Marshall County


Cathedral Caverns, in Jackson County, was originally named Cathedral Caverns State ParkLocated in the northeast part of the state, Marshall County lies between the major metropolitan centers of Huntsville to the northwest and Birmingham to the southwest. Marshall County sits atop cave systems, and Cathedral Caverns, in the northern part of the county, boasts the largest cave entrance in the world. The county is home to a mixture of suburban and rural communities and is one of the fastest-growing areas in the state. Marshall is governed by an elected five-member commission and Artist Nall Hollis, known professionally as NALL, was born in Marshall County.

· Founding Date: January 9, 1836
· Area: 567 square miles
· Population: 87,185 (2006 Census Bureau estimate)
· Major Waterways: Tennessee River, Black Warrior River
· Major Highways: U.S. 431, U.S. 231
· County Seat: Guntersville
· Largest City: Albertville

History 

Present-day Marshall County was created by the Alabama legislature on January 9, 1836, from Cherokee land acquired in the 1835 Treaty of New Echota. The county was named in honor of John Marshall, chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1801 to 1835. Most early county settlers came from Tennessee, Virginia, and the Carolinas. The earliest towns in the area were Beard's Bluff, Guntersville, Warrenton, and Claysville.

Guntersville became the seat of Marshall County in Marshall County Courthouse in GuntersvilleFor 12 years the county debated the location for the county seat. Claysville served as the first county seat, but in 1838, the seat was moved to Marshall (now Wyeth City) and court was held in an old cotton-gin loft. This was soon deemed unsuitable, and the county seat was moved again to Warrenton in 1841, where a frame house served as the courthouse. Finally, in 1848, the county seat was moved to Guntersville, where it remains today. The original two-story brick courthouse served as the nucleus for all future courthouse remodeling and additions. In 1935, a second courthouse was built in Albertville for the convenience of Marshall County citizens living on Sand Mountain. Today, both courts remain in use.

Major Cities and Demographics 

At the time of the 2000 Census, Marshall County was among the fastest-growing counties in the state, with a population that increased from 70,832 in 1990 to 82,231 in 2000. According to U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the 2006 population was 87,185, with 96.6 percent White, Arab is a small city in western Marshall Downtown Arab1.6 percent African American, and 8.7 percent Hispanic. Marshall County ranked 18th in population among Alabama's 67 counties in 2005. The largest city in the county is Albertville, with an estimated population of 17,247. Other significant population centers include Boaz (7,411), Guntersville (7,395), and Arab (7,174). Marshall County benefits from its proximity to the high-tech center of Huntsville, Alabama, making the county the 19th richest in the state. Huntsville is known as the Silicon Valley of the South because of the predominance of aerospace, computer, and other technology-based industries in and around the city. Tax breaks and abundant low-cost land lured many hi-tech companies to the South. In 2003 Marshall County's median household income was $33,688, compared with $36,131 for the state. In 1999, per capita income was $17,089, compared with $18,189 for the state.

Economy 

As in much of Alabama, logging and tree Guntersville LoggingUntil the middle of the twentieth century, farming was the prevailing occupation among Marshall County residents, and the staple crops were cotton and corn. During the 1930s, however, farming diversified into other food crops and livestock because of changes brought about by the arrival of the boll weevil and the hardships caused by the Great Depression. The mineral-rich soil of Marshall County brought mining interests to the area as well. With the completion of the Guntersville Dam by the Tennessee Valley Authority in 1939, the county moved from an agrarian economy to a more industrial economy. The dam made Guntersville the southernmost port of the Tennessee River navigation system, allowing the shipping industry to flourish. It also led to a number of recreational opportunities, including boating and fishing.

Most of the workforce in present-day Marshall County is divided between management (25.1 percent) and sales (24.4 percent). Other occupations include production (16.2 percent), construction (12.7 percent), service (11.6 percent), and farming (1 percent). Some of the largest employers in the county are AlaTrade Foods, LLC; Gold Kist, Inc., Wayne Farms, LLC; Tyson Foods; TS Tech Alabama, LLC; and the Mueller Company.

Together, the Marshall County school system and the Albertville, Arab, Boaz, and Guntersville city school systems employ approximately 1,900 teachers and administrators who serve almost 18,000 students in 33 primary and secondary schools. Snead State Community College, a two-year institution located in Boaz, offers academic and technical education programs.

Geography 

Marshall County is 61st in size among Alabama Marshall County MapComprising approximately 567 square miles, Marshall County is one of the five smallest counties in the state. The county lies in the northeast part of the state in the Cumberland Plateau physiographic section in the Atlantic Plain region, and its topography encompasses sandstone plateaus, rough mountain slopes, and limestone valleys. It is bordered on the northwest by Madison County, on the northeast by Jackson County, on the east by DeKalb County, on the southeast by Etowah County, on the southwest by Blount and Cullman counties, and on the west by Morgan County.

The Tennessee River runs southwest from the northeast portion of the county and exits in the northwest. The Tennessee River Basin is considered one of the most biologically diverse river systems in the United States, and many of its plant and animal species are endangered or at-risk. The Paint Rock River forms a portion of the county's northern boundary, and several tributaries of the Black Warrior River run through the southwest part of the county.

U.S. Highways 431 and 231 are the county's major transportation routes. U.S. 431 runs north-south through the middle of the county, and U.S. 231 runs north-south along Marshall County's western boundary. The county is served by two public airports: Albertville Municipal Airport and Guntersville Municipal Airport.

Events and Places of Interest 

Cathedral Caverns near Grant is Alabama's newest state Cathedral CavernsMarshall offers a range of recreational opportunities. Lake Guntersville State Park in the Tennessee Valley overlooks the 69,000-acre Guntersville Reservoir. The park ranges over 6,000 acres of natural woodlands and provides visitors with such diverse activities as fishing, hiking, camping, boating, swimming, biking, and golfing. Cathedral Caverns State Park, Alabama's newest, is located in the northern part of the county. The entrance to the cave system is 126 feet wide and 25 feet high, making it the world's largest cave opening, and the cave is home to the world's largest stalagmite, Goliath. Buck's Pocket State Park, located in a natural valley of the Appalachian Mountain chain in the western part of the county, ranges over 2,000 acres and is so remote that Alabama political mythology designates it as the place where retired state politicians retire to complete obscurity. The park offers hiking, camping, and picnicking.

Along with its natural terrain, Marshall County also offers many cultural and historical sites. The Guntersville Museum and Cultural Center hosts year-round exhibitions, and its permanent collections include a number of Native American artifacts. In cooperation with the city of Arab, the Arab Historical Society is developing the Arab Historic Village, which currently features six of 10 planned buildings that will each represent a different time period from the late-eighteenth century through the 1940s and offer visitors a timeline of home life. Albertville's Pre-Civil War Cemetery features rows of historic headstones with lengthy inscriptions and stories about the people who lived there. Other historic sites include the Snead Junior College Historic District located in Boaz, the Thomas A. Snellgrove Homestead also in Boaz, and the Albert G. Henry House in Guntersville.

Additional Resources 

Duncan, Katherine McKinstry. The History of Marshall County, Alabama. Albertville, Ala.: Thompson Print., 1969.

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

Donna J. Siebenthaler
Auburn University


Published July 3, 2007
Last updated February 8, 2010