Etowah County, Alabama

{{Infobox U.S. county

| county = Etowah County

| state = Alabama

| flag = Flag of Etowah County, Alabama.png

| seal = Seal of Etowah County, Alabama.png

| founded year = 1868

| founded date = December 1

| seat wl = Gadsden

| largest city wl = Gadsden

| area_total_sq_mi = 549

| area_land_sq_mi = 535

| area_water_sq_mi = 14

| area percentage = 2.5

| population_as_of = 2020

| population_total = 103436

| pop_est_as_of = 2023

| population_est = 103241 {{decrease}}

| population_density_sq_mi = auto

| time zone = Central

| web = www.etowahcounty.org

| ex image = Etowah County, Alabama Courthouse.JPG

| ex image cap = Etowah County Courthouse in Gadsden

| district = 4th

| footnotes =

County Number 31 on Alabama License Plates

}}

Etowah County is a county located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 census the population was 103,436.{{cite web|title=State & County QuickFacts|url=https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/etowahcountyalabama/PST045222|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=September 12, 2023}} Its county seat is Gadsden.{{cite web|url=http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx |access-date=June 7, 2011 |title=Find a County |publisher=National Association of Counties |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110531210815/http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx |archive-date=May 31, 2011 }} Its name is from a Cherokee word meaning 'edible tree'.{{cn|date=April 2025}} In total area, it is the smallest county in Alabama, albeit one of the most densely populated.

Etowah County comprises the Gadsden Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

The area was split first among neighboring counties, with most of it belonging to DeKalb and Cherokee counties."Alabama Census Year with Modern Map Overlayed," Maps of Alabama, Map of US.org, ([https://mapgeeks.org/maps-of-alabama/ https://www.mapofus.org/alabama/] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180328171254/https://mapgeeks.org/maps-of-alabama/ |date=March 28, 2018 }}: accessed February 15, 2017), Wordpress.com, 2017.>Interactive> 1860 & 1870 On December 7, 1866, the first postwar legislature separated and established Baine County, named for David W. Baine, a politician and Confederate military officer who died in battle in 1862.{{cite journal|last1=Watson|first1=Elbert L.|title=Lt. Colonel David W. Baine: A Confederate Hero from the North|journal=Alabama Historical Quarterly|date=Summer 1968|volume=30|pages=27–38|url=https://archive.org/stream/alabamahistorica2930mont#page/26/mode/2up|access-date=May 22, 2017|via=Internet Archive}} Gadsden was designated as the county seat.

Because of postwar tensions and actions of insurgents against freedmen, at the state constitutional convention in 1868, the new county was abolished, replaced on December 1, 1868, by one aligned to the same boundaries and named Etowah County, from a Cherokee-language word.{{cite web | work = Alabama Department of Archives and History | title = Alabama Counties: Etowah County | url = http://www.archives.state.al.us/counties/etowah.html | location = Montgomery, AL | date = October 25, 2011 | access-date = April 30, 2012 | archive-date = June 14, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120614051726/http://www.archives.state.al.us/counties/etowah.html | url-status = dead }} The Cherokee people in northeast Alabama had been forcibly removed in the 1830s to Indian Territory (now part of Oklahoma) west of the Mississippi River.

=20th century to present=

Etowah County had issues of racial discrimination and injustice, and Jim Crow. It had one documented lynching between 1877 and 1950,{{cite web|url=http://www.eji.org/files/Lynching_in_America_Supplement_by_County_2nd_Edition.pdf|title=Lynching in America: Confronting the Legacy of Racial Terror – Supplement: Lynchings by County|edition=second|year=2015|publisher=Equal Justice Initiative|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160410175503/http://www.eji.org/files/Lynching_in_America_Supplement_by_County_2nd_Edition.pdf|archive-date=April 10, 2016}} which occurred in 1906.{{cite web|url=https://www.al.com/news/anniston-gadsden/2016/12/1906_gadsden_lynching_memorial.html|title=Why the story of a 1906 Alabama lynching won't be forgotten|date=December 11, 2016|work=Anniston/Gadsden Real-Time News}} Bunk Richardson, an innocent African-American, only because he was associated with a case in which a white woman was raped and killed. The whites were angry that the governor had commuted the death sentence of one defendant in the case (who was likely also innocent of charges), after two men had already been executed for the crime.[http://www.al.com/news/anniston-gadsden/index.ssf/2016/12/1906_gadsden_lynching_memorial.html William Thornton, "Why the story of a 1906 Alabama lynching won't be forgotten"], AL.com, December 11, 2016; accessed April 13, 2018

An F4 tornado struck here on Palm Sunday March 27, 1994. It destroyed Piedmont's Goshen United Methodist Church twelve minutes after the National Weather Service of Birmingham issued a tornado warning for northern Calhoun, southeastern Etowah, and southern Cherokee counties.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of {{convert|549|sqmi}}, of which {{convert|535|sqmi}} is land and {{convert|14|sqmi}}, or 2.5%, is water.{{cite web|url=http://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/counties_list_01.txt|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=August 22, 2015|date=August 22, 2012|title=2010 Census Gazetteer Files}} It is the smallest county by area in Alabama.

=Adjacent counties=

DeKalb County – north
Cherokee County – east
Calhoun County – southeast
St. Clair County – southwest
Blount County – west
Marshall County – northwest

Transportation

=Transit=

=Major highways=

=Rail=

Demographics

{{US Census population

|1870= 10109

|1880= 15398

|1890= 21926

|1900= 27361

|1910= 39109

|1920= 47275

|1930= 63399

|1940= 72580

|1950= 93892

|1960= 96980

|1970= 94144

|1980= 103057

|1990= 99840

|2000= 103459

|2010= 104430

|2020= 103436

|estyear=2023

|estimate=103241

|estref={{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/data/tables.html|title=Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Counties: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2023|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=March 27, 2024}}

|align-fn=center

|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=U.S. Decennial Census|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=August 22, 2015}}
1790–1960{{cite web|url=http://mapserver.lib.virginia.edu|title=Historical Census Browser|publisher=University of Virginia Library|access-date=August 22, 2015}} 1900–1990{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/population/cencounts/al190090.txt|title=Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990|publisher=United States Census Bureau|editor-last=Forstall|editor-first=Richard L.|date=March 24, 1995|access-date=August 22, 2015}}
1990–2000{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs/phc-t4/tables/tab02.pdf|title=Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000|publisher=United States Census Bureau|date=April 2, 2001|access-date=August 22, 2015}} 2010–2020

}}

=2020 Census=

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|+Etowah County, Alabama – Racial and ethnic composition
{{nobold|Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.}}

!Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)

!Pop 2000{{Cite web|title=P004 Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2000: DEC Summary File 1 – Etowah County, Alabama|url=https://data.census.gov/table?q=p004&g=050XX00US01055&tid=DECENNIALSF12000.P004|website=United States Census Bureau}}

!Pop 2010{{Cite web|title=P2 Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2010: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) – Etowah County, Alabama|url=https://data.census.gov/table?q=p2&g=050XX00US01055&tid=DECENNIALPL2010.P2|website=United States Census Bureau}}

!{{partial|Pop 2020}}{{Cite web|title=P2 Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2020: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) – Etowah County, Alabama|url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=p2&g=050XX00US01055&tid=DECENNIALPL2020.P2|website=United States Census Bureau}}

!% 2000

!% 2010

!{{partial|% 2020}}

White alone (NH)

|84,919

|82,789

|style='background: #ffffe6; |77,731

|82.08%

|79.28%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |75.15%

Black or African American alone (NH)

|15,120

|15,716

|style='background: #ffffe6; |14,999

|14.61%

|15.05%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |14.50%

Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)

|329

|372

|style='background: #ffffe6; |332

|0.32%

|0.36%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.32%

Asian alone (NH)

|428

|657

|style='background: #ffffe6; |921

|0.41%

|0.63%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.89%

Pacific Islander alone (NH)

|27

|30

|style='background: #ffffe6; |39

|0.03%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.04%

Other race alone (NH)

|47

|87

|style='background: #ffffe6; |260

|0.05%

|0.08%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.25%

Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)

|826

|1,332

|style='background: #ffffe6; |4,259

|0.80%

|1.28%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |4.12%

Hispanic or Latino (any race)

|1,763

|3,447

|style='background: #ffffe6; |4,895

|1.70%

|3.30%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |4.73%

Total

|103,459

|104,430

|style='background: #ffffe6; |103,436

|100.00%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |100.00%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 103,436 people, 40,053 households, and 25,177 families residing in the county.

=2010 census=

At the 2010 census there were 104,430 people, 42,036 households, and 28,708 families living in the county. The population density was {{convert|195|/mi2|/km2|disp=preunit|people |people}}. There were 47,454 housing units at an average density of {{convert|86|/mi2|/km2|disp=preunit|units |units|}}. The racial makeup of the county was 80.3% White, 15.1% Black or African American, 0.4% Native American, 0.6% Asian, 0.2% Pacific Islander, 1.9% from other races, and 1.5% from two or more races. 3.3% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=July 23, 2015 |title=U.S. Census website }}

Of the 42,036 households 27.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.3% were married couples living together, 14.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.7% were non-families. 28.1% of households were one person and 11.9% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 2.97.

The age distribution was 23.0% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 24.9% from 25 to 44, 27.8% from 45 to 64, and 15.8% 65 or older. The median age was 40.2 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.5 males.

The median household income was $36,422 and the median family income was $44,706. Males had a median income of $39,814 versus $30,220 for females. The per capita income for the county was $20,439. About 13.1% of families and 16.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 24.6% of those under age 18 and 11.2% of those age 65 or over.

=2000 census=

At the 2000 census there were 103,459 people, 41,615 households, and 29,463 families living in the county. The population density was {{convert|193|/mi2|/km2|disp=preunit|people |people}}. There were 45,959 housing units at an average density of {{convert|86|/mi2|/km2|disp=preunit|units |units|}}. The racial makeup of the county was 82.9% White, 14.7% Black or African American, 0.3% Native American, 0.4% Asian, <0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.7% from other races, and 0.9% from two or more races. 1.7% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=May 14, 2011 |title=U.S. Census website }}

Of the 41,615 households 29.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.2% were married couples living together, 13.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.2% were non-families. 26.3% of households were one person and 12.4% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 2.93.

The age distribution was 23.8% under the age of 18, 8.7% from 18 to 24, 27.4% from 25 to 44, 24.1% from 45 to 64, and 16.0% 65 or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.90 males.

The median household income was $31,170 and the median family income was $38,697. Males had a median income of $31,610 versus $21,346 for females. The per capita income for the county was $16,783. About 12.3% of families and 15.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.6% of those under age 18 and 13.7% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Etowah County is reliably Republican at the presidential level. The last Democrat to win the county in a presidential election is Bill Clinton, who won it by a plurality in 1996.

{{PresHead|place=Etowah County, Alabama|source={{cite web|title=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/|access-date=November 16, 2016}}}}