Marengo County, Alabama

Marengo County was created by the Alabama Territorial legislature on February 6, 1818, from land acquired from the Choctaw Indians by the Treaty of Fort St. Stephens on October 24, 1816.[3] Like the other Five Civilized Tribes of the Southeast, the Choctaw were largely forced west of the Mississippi River during the period of Indian Removal conducted by the federal government.

The county was named to commemorate Napoleon's victory at the Battle of Marengo over Austrian armies on June 14, 1800.[1] This name was chosen in honor of the first European settlers, Bonapartists exiled from France after Napoleon's downfall. In 1817 a number of French settled the area around Demopolis. They were trying to develop a Vine and Olive Colony.[3][4] Other ethnic French who settled here were refugees from the colony of Saint-Domingue, where enslaved Africans and free people of color had routed Napoleon's troops and many white colonists, and declared independence in 1804. They renamed the territory as Haiti, the second republic in the western hemisphere.

The county seat was originally known as the Town of Marengo, but in 1823 the name was changed to Linden.[1] Linden is a shortened version of Hohenlinden, scene of the Battle of Hohenlinden, a French victory in Bavaria on December 3, 1800 during Napoleon's campaign.[1] County courthouse fires occurred in 1848 and 1965. Each time most of the court records were saved, as they were in a protected vault.[1]

Barney's Upper Place, an I-house in Putnam that was built in 1833.

Situated in Alabama's Black Belt and having a naturally rich soil, the county was developed by planters for numerous cotton plantations, dependent on the labor of large gangs of enslaved African Americans.[3] The enslaved black population comprised the majority of the county decades before the American Civil War. In 1860 the population consisted of 24,409 slaves, 6761 free whites (including 944 slave owners), and one "free person of color," for a total combined population of 31,171.[5] At this time there were 778 plantations and farms in the county.[5]

The fourth-oldest Jewish congregation in Alabama, B'nai Jeshurun, was established in Demopolis in 1858 by immigrants and migrants from other Southern cities.[6]

After the American Civil War, the economy continued to be based on agriculture. In the transition to free labor, many freedmen turned to sharecropping or tenant farming as a way to establish some independence. They did not want to work in white-controlled field gangs.[3]

The county population began to diminish rapidly during and after World War II. People left the farms for manufacturing jobs elsewhere, particularly with the wartime buildup of the defense industry on the West Coast.[3] The movement of blacks out of Mississippi and other parts of the Deep South was considered part of their Great Migration, by which 5 million African Americans left the South from 1940 to 1970. In addition to seeking jobs, they sought better conditions than the disfranchisement and Jim Crow oppression they faced in Alabama and other states of the South.

The former cotton fields were gradually converted to other uses. Some were used for pastures for cattle and horses, others for woodlands for timber, and others developed as commercial catfish ponds for farming grain-fed catfish.[3] Beginning in the 1960s, industry began to move into the area. The work force was employed in paper mills, lumber mills, and chemical plants.[3]

Gaineswood (built 1843–61), a National Historic Landmark in Demopolis.

Dayton Town Hall (built 1858) in Dayton. On the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage.

Marengo County is situated in the west-central area of the state.[1] According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 983 square miles (2,550 km²), of which 977 square miles (2,530 km²) is land and 5.8 square miles (15 km²) (0.6%) is water.[7] The entire western county border is formed by the Tombigbee River and a small northwestern portion is formed by the Black Warrior River.

As of the 2010 census, there were 21,027 people living in the county. 51.7% were Black or African American, 46.4% White, 0.3% Asian, 0.2% Native American, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.7% of some other race and 0.8% of two or more races. 1.7% were Hispanic or Latino (of any race).

In 2000 there were 22,539 people, 8,767 households, and 6,277 families living in the county. The population density was 23 people per square mile (9/km²). There were 10,127 housing units at an average density of 10 per square mile (4/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 51.71% Black or African American, 47.28% White, 0.08% Native American, 0.18% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.25% from other races, and 0.47% from two or more races. 0.97% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 8,767 households, out of which 34.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.40% were married couples living together, 19.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.40% were non-families. 26.50% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 3.08.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 28.50% under the age of 18, 8.00% from 18 to 24, 26.00% from 25 to 44, 22.90% from 45 to 64, and 14.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 88.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.20 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $27,025, and the median income for a family was $35,475. Males had a median income of $36,053 versus $19,571 for females. The per capita income for the county was $15,308. About 22.20% of families and 25.90% of the population were below the poverty line, including 33.70% of those under age 18 and 25.30% of those age 65 or over.

According to the New York Times, by 2017, the rural Black Belt (called that for its soil) that stretches across the middle of the state is home to largely poor counties that are predominantly African-American. These counties include Dallas, Lowndes, Marengo and Perry."[13]

For the 2014-15 school year, the Marengo County School District is operating three K–12 schools, one each in Dixons Mills, Sweet Water. and Thomaston.[14] One former county school in the Demopolis area was closed by the school board following the 2013-14 school year. Demopolis and Linden have city-run school systems, the Demopolis City School District and Linden City Schools.[15] Private school education offerings include West Alabama Christian School in Demopolis.

Like the rest of the Black Belt, Marengo County leans Democratic. However, it often produces narrow margins for winning candidates; no presidential candidate has won more than 54% of the vote in Marengo since Richard Nixon in 1972. In 2020, Donald Trump lost the county by only 105 votes.

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Marengo County, Alabama
• Properties on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage in Marengo County, Alabama