Henry County, Alabama

Henry County is a county in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2010 census, its population was 17,302.[1] Its county seat is Abbeville.[2] The county was named for Patrick Henry (1736–1799), famous orator and Governor of Virginia.[3]

Henry County
U.S. county
Henry County Courthouse in Abbeville
Location within the U.S. state of Alabama
Alabama's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 31°30′46″N 85°14′04″W
Country United States
State Alabama
FoundedDecember 13, 1819
Named forPatrick Henry
SeatAbbeville
Largest cityHeadland
Area
 • Total568 sq mi (1,470 km2)
 • Land562 sq mi (1,460 km2)
 • Water6.6 sq mi (17 km2)  1.2%%
Population
 (2010)
 • Total17,302
 • Estimate 
(2019)
17,205
 • Density30/sq mi (12/km2)
Time zoneUTC−6 (Central)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district2nd
Websitewww.henrycountyal.com
 
  • County Number 37 on Alabama Licence Plates

Henry County is part of the Dothan, AL Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

The area that includes Henry County had historically been part of the Lower Creek Confederacy. It was occupied for thousands of years before that by varying cultures of indigenous peoples.

This area was colonized by various European powers, including France and Spain. After Great Britain defeated France in the Seven Years' War, it took over this area. Between 1763 and 1783, the area that is now Henry County, Alabama was under the jurisdiction of the colony of British West Florida. It was acquired from Britain by the United States after it achieved independence in the American Revolutionary War.

After 1814, the territorial settlers developed Franklin as the first white settlement in the Creek territory. The former river port served Abbeville on the Chattahoochee River. Much of the original Henry County was part of the original Alabama wiregrass region.[4]

Henry County was established on December 13, 1819 by the Alabama Territorial Legislature. The area was ceded by the Creek Indian Nation in 1814 under the Treaty of Fort Jackson. Henry County was formed before the Alabama was organized as a state. Abbeville was designated as the county seat in 1833. Henry County has been called "The Cradle of the Wiregrass". She is The Mother of nine other counties. When the county was formed December 1819, it was the largest county by area within Alabama and encompassed a vast land area that now includes the Southeast Alabama Wiregrass Region and beyond. As population increased in the region, areas of it were taken to organize the present counties of Barbour, Coffee, Covington, Crenshaw, Dale, Geneva, Houston, and Pike.

Timeline:

  • December 7, 1821 - The first two counties created, in part, from Old Henry were Covington and Pike counties.
  • December 29, 1824 - The third county was Dale which was carved, in whole, from Old Henry.
  • December 18, 1832 - The fourth county to be created from what was once Old Henry was Barbour County which was formed, in part, from Pike County. When Barbour County was created Henry County actually gained a small parcel of land from the White Oak Creek area.
  • December 29, 1841 - The fifth county to be created from what was once Old Henry was Coffee County which was formed in part from Dale County.
  • December 6, 1866 - The sixth was Bullock County which was created with the southern tip of the county indirectly coming from Old Henry.
  • December 24, 1866 - The seventh county to be created from what was once Old Henry was Crenshaw County which was formed, in part, from Coffee, Covington and Pike counties.
  • December 28, 1868 - The eighth county to be created from what was once Old Henry was Geneva County which was formed, in part, from Henry, Dale and Coffee counties.
  • February 9, 1903 - The last county was Houston County which 72% of its land area was carved from Henry. The balance came from Dale and Geneva counties.

After Houston County was formed in 1903, Henry County had become the smallest in geographic area.

This rural county was developed for agriculture and planters had many slaves. After Reconstruction, whites regained power in the state legislature and passed Jim Crow laws. They also used intimidation and violence to control the African-American population. From 1877 to 1950, they lynched 13 African Americans in the county, most in the decades on either side of the turn of the 20th century.[5] As a consequence, Henry County is among the 805 counties where lynchings took place that is memorialized in the new National Memorial for Peace and Justice, opening in April 2018 in Montgomery, Alabama.[6]

Mechanization and other changes resulted in population losses, especially from 1940 to 1970, as many African Americans left in the Great Migration, seeking to escape the oppression of Jim Crow and gain work in northern, midwestern and western industrial cities.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 568 square miles (1,470 km2), of which 562 square miles (1,460 km2) is land and 6.6 square miles (17 km2) (1.2%) is water.[7] The county is located in the Wiregrass region of southeast Alabama.

It is the fourth-smallest county in Alabama by total area.

Major highways
  • U.S. Highway 431
  • State Route 10
  • State Route 27
  • State Route 95
  • State Route 134
  • State Route 173

Adjacent counties

Demographics
Historical population
CensusPop.%±
18202,638—
18304,02052.4%
18405,78744.0%
18509,01955.8%
186014,91865.4%
187014,191−4.9%
188018,76132.2%
189024,84732.4%
190036,14745.5%
191020,943−42.1%
192021,5472.9%
193022,8205.9%
194021,912−4.0%
195018,674−14.8%
196015,286−18.1%
197013,254−13.3%
198015,30215.5%
199015,3740.5%
200016,3106.1%
201017,3026.1%
Est. 201917,205[8]−0.6%
U.S. Decennial Census[9]
1790–1960[10] 1900–1990[11]
1990–2000[12] 2010–2018[1]

As of the census[13] of 2000, there were 16,310 people, 6,525 households, and 4,730 families living in the county. The population density was 29 people per square mile (11/km2). There were 8,037 housing units at an average density of 14 per square mile (6/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 65.67% White, 32.30% Black or African American, 0.21% Native American, 0.06% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 1.00% from other races, and 0.74% from two or more races. Nearly 1.53% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Of the 6,525 households 30.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.90% were married couples living together, 14.70% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.50% were non-families. Nearly 25.30% of households were made up of individuals, and 12.30% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.47, and the average family size was 2.95.

The age distribution was 24.10% under the age of 18, 8.40% from 18 to 24, 25.70% from 25 to 44, 25.50% from 45 to 64, and 16.40% 65 or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.20 males.

The median household income was $30,353 and the median family income was $36,555. Males had a median income of $29,189 versus $20,827 for females. The per capita income for the county was $15,681. About 14.50% of families and 19.10% of the population were below the poverty line, including 27.00% of those under age 18 and 20.60% of those age 65 or over.

2010 census

As of the census[14] of 2010, there were 17,302 people, 6,994 households, and 4,975 families living in the county. The population density was 31 people per square mile (11.8/km2). There were 8,891 housing units at an average density of 15.6 per square mile (6/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 68.6% White, 28.6% Black or African American, 0.3% Native American, 0.3% Asian, 0.0% Pacific Islander, 1.2% from other races, and 1.0% from two or more races. Nearly 2.2% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Of the 6,994 households 25.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.9% were married couples living together, 14.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.9% were non-families. Nearly 25.9% of households were made up of individuals, and 11.8% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.45, and the average family size was 2.92.

The age distribution was 22.6% under the age of 18, 6.9% from 18 to 24, 23.1% from 25 to 44, 29.7% from 45 to 64, and 17.6% 65 or older. The median age was 42.8 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.1 males.

The median household income was $38,379 and the median family income was $46,976. Males had a median income of $37,276 versus $26,771 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,716. About 15.0% of families and 15.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.7% of those under age 18 and 15.4% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Henry is currently a strongly Republican county. The last Democrat to carry the county was Jimmy Carter in 1980, and although Bill Clinton came within sixty-three votes of carrying the county in 1996, his wife Hillary won less than thirty percent in 2016 – although her vote was as good as she received in any rural white southern county due to vehement disagreement by Southern whites with the social liberalism of the Democratic Party.[15]

Except for giving Warren G. Harding and Herbert Hoover over forty percent of the vote in 1920 and 1928, Henry was before the 1960s Civil Rights legislation a typical "Solid South" county. Barry Goldwater was the first Republican to carry it in 1964. Nevertheless, in 1968 Henry was fellow Republican Richard Nixon's worst county in the entire nation:[16] indeed Nixon's mere 1.59 percent of the county's vote against Yellowhammer State governor George Wallace in 1968 has not been undercut in any county by a major party candidate since.

Despite its Republican lean today, Henry County is represented in the Alabama House of Representatives by a Democrat, Dexter Grimsley.

Presidential elections results
Henry County vote
by party in presidential elections [17]
Year GOP Dem Others
2016 69.8% 5,632 28.4% 2,292 1.8% 148
2012 64.2% 5,628 35.2% 3,083 0.6% 55
2008 64.6% 5,585 34.9% 3,018 0.5% 45
2004 66.3% 4,881 33.3% 2,452 0.4% 28
2000 58.5% 4,054 40.1% 2,782 1.4% 96
1996 46.4% 3,082 45.5% 3,019 8.1% 536
1992 45.7% 2,970 43.2% 2,804 11.2% 725
1988 61.8% 3,613 37.8% 2,206 0.4% 25
1984 63.3% 3,952 35.8% 2,231 0.9% 56
1980 47.9% 2,813 50.6% 2,973 1.6% 93
1976 39.2% 2,052 60.1% 3,144 0.7% 38
1972 79.6% 3,414 19.9% 853 0.6% 24
1968 1.6% 84 18.1% 955 80.4% 4,253
1964 83.1% 2,896 16.9% 589
1960 21.7% 588 77.9% 2,115 0.4% 11
1956 15.8% 429 78.4% 2,127 5.8% 157
1952 17.6% 421 82.2% 1,966 0.2% 5
1948 4.3% 47 95.7% 1,041
1944 2.7% 46 97.2% 1,635 0.1% 2
1940 3.4% 69 96.5% 1,960 0.1% 2
1936 1.8% 35 98.1% 1,925 0.2% 3
1932 2.4% 42 97.4% 1,741 0.2% 4
1928 49.4% 796 50.5% 815 0.1% 2
1924 17.3% 179 78.8% 816 3.9% 40
1920 40.6% 489 59.3% 715 0.1% 1
1916 13.7% 141 83.3% 860 3.1% 32
1912 5.0% 47 75.9% 711 19.1% 179
1908 8.9% 79 81.2% 723 9.9% 88
1904 11.4% 104 77.0% 701 11.6% 106

Communities

Cities

Towns

Unincorporated communities

See also

References
  1. "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved May 16, 2014.
  2. "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Archived from the original on May 31, 2011. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
  3. Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. Govt. Print. Off. pp. 155.
  4. Scott, Marvin. "Mrs". Alabama Genealogy Web. Retrieved July 27, 2018.
  5. Lynching in America/ Supplement: Lynchings by County, 3rd edition Archived October 23, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, Montgomery, Alabama: Equal Justice Initiative, 2015, p. 2
  6. Oprah Winfrey, "Inside the memorial to victims of lynching", 60 Minutes, 08 April 2018; accessed 11 April 2018
  7. "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
  8. "Population and Housing Unit Estimates". Retrieved May 17, 2019.
  9. "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
  10. "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
  11. Forstall, Richard L., ed. (March 24, 1995). "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
  12. "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. April 2, 2001. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
  13. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved May 14, 2011.
  14. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved July 24, 2015.
  15. Cohn, Nate; ‘Demographic Shift: Southern Whites’ Loyalty to G.O.P. Nearing That of Blacks to Democrats’, New York Times, April 24, 2014
  16. Dave Leip's U.S. Election Atlas; 1968 Presidential Election Statistics
  17. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". Retrieved November 16, 2016.

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