Marion County


Country music star Sonny James (1929- ) was Sonny JamesLocated in the northwest part of the state, Marion County is the birthplace of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Alabama Music Hall of Fame inductee Sonny James (b. 1929), a native of Hackleburg. The county is governed by an elected five-member commission and includes the incorporated city of Winfield.

· Founding Date: February 13, 1818
· Area: 743 square miles
· Population: 30,165 (2006 Census Bureau estimate)
· Major Waterways: Tombigbee River, Tennessee River
· Major Highways: U.S. 43, U.S. 78, U.S. 278
· County Seat: Hamilton
· Largest City: Hamilton

History 

Marion County was created by the Alabama Territorial General Assembly on February 13, 1818, preceding Alabama's statehood by almost two years. The county was created from land acquired from the Chickasaw Indians by the Treaty of 1816. The county included all of the current territory of Marion County and parts of what are now Winston, Walker, Fayette, and Lamar counties in Alabama as well as portions of present-day Lowndes, Monroe, and Itawamba counties in Mississippi. Marion was named in honor of General Francis Marion (1732–1795), an American Revolutionary War hero from South Carolina who was known as "The Swamp Fox." Most of Marion County's early settlers came from Kentucky and Tennessee after General Andrew Jackson established the Military Road. The first towns in the area were Pikeville, Hamilton (formerly Toll Gate), Winfield, and Guin.

The home of Judge John Dabney Terrell Sr. Old Marion County CourthouseIn 1818, the first county courthouse was constructed at Cotton Gin Port, near Amory. It was moved in 1819 to the home of Henry Greer along the Buttachatchee River. Pikeville served as Marion County's first permanent county seat from 1820–82. Although the town is now abandoned, the third county courthouse, home of Judge John Dabney Terrell Sr., still stands. In 1883, Hamilton became the county seat. The first courthouse in Hamilton was destroyed by fire on March 30, 1887, and the second courthouse, constructed in the same place, also burned. A new courthouse, opened in 1901, is still in use.

Major Cities and Demographics 

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the population of Marion County has remained steady at around 30,000 for the past 15 years. The county's population was 29,830 in 1990, 31,214 in 2000, and estimated at 30,165 in 2006. At the time of the 2000 Census, the population consisted of 94.8 percent White, 3.6 percent African American, and 1.2 percent Hispanic, making Marion County one of the most racially homogeneous counties in the state. The county ranked 37th in population among Alabama's 67 counties in 2000. Hamilton is the largest city in Marion, with an estimated population of 6,171. Other significant population centers include Winfield (3,550), Guin (2,464), and Hackleburg (1,161). Marion County is ranked 35th in Hackleburg, in northern Marion County, is named for Hackleburgper capita and median household income among Alabama's 67 counties. In 2003, the median household income for the county was $27,475, compared with $36,131 for the state as a whole. The county's per capita income was $15,321, compared with $18,189 for the state.

Economy 

Like most Alabama counties, farming was the prevailing occupation in Marion County until well into the twentieth century. Until the 1930s, cotton was the county's major crop, after which time farmers began to diversify into cattle, corn, and soybeans. The economy was mainly agriculturally based until the mid-twentieth century, when its many acres of forest attracted the timber industry.

Most of the workforce in present-day Marion County is divided between sales and office work (21 percent), production and transportation occupations (32.1 percent), and management and professional occupations (19.9 percent), as compared with service (12 percent), construction and extraction (13.6 percent), and farming Signs for barbecue restaurants located in the town Marion County Restaurant(1.3 percent). Much of the business sector is centered along a stretch of U.S. 78 known as Corridor X, located southwest of Hamilton, that connects Memphis, Tennessee, to Birmingham. Some of the largest employers in the county are Buccaneer Homes, Wrangler, NTN Bower, Harden Manufacturing, and 3M.

The Marion County school system, together with the Winfield City school system, employs approximately 593 teachers and administrators who serve more than 5,000 students in 14 primary and secondary schools. Bevill State Community College, a two-year institution offering both academic and technical and vocational programs, has a campus in Hamilton.

Geography 

Marion County is 26th in size among Alabama Marion County MapComprising approximately 743 square miles, Marion County lies in the northwest corner of the state. It is bordered on the north by Franklin County, on the east by Winston and Walker counties, on the south by Fayette and Lamar counties, and on the west by the state of Mississippi. The county lies within the Coastal Plain section of the Atlantic Plain region.

Numerous tributaries of the Tombigbee River run throughout the county as do several tributaries of the Tennessee River. The Tombigbee River is considered one of the most critical watersheds in the nation, with more than 125 species of fish, 10 of which are considered endangered. The river's many tributaries offer scenic views and recreational opportunities.

U.S. Highways 43, 78, and 278 are the county's major transportation routes. U.S. Highway 43 runs north-south through the middle of the county, and U.S. Highways 78 and 278 run east-west across the middle of the county. Marion County-Rankin Fite Airport is the county's only public airport.

Events and Places of Interest 

Marion County offers a range of recreational activities. The Sam R. Murphy Wildlife Management Areas consists of 25,150 acres of game hunting. The Upper Bear Creek Reservoir and the Marion County Public Fishing Lake offer boating, canoeing, kayaking, fishing, and birdwatching. Twin Forks Park, near the Bear Creek Reservoir, includes picnic and campsite areas as well.

Native American burial mounds are located along the Native American Burial MoundMarion County is home to several buildings listed on both the National and Alabama Registers of Historic Places. Pearce's Mill, built in the 1840s along the Buttachatchee River and restored after the Civil War by James P. Pearce, one of the county's largest landowners, was nominated to the National Register in 1976. Registered as an Alabama Historic site, Norris Hardware in Brilliant was built in 1905. Today, visitors to the historic building can examine antique farm and livestock equipment as well as antique housewares. The Ernest Baxter Fite House in Hamilton, significant for its Colonial Revival architecture, was built in 1929 and added to the Alabama Register in 1992 and the National Register in 1997. Although not listed on the registers, visitors can tour the abandoned town of Pikeville, with its old courthouse, Civil War cemetery, the grave of an unknown soldier from the War of 1812, and the remnants of General Jackson's Military Road.

Marion County is also home to Mule Day, held annually in Winfield on the fourth Saturday in September. Festivities include food, music, dancing, a Civil War reenactment, arts and crafts, and various games. Drawing crowds of more than 25,000, the festival is now in its 25th year.

Additional Resources  

The Heritage of Marion County, Alabama. Clanton, Ala.: Heritage Pub. Consultants, ca. 2000.

Donna J. Siebenthaler
Auburn University


Published June 29, 2007
Last updated December 10, 2009