Jefferson, Alabama
Unincorporated community in Alabama, United States
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jefferson is an unincorporated community in Marengo County, Alabama, United States.[1]
Jefferson, Alabama | |
|---|---|
Jefferson Country Store and Post Office | |
  Jefferson Location within the state of Alabama  Jefferson Jefferson (the United States) | |
| Coordinates: 32°23′8.88″N 87°53′53.41″W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Alabama |
| County | Marengo |
| Elevation | 233 ft (71 m) |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (Central (CST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
| ZIP code | 36745 |
| Area code | 334 |
Demographics
Jefferson appeared on the 1870 and 1880 U.S. Censuses. In 1870, it reported 233 residents. Of those, 143 (61%) were black and 90 (39%) were white.[3] Racial demographics in 1880 were not reported. These were the only two occasions on which it appeared on census records.
History
It was founded in 1810, before Marengo was a county or Alabama was a state. Most of the original settlers were veterans of the American Revolution, including John Sample, John Gilmore, and Reuben Hildreth.[4] The village was named Jefferson in 1820, after Thomas Jefferson, and that year saw the first church established.[4] The population had reached 200 people by 1860 and the village contained two dry goods stores, one drugstore, a male and a female academy, a Masonic Lodge, a hotel, two tanneries, a wagon shop, and a blacksmith shop.[4]
Geography
Jefferson is located at 32.38580°N 87.89817°W and has an elevation of 233 feet (71 m).
Historic sites
- Jefferson Historic District, added to the National Register of Historic Places on 13 December 1976.
Notable person
- Geneva Mercer, sculptor.[5]
Further reading
- Angela McMillan Howell. Raised Up Down Yonder: Growing Up Black in Rural Alabama (University Press of Mississippi; 2013) 224 pages; an ethnographic study of high school students in fictional Hamilton a pseudonym for the community near Jefferson and John Essex High School.
