Archive for the ‘Wilsonville, Shelby County – AL’ Category
Shelby County History
History of Shelby County Alabama
By Bobby Joe Seales
Welcome to Shelby County, “The Heart of Dixie”. We’re glad you’re here taking a look at us, because we’re proud of our county and like to show it off. While visiting this site, should you have any questions, comments, or need any assistance that I may help you with, please e-mail me.
Shelby County is the geographic center of the state of Alabama. It is one of now seven counties comprising the Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area. The others are Jefferson, Blount, and St. Clair counties and three new additions in June 2003 – Bibb, Chilton, and Walker. Shelby County is bounded by Jefferson and St. Clair counties to the north, by Talladega and Coosa counties to the east, and by Chilton and Bibb counties to the south and southwest.
Shelby County was created by an act of the Alabama Territorial General Assembly on 7 February 1818, from former Creek Indian territory ceded in the Treaty of Fort Jackson on 9 August 1814. The county was formed out of the northern portion of what was then Montgomery County. Originally, Shelby County was one of the largest counties in the state. However, the state legislature soon began carving up the area to create other counties, including St. Clair County, Jefferson, Talladega, and Chilton counties. The marker for the geographic center for the state of Alabama can be found on the steps of Main Hall at the University of Montevallo. The actual geographic center, however, is said to be located in the Richardson-Randall Cemetery, about 2 miles east of Montevallo.
The county was named for Isaac Shelby, a hero of the King’s Mountain Battle during the Revolutionary War. Also, he was the first governor of the state of Kentucky, and had refused election to a second term as governor in order to fight the Indian wars. The first courthouse was fashioned of logs, and was located at Shelbyville, long since deserted, however, believed to have been located within the modern-day city of Pelham. It was selected as the county seat in 1820 and the county’s first courthouse was built by Thomas Amis Rogers, Alabama’s first Secretary of State, who, along with his neighbor George Phillips, represented the county in the state’s first Constitutional Convention in 1819. Judge Thomas W. Smith was the first judge to preside in it. The Shelbyville courthouse, built at a cost of $53, was used until 1826, when the decision was made to move the courthouse and the county seat.
In 1826 the location of the courthouse was moved to an old school building in Columbia, located in the central part of Shelby County. However, an act of the Legislature changed its name to Columbiana on 13 January 1832, and the county seat was then permanently located at Columbiana.
