Conecuh County, Alabama


Conecuh County is a county located in the south-central portion of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 census the population was 11,597. Its county seat is Evergreen. Its name is believed to be derived from a Creek Indian term meaning "land of cane."

History

The areas along the rivers had been used by varying cultures of indigenous peoples for thousands of years. French and Spanish explorers encountered the historic Creek Indians. Later, British colonial traders developed relationships with the Creek and several married high-status Creek women. As the tribe has a matrilineal system, children are considered born into their mother's clan and take their status from her family.
During the American Revolutionary War, the Upper Creek chief Alexander McGillivray, whose father was Scottish, allied his tribe with the British, hoping they could stop colonial Americans from encroaching on Creek land. Commissioned a British colonel, McGillivray named Jean-Antoine Le Clerc, a French adventurer who lived with the Creeks for 20 years, as the war chief to lead the Creek warriors.
Conecuh County was established by Alabama on February 13, 1818. Some of its territory was taken in 1868 by the Republican state legislature during the Reconstruction era to establish Escambia County. Located in the coastal plain, 19th century Conecuh County was an area of plantations and cotton cultivation, and it is still quite rural today. Thousands of African American residents left in the 1940s, during the Second Great Migration, mostly for industrial regions in the major cities.
In September 1979, the county was declared a disaster area, due to damage caused by Hurricane Frederic.
Conecuh County was mentioned as the birthplace of Theodore Bagwell in the television series Prison Break.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is land and is water.

Major highways

Known as "The Sausage of the South", Conecuh County is also known as the birthplace of Conecuh sausage. In the days before most had freezers, a man named Henry Sessions formulated his recipe for hickory smoked pork sausage. After returning from World War II, Sessions worked as a salesman for a meatpacking plant in Montgomery, Alabama. He started Sessions Quick Freeze in Evergreen in 1947 so that people could bring their pigs and cattle, have them slaughtered, and store them and their vegetables in his rentable meat locker. But it was Sessions' high-quality smoked pork sausage that put his company on the map. Customer demand for the sausage made the family butcher 250 hogs a week to satisfy these cravings. Today the 100-employee company makes 35,000- 40,000 pounds of sausage a week.

Demographics

Racial and ethnic composition

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 11,597. The median age was 46.8 years. 20.0% of residents were under the age of 18 and 23.1% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 92.6 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 90.2 males age 18 and over.
The racial makeup of the county was 51.0% White, 44.0% Black or African American, 0.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% Asian, 0.0% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 0.9% from some other race, and 3.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 2.2% of the population.
0.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 100.0% lived in rural areas.
There were 5,066 households in the county, of which 26.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 35.7% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 34.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 6,382 housing units, of which 20.6% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 73.8% were owner-occupied and 26.2% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.9% and the rental vacancy rate was 10.6%.

2010

According to the 2010 United States census:
As of the census of 2000, there were 14,089 people, 5,792 households, and 3,938 families residing in the county. The population density was. There were 7,265 housing units at an average density of. The racial makeup of the county was 55.40% White, 43.55% Black or African American, 0.20% Native American, 0.11% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.09% from other races, and 0.60% from two or more races. 0.72% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 5,792 households, out of which 30.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.70% were married couples living together, 16.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.00% were non-families. 30.10% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 3.01.
In the county, the population was spread out, with 25.90% under the age of 18, 8.30% from 18 to 24, 25.80% from 25 to 44, 24.30% from 45 to 64, and 15.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 89.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.30 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $22,111, and the median income for a family was $31,424. Males had a median income of $28,115 versus $19,350 for females. The per capita income for the county was $12,964. About 21.70% of families and 26.60% of the population were below the poverty line, including 36.10% of those under age 18 and 28.90% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

Conecuh County is a swing county in presidential elections.

Communities

City

  • Evergreen

    Towns

  • Castleberry
  • McKenzie
  • Repton

    Unincorporated communities

  • Belleville
  • Bermuda
  • Brooklyn
  • Centerville
  • Cohassett
  • Johnsonville
  • Lenox
  • Loree
  • Lyeffion
  • Mixonville
  • Nymph
  • Paul
  • Rabb
  • Range
  • Shreve
  • Skinnerton
  • Spring Hill

    Historic sites

Conecuh County has three sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Asa Johnston Farmhouse, Louisville and Nashville Depot, and New Evergreen Commercial Historic District.