Macon County, Alabama

Macon County is a county located in the east central part of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2010 census, the population was 21,452.[1] Its county seat is Tuskegee.[2] Its name is in honor of Nathaniel Macon, a member of the United States Senate from North Carolina.[3]

Macon County
U.S. county
Location within the U.S. state of Alabama
Alabama's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 32°23′07″N 85°41′37″W
Country United States
State Alabama
FoundedDecember 18, 1832
Named forNathaniel Macon
SeatTuskegee
Largest cityTuskegee
Area
 • Total613 sq mi (1,590 km2)
 • Land609 sq mi (1,580 km2)
 • Water4.3 sq mi (11 km2)  0.7%%
Population
 (2010)
 • Total21,452
 • Estimate 
(2019)
18,068
 • Density35/sq mi (14/km2)
Time zoneUTC−6 (Central)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district3rd
Websitewww.maconalabama.com
 
  • County Number 46 on Alabama Licence Plates

Developed for cotton plantation agriculture in the nineteenth century, the county is considered within the Black Belt of the South. It has had a majority-black population since before the American Civil War.

History

For thousands of years, this area was inhabited by varying cultures of indigenous peoples. The historic tribes encountered by European explorers were the Creek people, descendants of the Mississippian culture.

Macon County was established by European Americans on December 18, 1832, from land ceded by the Creek, following the US Congress' passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830. The Creek were removed to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River. The new settlers brought slaves with them from eastern areas of the South, or purchased them in slave markets, such as at New Orleans. They developed the county for large cotton plantations.

In the first half of the twentieth century, thousands of African-Americans migrated out of the county to industrial cities in the North and Midwest for job opportunities, and the chance to escape legal segregation. Those who remained have struggled for employment in the mostly rural county, and population has declined by about one third since 1950.

Before 1983, Macon County was primarily known as the home of historic Tuskegee Institute, now Tuskegee University, and its noted founder and first president, Dr. Booker T. Washington.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 613 square miles (1,590 km2), of which 609 square miles (1,580 km2) is land and 4.3 square miles (11 km2) (0.7%) is water.[4]

Major highways

Adjacent counties

National protected areas

Railroads

Demographics
Historical population
CensusPop.%±
184011,247—
185026,898139.2%
186026,802−0.4%
187017,727−33.9%
188017,371−2.0%
189018,4396.1%
190023,12625.4%
191026,04912.6%
192023,561−9.6%
193027,10315.0%
194027,6542.0%
195030,56110.5%
196026,717−12.6%
197024,841−7.0%
198026,8298.0%
199024,928−7.1%
200024,105−3.3%
201021,452−11.0%
2019 (est.)18,068[5]−15.8%
U.S. Decennial Census[6]
1790–1960[7] 1900–1990[8]
1990–2000[9] 2010–2018[1]

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 21,452 people living in the county. 82.6% were Black or African American, 15.5% White, 0.4% Asian, 0.1% Native American, 0.3% of some other race and 1.1% of two or more races. 1.1% were Hispanic or Latino (of any race).

As of the census[10] of 2000, there were 24,105 people, 8,950 households, and 5,543 families living in the county. The population density was 40 people per square mile (15/km2). There were 10,627 housing units at an average density of 17 per square mile (7/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 84.64% Black or African American, 13.96% White, 0.16% Native American, 0.38% Asian, 0.13% from other races, and 0.73% from two or more races. 0.72% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 8,950 households, out of which 28.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 31.70% were married couples living together, 25.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.10% were non-families. 33.00% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 3.13.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 25.20% under the age of 18, 16.90% from 18 to 24, 22.90% from 25 to 44, 21.00% from 45 to 64, and 14.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 85.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.30 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $21,180, and the median income for a family was $28,511. Males had a median income of $25,971 versus $21,773 for females. The per capita income for the county was $13,714. About 26.80% of families and 32.80% of the population were below the poverty line, including 43.80% of those under age 18 and 26.00% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Macon County has been overwhelmingly Democratic for most of the past century and a quarter. Apart from the "dealignment" era between 1948 and 1972, and Herbert Hoover in the highly controversial 1928 election, no Republican has won so much as twenty percent of the county's vote in the past century. No Republican has obtained a majority in that time span, although Dwight D. Eisenhower won a narrow plurality in 1956.

In the elections of 1980,[11] Macon was the most Democratic county in the nation while in 1984 it was the most Democratic outside of the District of Columbia.[12] Macon County was only 0.02 percent shy of this in 1992,[13] when it gave both George H. W. Bush his smallest proportion outside of the District of Columbia and independent Ross Perot his smallest vote share in any county nationwide.

Presidential election results
Macon County vote
by party in presidential elections [14]
Year REP DEM Others
2020 17.7% 1,541 81.5% 7,108 0.9% 74
2016 15.7% 1,431 82.8% 7,566 1.6% 143
2012 12.8% 1,331 87.0% 9,045 0.2% 20
2008 12.8% 1,396 86.9% 9,450 0.3% 31
2004 16.7% 1,570 82.9% 7,800 0.4% 37
2000 12.4% 1,091 86.8% 7,665 0.9% 75
1996 12.0% 987 85.6% 7,018 2.4% 198
1992 12.9% 1,134 82.8% 7,253 4.3% 375
1988 16.8% 1,304 81.9% 6,351 1.3% 101
1984 16.2% 1,543 82.7% 7,857 1.0% 99
1980 14.4% 1,259 80.1% 7,028 5.6% 487
1976 18.6% 1,387 79.4% 5,915 2.0% 147
1972 33.0% 1,931 62.2% 3,636 4.8% 278
1968 4.0% 257 69.7% 4,450 26.2% 1,674
1964 38.5% 1,858 61.5% 2,973
1960 39.3% 877 59.5% 1,327 1.1% 25
1956 48.7% 1,067 46.7% 1,024 4.7% 102
1952 29.9% 621 70.1% 1,457 0.1% 1
1948 9.1% 110 90.9% 1,101
1944 7.4% 82 92.6% 1,032 0.1% 1
1940 3.2% 41 96.8% 1,259 0.1% 1
1936 3.3% 39 96.7% 1,146 0.0% 0
1932 5.8% 56 94.1% 905 0.1% 1
1928 39.7% 348 60.0% 526 0.3% 3
1924 8.2% 48 91.3% 538 0.5% 3
1920 8.4% 64 91.3% 693 0.3% 2
1916 6.9% 43 92.6% 575 0.5% 3
1912 3.5% 24 93.2% 647 3.3% 23
1908 7.2% 38 91.1% 482 1.7% 9
1904 8.2% 51 90.7% 562 1.1% 7

The Sheriff of Macon County is Andre Brunson, who also was the former strength coach at Tuskegee University.[15]

Communities

City

Towns

Unincorporated communities

Places of interest

Macon County is home to the Tuskegee University, a historically black college; Tuskegee National Forest, Tuskegee Lake, the Tuskegee Human and Civil Rights Museum, and Moton Field, the training site of the Tuskegee Airmen.

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. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
  3. Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 195.
  4. "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
  5. "Population and Housing Unit Estimates". Retrieved May 17, 2019.
  6. "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
  7. "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
  8. Forstall, Richard L., ed. (March 24, 1995). "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
  9. "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. April 2, 2001. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
  10. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved May 14, 2011.
  11. Dave Leip's U.S. Election Atlas; 1980 Presidential Election statistics
  12. Dave Leip's U.S. Election Atlas; 1984 Presidential Election statistics
  13. Dave Leip's U.S. Election Atlas; 1992 Presidential Election statistics
  14. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  15. https://goldentigersports.com/staff.aspx?staff=22

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