Abees update … "SAMPLE"

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ABEES UPDATE … (SAMPLE)

Here is a sample of what I have been working on to update the ABEES guide. This is just the beginning of the section on County Courthouses. I have also added numerous other places of interest, and great places to eat. This is still a work in progress, - so there will be plenty more changes and additions made. I also “hope” to eventually add a small photo of each location. Check it out, and if you have any info you would like added to the new 2013 ABEES Guide, let me know at Travel@BMWMOAL.org so that I can get that info added before we carry it to the printers at the end of this year.

The Alabama Capitol and the County Court Houses (74)

Alabama has 67 counties. If you are truly interested in seeing all of Alabama, one way to do so would be to insure that you have visited each of its different County Courthouses. Some counties have a second Courthouse, and thus they’re listed too.

• Abbeville Henry County Courthouse, ~ 101 Courthouse Sq., 36310
  31°34′16″N 85°14′59″W
  (334) 585-3257 https://www.alabama.gov/portal/secon...countyID=henry
  Henry County was founded as a part of the Alabama Territory in Dec. 1819. The County is named for Revolutionary era Patriot Patrick Henry (1736-1799) of “Give Me Liberty, or Give Me Death” fame. This Courthouse was built in 1966.
  
  
• Albertville Marshall County Courthouse # 2, ~ 207 S. Broad
  34°16′5″N 86°12′37″W
  (256) 878-5349 www.marshallco.org/
  Marshall County was established in January 1836. The County was named in honor of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall (1755-1835). This Courthouse was built in 1935.
  
  
• Alexander City Tallapoosa Co. Courthouse Annex, ~ 82 Court Sq., 35010
  32°56′36″N 85°57′14″W
  (256) 825-4268 www.tallaco.com/
  Tallapoosa County was established in December, 1832. The County is named for the Tallapoosa River. The River, especially its lower course, was a major population center of the Creek Indians before the early 19th century. The contemporary name is from the Creek words "Talwa posa", which mean Grandmother Town.
  
  
• Andalusia Covington County Courthouse, ~ 260 Hillcrest Dr., 36420
  31°18′31″N 86°28′57″W
  (334) 428-2610 www.covcounty.com
  Covington County, Alabama, was established in December, 1821, and is named is in honor of Brigadier General Leonard W. Covington (1768-1813), who was mortally wounded in the Battle of Crysler's Farm in Canada during The War of 1812. A National Historic Place, this Courthouse was built in 1916.
  
  
• Anniston Calhoun County Courthouse, ~ 25 W 11th St.,
  33°39′31″N 85°49′52″W
  (256) 241-2800 www.calhouncounty.org/
  Originally known as Benton County, and named in honor of the U.S. Senator from Missouri, Mr. Thomas Hart Benton (1782-1858), the County was established in December, 1832. Benton, was a political ally of the U.S Senator from South Carolina, Mr. John C. Calhoun (1782-1850). Through the 1820s-1840s, however, Benton's and Calhoun's political interests diverged, with Benton, slowly coming to the conclusion that slavery was wrong. On January 29, 1858, Alabama supporters of slavery, objecting to Benton's change of heart, renamed Benton County as Calhoun County, in honor of the pro-slavery Mr. Calhoun. The county seat was moved to Anniston in June 1900 and this Courthouse was built at that time.
  
  
• Ashland Clay County Courthouse, ~ 25 Court Square, 36251
  33°16′27″N 85°50′9″W
  (256) 354-7888 claycochamber.com/
  Clay County Alabama was established in December, 1866 from land taken from Randolph and Talladega County. The County was named is in honor of the U.S. Senator from Kentucky, Mr. Henry Clay (1777-1852), and the county seat was named after his estate in Lexington, KY called "Ashland". A National Historic Place, this Courthouse was built in 1906.
  
  
• Ashville St. Clair County Courthouse - #1, ~ 129 5th Ave.
  33°50′13″N 86°15′18″W
  (205) 594-2100 www.stclairco.com/
  St. Clair County, Alabama was established in November, 1818 by the Alabama Territory legislature by splitting the area from Shelby County. The county was named in honor of General Arthur St. Clair (1737-1818), who came to America from Scotland as an officer in the British Army in the French and Indian War where he victoriously fought against the French in Canada. He settled in America and served as a general in the Continental Army during the American Revolution, and later was the only Governor of the Northwest Territory. The St Clair County Courthouse was erected in 1844 by Littleton Yarbrough, and is the second oldest courthouse in Alabama that is still in use. It replaced a log building that had been erected 20 years earlier.
  
  
• Athens Limestone County Courthouse, ~ 310 W. Washington St.
  34°48′10″N 86°58′18″W
  (256) 233-6400 www.limestonecounty-al.gov/
  Limestone County was established in February, 1818 by the Alabama Territorial legislature from former Chickasaw and Cherokee Indian lands ceded to the United States in 1816. The county was named for the creek that flows through the county and whose bed is made of hard limestone. A number of courthouses have been built and used in the county since its inception. The first courthouse, a wooden structure, was built in 1820 and occupied until 1825, when the courthouse was replaced by a second wooden courthouse. This courthouse was in use until 1835, when a third courthouse was built, which in turn was in use until 1863, when it was destroyed in the Civil War. After the Civil War, a fourth courthouse made of brick was built and used until 1916. In 1919, the fifth and present-day courthouse was built, and it has undergone minor renovations and updates since that time.
  
  
• Bay Minette Baldwin County Courthouse, ~ 312 Courthouse Square
  30°53′0″N 87°46′27″W
  (251) 937-9561 www.baldwincountyal.gov
  Baldwin County was established in December, 1809 as a part of the Mississippi Territory. The county was named in honor of the U.S. Senator from Georgia, Mr. Abraham Baldwin (1754-1807). In the first days of Baldwin County, the Town of McIntosh Bluff, Alabama (now in Mobile County) was the County Seat. After being transferred to the Town of Blakeley in 1810, the county seat was later moved to the City of Daphne in 1868. In 1900, by an Act of the Legislature of Alabama, the county seat was authorized for relocation to the City of Bay Minette; however, the City of Daphne resisted relocation. The citizens of Bay Minette moved the county records from Daphne in the middle of the night on October 11–12, 1901 and delivered them to the newly built courthouse in the City of Bay Minette. Although this courthouse was originally built in 1901, the structure was greatly altered during renovations in 1996.
  
  
• Birmingham Jefferson County Courthouse, ~ 716 Richard Arrington Jr.
  33°31′17″N 86°48′32″W
  (205) 325-5300 jeffconline.jccal.org/
  Jefferson County was established by the Alabama Legislature in December, 1819, and was named in honor of U.S. President Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826). A National Historic Place, this, the county's third courthouse, was constructed in 1931. The design was commissioned by the county from the Chicago, Illinois firm of Holabird & Root, and was principally the work of Jack B. Smith, with the Birmingham architect Harry Wheelock, acting as an associate. The reinforced concrete building is clad with granite and limestone in a streamlined Art Deco style.
  
  
• Bessemer Jefferson Co. Satellite Courthouse, ~ 1801 3rd Ave N.
  33°24′5″N 86°57′14″W
  (205) 481-4110 jeffconline.jccal.org
  Jefferson County was established by the Alabama Legislature in December, 1819, and was named in honor of U.S. President Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826). The Jefferson County Bessemer Justice Center was completed in the Spring of 2009. It was designed by Giattina Aycock Architecture Studio and features a long wall of insulated security glass to visually reinforce the notion of "transparent justice". The lower facade is clad in Alabama limestone and the plaza and lobby are paved with Sardinian granite.
  
  
• Brewton Escambia County Courthouse, ~ 318 Bellville Ave
  31°6′24″N 87°4′16″W
  (251) 867-0300 www.co.escambia.al.us/
  Escambia County was established in December, 1868 from parts of Baldwin and Conecuh Counties. The name "Escambia" may have been derived from the Creek word Shambia, meaning "clearwater", or the Choctaw word for "cane-brake" or "reed-brake". The town of Pollard was the County Seat until 1883, when it was moved to Brewton. The first courthouse was built in 1901. The present courthouse was built in 1960.
  
  
• Butler Choctaw County Courthouse, ~ 117 S Mulberry St.
  32°5′22″N 88°13′19″W
  (205) 459-2155
  Choctaw County was established in December, 1847, and is named for the Choctaw tribe of American Indians. The town of Butler is named in honor of Colonel Pierce Butler (1798-1847), who was a former Governor of South Carolina, and was killed in August 1847 at the Battle of Churubusco, in the Mexican-American War. The current courthouse in Butler is Choctaw County’s second courthouse – built 1906, occupied in 1907, and additions were added in 1956 & 1965.
  

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More courthouses ... new style ABEES for 2013

• Camden Wilcox County Courthouse, ~ 12 Water St.
  31°59′26″N 87°17′17″W
  (334) 682-4881
  Wilcox County was established in December, 1819, and was named for Lieutenant Joseph M. Wilcox (1790-1814). Wilcox graduated 1st of his class from the United States Military Academy in 1812 and was commissioned as a first lieutenant in the United States 3rd Infantry. On 15 January 1814, Lieutenant Wilcox was tomahawked and scalped by a group of Creek warriors near the Alabama River during the Creek War of 1813-14. The county was created from portions of Dallas and Monroe counties, which in turn were created from Creek Indian lands acquired by the United States in the 1814 Treaty of Fort Jackson. In 1833, the county seat was moved from Canton Bend to Barboursville, named for Sen. Philip P. Barbour of Virginia (1783-1841). A two-story wooden building served as the county courthouse. Barboursville was later renamed Camden and incorporated in 1841. In 1857, the first Camden courthouse was torn down, and a Greek Revival courthouse was built in its place. A New Courthouse Annex was built on Water St. to meet the contemporary needs of the county court system.
  
  
• Carrollton Pickens County Courthouse, ~ Hwy’s 86 & 17.
  33°15′42″N 88°5′42″W
  205-367-8286
  Pickens County was established in December, 1820, and named for revolutionary war hero General Andrew Pickens (1739-1817) of South Carolina. The county seat was relocated from Pickensville to Carrollton in 1830. The first courthouse in Carrollton was burned in April, 1865, by troops of Union General John T. Croxton (1836-1874). A second courthouse was also destroyed by fire in November, 1876. Though arson was suspected, no arrest was made until January 1878, when Henry Wells, an African American with some criminal history was arrested and locked in the garett of the new building, which had been erected in 1877. According to legend, Wells was peering down from the north garett window as a mob gathered to hang him. A bolt of lightning struck nearby and "etched" Wells' anguished face into the window glass. A vague image resembling a face can still be seen in that lower right-hand pane of that window. This building is listed as a National Historic Place.
  
  
• Centre Cherokee County Courthouse, ~ 100 Main Street
  34°9′9″N 85°40′44″W
  (256) 927-3668 9jc.alacourt.gov/Cherokee/default.aspx
  Cherokee County was created by the Alabama legislature in 1836, and was named for the Cherokee Indians, who ceded the land that now comprises the county to the Federal government by the 1835 treaty of New Echota. In 1884 the county seat was moved from Cedar Bluff to the town of Centre. This Courthouse was built in 1936.
  
  
• Centreville Bibb County Courthouse, ~ 35 Court Square East
  32°56′44″N 87°8′8″W
  Cahawba County was established in 1818, and named for the Cahawba River, (now more commonly "Cahaba River"), The word “cahawba” is Choctaw for "water above." In December, 1820, the county was renamed Bibb County in honor of William W. Bibb (1781-1820), the first Governor of Alabama. The first seat of Bibb County was a temporary location at Falls of the Cahaba, which was used from 1819 to 1822, when it was moved to a community surrounding a sawmill, which was given the name Bibb Court House. In 1829, the seat was moved to Centreville Court House, since shortened to Centreville. This Courthouse was built in 1902, and is the county’s 5th courthouse building.
  
  
• Chatom Washington County Courthouse, ~ Courthouse Square
  31°27′56″N 88°15′24″W
  (251) 847-2201 www.washingtoncountyal.com
  Washington County was created in June, 1800, and named in honor of George Washington (1732-1799), the first President of the United States of America. This Courthouse was built in 1964
  
  
• Clanton Chilton County Courthouse, ~ 568 2nd Ave. N
  32°50′24″N 86°37′47″W
  Chilton County, originally called Baker County, was created by the Alabama legislature in December, 1868, from parts of Autauga, Bibb, Perry and Shelby Counties. The county was originally named for Alfred Baker who owned practically all of what is now the town of Clanton. The county name was changed in 1874 to honor the chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, William Parish Chilton (1810-1871). The first County Seat was at Grantville but later moved to Goosepond when the courthouse burned in early January of 1870. Goosepond was later renamed Clanton after Confederate Brig. Gen. James Holt Clanton (1827-1871). This Courthouse was built in 1960.
  
  
• Clayton Barbour County Courthouse, ~ 303 E. Broad
  31°52′41″N 85°27′0″W
  Barbour County was established in December, 1832, from former Creek Indian homelands and a portion of Pike County. In 1833, Louisville was chosen as the first county seat, but the county seat was moved in 1834 to Clayton because of its central geographic location. By the 1870s, Eufaula had surpassed Clayton in size, sparking debate about whether the county seat should be moved to the county's commercial center or remain at its geographic center. Reaching a compromise, the legislature passed an Act in 1879 to establish courts in both Eufaula and Clayton. This Courthouse was built in 1961.
  
  
• Columbiana Shelby County Courthouse, ~ 112 N. Main St.
  33°10′44″N 86°36′27″W
  (205) 669-3740 www.shelbyal.com/
  Shelby County was established in February, 1818, and it was named for the Revolutionary War hero and the first Governor of Kentucky, Isaac Shelby (1750–1826). In 1905 construction began two blocks north of the old courthouse on a new marble courthouse at a cost of $300,000. The new courthouse was completed in 1908 and has been renovated and enlarged on a number of occasions. The new courthouse has served Shelby County for over 100 years.
  
  
• Cullman Cullman County Courthouse, ~ 500 2nd Ave.
  34°10′21″N 86°50′30″W
  (256) 775-4878 www.co.cullman.al.us/
  Cullman County was established in January, 1877 from portions of Blount, Morgan, and Winston Counties, and named in honor of founding German immigrant Colonel John G. Cullmann (1823-1895). This Courthouse was built in 1966.
  
  
• Dadeville Tallapoosa County Courthouse, ~ 125 N. Broadnax St., 36853
  32°49′52″N 85°45′51″W
  (256) 825-4268 www.tallaco.com/
  Tallapoosa County was established on December 18, 1832. The County is named for the Tallapoosa River. The River, especially its lower course, was a major population center of the Creek Indians before the early 19th century. The contemporary name is from the Creek words "Talwa posa", which mean Grandmother Town. This Courthouse was built in 1962.
  
  
• Decatur Morgan County Courthouse, ~ 203 Lee Street
  34°36′25″N 86°59′5″W
  (256) 351-4730 www.co.morgan.al.us/
  Originally called Cotaco County, Morgan County was created in February, 1818 by the Alabama Territorial legislature from land acquired from the Cherokee Indians in the 1816 Treaty of Turkeytown. In June, 1821, the county was renamed in honor of American Revolutionary War General Daniel Morgan (1736-1802) of Virginia. This Courthouse was built in 1975.
  
  
• Dothan Houston County Courthouse, ~ 114 N Oats St.
  31°13′27″N 85°23′35″W
  (334) 677-4740 www.houstoncounty.org/
  Houston County was established on February 9, 1903, from parts of Dale County, Geneva County and Henry County. It was named after George Smith Houston (1811-1879), the 24th Governor of Alabama. Dothan is the county seat, and it derives its name from Genesis 37:17: "let us go to Dothan." This courthouse was originally erected in 1962 and was remodeled in 2003.
  
  
• Double Springs Winston County Courthouse, ~ 24789 Hwy-195
  34°8′48″N 87°24′8″W
  (205) 489-5026 www.winstoncountyalabama.org/
  In February, 1850, Hancock County was established, and was named for the first signer of the American Declaration of Independence, Massachusetts Governor John Hancock (1737-1793). In January, 1858, the county was renamed Winston County to honor the 15th Governor of Alabama, John A. Winston (1812-1871). During the Civil War, Winston County was so opposed to secession, that when the State of Alabama seceded from the Union, Winston County made a move to secede from the State. Since then, Winston County has been sometimes referred to as “the Free State of Winston.” The county’s first courthouse was a log structure built in Houston in 1850, and it burnt in 1864. The second courthouse was a wooden structure built in Houston in 1866, and it too burnt in 1868. A third was built in 1871, and was used until the county seat was moved to Double Springs in 1882. A wooden courthouse was completed in 1883, and it burnt in 1891. A National Historic Place, this Courthouse was built of stone so as to be more fire-proof, and was completed in 1894. Additions and modifications were made in 1911, 1929, the 1950’s, 1962, and 1982.