Woodville

Woodville is located in Jackson County in northeastern Alabama. It has a mayor-council form of government.

Early History

The first settler in what is now Woodville was Tennessee native Henry Derrick in 1815; the town was initially known as Old Woodville and was named for residents Richard and Annie Wood. The town was officially established as Woodville by an act of the Alabama State Legislature on December 13, 1819, one day before Alabama became a state. At its founding, it was set within the borders of Decatur County and was made the county seat in 1821. Decatur County was dissolved and merged into Jackson County the following year, however.

Located on a trade route between Huntsville and Scottsboro, Woodville was a mercantile and trading center for local farmers. In 1869, the town was the site of a gun battle between two warring local families that left two participants dead. The Nashville, Chattanooga, and St. Louis Railway built a line through the town in the 1870s. The first school, Green Academy, was built just outside the town center in 1890 on the top of nearby Cumberland Mountain. Woodville was incorporated on May 12, 1890, but lost its charter seven years later. It was again incorporated in 1912.

Demographics

According to 2020 Census estimates, Woodville recorded a population of 1,076. Of that number, 97.3 percent of respondents identified themselves as white, 2.0 percent as Hispanic, 1.4 percent as two or more races, and 1.3 percent as Native American. The town’s median household income was $48,214, and the per capita income was $22,059.

Employment

According to 2020 Census estimates, the workforce in Woodville was divided among the following industrial categories:

  • Manufacturing (24.7 percent)
  • Arts, entertainment, and recreation, and accommodation and food services (16.1 percent)
  • Construction (13.0 percent)
  • Educational services and health care and social assistance (11.1 percent)
  • Public administration (9.4 percent)
  • Professional, scientific, and management, and administrative and waste management services (9.1 percent)
  • Other services, except public administration (6.1 percent)
  • Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, and extraction (5.7 percent)
  • Retail trade (4.7 percent)
  • Wholesale trade (2.8 percent)
  • Finance and insurance, and real estate and rental and leasing (1.9 percent)
  • Information (0.6 percent)
  • Transportation and warehousing, and utilities (0.6 percent)

Education

Woodville High School, which serves grades K-12, is part of the Jackson County School District.

Transportation

Woodville is served by State Highway 35, which runs northeast-southwest through the town, and U.S. Highway 72, which runs east-west along the southern edge of the town.

Events and Places of Interest

The Bob Jones Community Center is named in honor of Woodville native state congressman Bob Jones and houses banquet facilities with a full kitchen. The 1909 building also houses the collections of the Woodville Historical Center, focusing on the history of the town. Fern Cave National Wildlife Refuge is located just northeast of the town. The Land Trust of North Alabama manages Bethel Springs Nature Preserve just west of the town

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Bethel Springs Waterfall

Photo courtesy of Claire Wilson
Bethel Springs Waterfall