Dadeville


Located in east-central Alabama, Dadeville is the county seat of Tallapoosa County. It has a mayor/city council form of government.

History 

Dadeville's main street features a number of historic Downtown DadevilleDadeville was named for Maj. Francis Langhorne Dade, who died in the Second Seminole War. Granted a charter in 1837, it was named county seat in 1838. First incorporated in 1858, Dadeville lost this status during the Civil War and was incorporated a second time in 1871.

Dadeville has the distinction of being the location of Alabama's first medical school, the Graefenberg Medical Institute, which operated from 1852 until the outbreak of the Civil War; attempts to rehabilitate the school after the war failed, and the building burned in 1873. That Lake Martin in central Alabama was created in Lake Martinsame year, the Memphis and Savannah Railroad completed the first railway line to the town from Columbus, Georgia. Completion of the Thomas Wesley Martin Dam on the Tallapoosa River in 1926 and the subsequent creation of Lake Martin had and continues to have a strong economic impact on Dadeville.

Demographics 

Dadeville's population at the time of the 2000 Census was 3,212; the 2006 Census estimate was 3,235. Of that number, 53.2 percent identified themselves as White, 45.1 percent as African American, 0.8 percent as Hispanic, 0.3 percent as Asian, and 0.2 percent as Native American. The city's median household income was $25,266, compared with the state's median income of $34,135; per capita income was $14,178, compared with $18,189 for the state as a whole.

Employment 

The majority of Dadeville's work force was employed in three occupational groups: production and transportation (28 percent); sales and office (24.1 percent); and management and professional (23.1 percent). The remainder of the workforce was divided among service (16.1 percent); construction, extraction, and maintenance (8.2 percent); and farming, fishing, and forestry (0.5 percent). Leading employers in the area include Prime Healthcare, Ivy Creek of Tallapoosa, Oskar's Enterprises, Niffer's Place at the Lake, and McDonald's.

Education 

Schools in Dadeville are part of the Tallapoosa County School District; the city has approximately 1,355 students and 95 teachers in one elementary, middle, and high school and one alternative school.

Transportation 

Dadeville is intersected by U.S. Highway 280 (north-south) and State Highway 49 (south).

Events and Places of Interest 

A memorial to nineteenth-century humorist Johnson Jones Hooper, Johnson Hooper Memorial in DadevilleDadeville first appeared on the national scene as the home of Johnson Jones Hooper's popular fictional character Simon Suggs, who appeared in a number of Hooper's stories. The town is also the birthplace of Bozeman Bulger, who became a nationally known sportswriter. Dadeville is located near Lake Martin, one of the prime recreational lakes in Alabama, with fishing, boating, swimming, and hiking trails. The Dadeville Parks and Recreation Department has a large indoor recreation center that hosts a number of public programs. The city's parks provide picnic areas, outdoor basketball courts, a softball complex, and tennis courts. The recently added Keebler Park is home to a community-built playground called "Creation Plantation."

Additional Resources  

The Heritage of Tallapoosa County, Alabama. Clanton, Ala.: Heritage Publishing Consultants, 2000.

James P. Kaetz
Auburn University


Published March 5, 2010
Last updated April 9, 2010