...

* Spring Hill * Wahl

Former town

Alco The American Locomotive Company (often shortened to ALCO, ALCo or Alco) was an American manufacturer that operated from 1901 to 1969, initially specializing in the production of locomotives but later diversifying and fabricating at various time ...

Indian reservation

Poarch Creek Indian Reservation The Poarch Creek Indian Reservation is a Muscogee, Creek Indian reservation in the state of Alabama. It is the home of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, the only federally recognized Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribe in ...

Education

The two school districts are Brewton City School District (City of Brewton) and

Escambia County School District Escambia County Public Schools (ECPS), officially the Escambia County School District (ECSD), is the organization responsible for the administration of public schools in all of Escambia County, Florida, in the United States. The district current ...

(all other locations).
Text list
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Historic sites

Escambia County has three sites listed 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 ...

, the Atmore Commercial Historic District the Brewton Historic Commercial District, and the Commercial Hotel-Hart Hotel.

Notable residents

Esther Blake Esther McGowin Blake (1897–1979) was the first woman in the United States Air Force. She enlisted on the first minute of the first hour of the first day regular U.S. Air Force duty was authorized for women on July 8, 1948.Women of the U.S. Air ...

(1897–1979), the first

woman A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or Adolescence, adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functi ...

in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

References

External links

Escambia County Industrial Development Authority

Coastal Gateway Regional Economic Development Alliance

* Escambia Count
map of roads/towns
(map © 2007 Univ. of Alabama).
The Brewton Standard

South Alabama Community Website
{{authority control Alabama placenames of Native American origin 1868 establishments in Alabama Populated places established in 1868