Wilcox 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 ...

of the U.S. state of

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 10,600. 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 Camden.

History

Wilcox County was established on December 13, 1819. The county was named after Joseph M. Wilcox, a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

lieutenant who was killed in Alabama during the Creek War.

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 (2.1%) is water.

Major highways

* State Route 5 * State Route 10 * State Route 21 * State Route 25 * State Route 28 * State Route 41 * State Route 89 * State Route 162 * State Route 164 * State Route 221 * State Route 265

Adjacent counties

* Dallas County (northeast) * Lowndes County (east-northeast) * Butler County (east-southeast) * Monroe County (south) * Clarke County (southwest) * Marengo County (northwest)

Demographics

2020 Census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 10,600 people, 3,854 households, and 2,284 families residing in the county.

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 11,670 people living in the county. 72.5% were Black or African American, 26.8%

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, 0.1% of some other race and 0.4% of two or more races. 0.6% were Hispanic or Latino (of any race).

2000 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 2000, there were 13,183 people, 4,776 households, and 3,376 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 6,183 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 71.90%

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 ...

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 ...

, 27.51%

, 0.14% Native American, 0.13% Asian, 0.02%

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 ...

, 0.11% from other races, and 0.19% from two or more races. Nearly 0.74% 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 4,776 households, out of which 36.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.80% 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, 26.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.30% were non-families. Nearly 27.50% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.70, and the average family size was 3.31. In the county, the population was spread out, with 30.70% under the age of 18, 9.10% from 18 to 24, 25.50% from 25 to 44, 21.00% from 45 to 64, and 13.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 87.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.00 males. The median income for a household in the county was $16,646, and the median income for a family was $22,200. Males had a median income of $26,216 versus $17,274 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 $10,903. About 36.10% of families and 39.90% 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 48.40% of those under age 18 and 32.10% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Wilcox County leans heavily towards the Democratic Party. The only Republican to carry the county since 1900 has been

Barry Goldwater Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and major general in the United States Air Force, Air Force Reserve who served as a United States senator from 1953 to 1965 and 1969 to 1987, and was the Re ...

in 1964 – when little to none of the county's black majority had voted for over seven decades and opposition by the voting white minority to Civil Rights meant that national Democrat

Lyndon Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after assassination of John F. Kennedy, the assassination of John F. Ken ...

was not allowed on the ballot. Even after the Voting Rights Act of 1965, black registration was so slow that segregationist

George Wallace George Corley Wallace Jr. (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) was an American politician who was the 45th and longest-serving governor of Alabama (1963–1967; 1971–1979; 1983–1987), and the List of longest-serving governors of U.S. s ...

comfortably carried the county in 1968, but since then the Democratic presidential candidate has carried Wilcox in every election. It was one of only six Wallace counties to vote for George McGovern against

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

's 3,000-plus-county landslide of 1972.

Religion

According to the Association of Religion Data Archives at

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

, religious affiliation in Wilcox County in 2010 was as follows: *

African Methodist Episcopal Church The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a Methodist denomination based in the United States. It adheres to Wesleyan theology, Wesleyan–Arminian theology and has a connexionalism, connexional polity. It ...

(2443 adherents) *

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 ...

(2177) * Nondenominational Protestant (477) *

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 ...

(463) *

Pentecostalism Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...

(320) *

Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

(262) * Christian Methodist Episcopal Church (251) *

Churches of Christ The Churches of Christ, also commonly known as the Church of Christ, is a loose association of autonomous Christian congregations located around the world. Typically, their distinguishing beliefs are that of the necessity of baptism for salvation ...

(206)

Education

All public schools in the county are operated by the Wilcox County School District, which covers the entire county. The schools include: and Camden School of Arts and Technology and Wilcox Central Academy. The community is also served by one private school, Wilcox Academy, founded in 1970 as a segregation academy. The public schools are effectively all-Black.

Economy

Major industries in the county include a

paper mill A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless belt ...

operated by International Paper, based in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

, on the Alabama River near Pine Hill that employs roughly 400 people, and a copper tubing plant owned by Golden Dragon Copper Group of

Xinxiang Xinxiang ( zh, s= , t= , p=Xīnxiāng ; Postal romanization, postal: Sinsiang) is a prefecture-level city in northern Henan provinces of China, province, China. It borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to its southwest, Kaifeng to its sou ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

in Sunny South that opened in 2014; it employs approximately 300.

Communities

City

* Camden (county seat)

Towns

* Oak Hill * Pine Apple * Pine Hill * Yellow Bluff

Census-designated places

* Boykin * Catherine

Unincorporated communities

* Ackerville *

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

* Anne Manie * Arlington * Bethel * Canton Bend * Coy * Fatama * Furman * Gastonburg * Gee's Bend * Kimbrough * Lamison * Lower Peach Tree * McWilliams * Millers Ferry * Pebble Hill *

Prairie Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...

* Rockwest * Rosebud * Snow Hill * Sunny South

Ghost towns

* Prairie Bluff * Ruthven

Places of interest

Wilcox County is home to Roland Cooper State Park, Lake Dannelly, and Bridgeport Beach.

Notable people

* William Q. Atwood, former slave who became a lumber baron based in Saginaw, Michigan * Judy L. Bonner, 28th President of The University of Alabama * Fred Cone, former

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

in the NFL for the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

and

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

* James Crawford (basketball), former professional basketball player who played in the Australian National Basketball League * Laurance L. Cross, Presbyterian minister and Mayor of Berkeley, California *

Marie Foster Marie Priscilla Martin Foster (October 24, 1917 – September 6, 2003) was a leader in the Civil Rights Movement in the U.S. during the 1960s. Her successful voter registration in Dallas County, Alabama fueled her to become an activist, and ...

, leader in the U.S. Civil Rights Movement * Kenneth R. Giddens, Broadcaster and

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is an international broadcasting network funded by the federal government of the United States that by law has editorial independence from the government. It is the largest and oldest of the American internation ...

executive * John Cooper Godbold, United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit * Kay Ivey, 54th governor of Alabama * Philemon T. Herbert, former U.S. Representative from

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

* Bill Lee (musician), American musician * Noah Purifoy, visual artist and sculptor * Benjamin M. Miller, 39th governor of Alabama * Lucy Mingo, American quilt maker and member of the Gee's Bend Collective * Estella Payton, co-star on the Woman's World cooking show that aired on WKRG-TV in Mobile, Alabama * Joseph Smitherman, mayor of

Selma, Alabama Selma is a city in and the county seat of Dallas County, in the Black Belt region of south central Alabama and extending to the west. Located on the banks of the Alabama River, the city has a population of 17,971 as of the 2020 census. Abou ...

* William J. Vaughn, American university professor, school principal, librarian and book collector * Rosa Young, Lutheran educator from Rosebud

References

Notes

External links

* Wilcox Count
map of roads/towns
(map © 2007 Univ. of Alabama).
Wilcox County Chamber of Commerce
{{authority control 1819 establishments in Alabama Populated places established in 1819 Black Belt (U.S. region) Majority-minority counties in Alabama