Monroeville, Alabama
Monroeville, Alabama | ||
---|---|---|
FIPS code 01-50192 | | |
GNIS feature ID | 0152359 | |
Website | www |
Monroeville is the county seat of Monroe County, Alabama, United States.[2] At the 2020 census its population was 5,951.[3]
Monroeville is known as the hometown of two writers,
History
Occupied for thousands of years by indigenous peoples, this area was ceded by the historic tribe to the U.S. government in the 1830s and the era of
The town was first known as Walker's Mill and Store, named for Major Walker, the area's first European-American settler. In 1832, the legislature relocated the county seat to Monroeville from Claiborne on the Alabama River. The settlement was briefly renamed "Centerville" due to its location in the center of the county, and then was formally changed to Monroeville. The town was not formally incorporated until April 15, 1899.[4]
Geography
Monroeville is located at 31°31′5″N 87°19′39″W / 31.51806°N 87.32750°W (31.518075, -87.327543).[5]
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 13.4 square miles (34.7 km2), of which 13.4 square miles (34.6 km2) is land and 0.0077 square miles (0.02 km2), or 0.05%, is water.[3]
Almost all of the urban area lies on Bama fine sandy loam. Less developed areas around town are mostly on Saffell gravelly sandy loam or Flomaton gravelly loamy sand.[6]
Demographics
Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
---|---|---|---|
1880 | 122 | — | |
1900 | 422 | — | |
1910 | 616 | 46.0% | |
1920 | 1,017 | 65.1% | |
1930 | 1,355 | 33.2% | |
1940 | 1,724 | 27.2% | |
1950 | 2,772 | 60.8% | |
1960 | 3,632 | 31.0% | |
1970 | 4,846 | 33.4% | |
1980 | 5,674 | 17.1% | |
1990 | 6,993 | 23.2% | |
2000 | 6,862 | −1.9% | |
2010 | 6,519 | −5.0% | |
2020 | 5,951 | −8.7% | |
U.S. Decennial Census[7] 2013 Estimate[8] |
At the
The age distribution was 27.7% under the age of 18, 8.9% from 18 to 24, 24.6% from 25 to 44, 22.2% from 45 to 64, and 16.6% 65 or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 82.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 76.4 males.
The median household income was $28,229 and the median family income was $36,476. Males had a median income of $35,600 versus $20,184 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,070. About 20.4% of families and 23.0% of the population were below the
2010 census
At the
The age distribution was 24.6% under the age of 18, 9.4% from 18 to 24, 21.8% from 25 to 44, 26.2% from 45 to 64, and 18.0% 65 or older. The median age was 40.2 years. For every 100 females, there were 87.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.5 males.
The median household income was $31,593 and the median family income was $49,548. Males had a median income of $41,324 versus $31,033 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,553. About 23.3% of families and 27.7% of the population were below the
2020 census
Race | Num. | Perc. |
---|---|---|
White
|
2,146 | 36.06% |
Black or African American
|
3,530 | 59.32% |
Native American
|
25 | 0.42% |
Asian
|
46 | 0.77% |
Other/Mixed
|
142 | 2.39% |
Latino
|
62 | 1.04% |
As of the 2020 census, there were 5,951 people, 2,106 households, and 1,259 families residing in the city.
Education
Monroeville was formerly home of Alabama Southern Community College, which has been consolidated with the former Jefferson Davis Community College in Brewton and Faulkner Community College headquartered in Bay Minette, Alabama. It no longer the administrative center, but now has a branch campus of Coastal Alabama Community College, a state-supported, fully accredited, comprehensive two-year college serving southwest Alabama. Its main campus and administrative offices are in Bay Minette.
Arts and culture
Literary fame
Author Harper Lee was born and raised in Monroeville. Her 1960 novel To Kill a Mockingbird, which received the 1961 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction,[12] explored the fictional town of Maycomb, inspired by her hometown.[13] Her other novel, Go Set a Watchman, is also set in Maycomb. Truman Capote, best known for his novella Breakfast at Tiffany's and his non-fiction novel In Cold Blood, spent part of his childhood in Monroeville. Lee and Capote were neighbors and remained close friends into adulthood. Capote's early novels, including Other Voices, Other Rooms and The Grass Harp, draw heavily on his childhood in Monroeville. Capote has acknowledged being the inspiration for the character of Dill in To Kill a Mockingbird, while Lee in turn was the inspiration for the character of Idabel in Other Voices, Other Rooms.[14]
Novelist Mark Childress and Cynthia Tucker, syndicated columnist and winner of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary, were also born in Monroeville.
Annual cultural events
As of 2006, an estimated 30,000 tourists visited Monroeville annually due to its association with the novel and adaptations of To Kill a Mockingbird. Each May, the Monroe County Heritage Museum stages an amateur play based on the book on the grounds of the courthouse. The interior of the courthouse was used as a reference for the film version of the book. It is the venue for the later amateur productions. The all-volunteer cast has been invited to perform in Washington, D.C., Kingston upon Hull and Jerusalem.[15] In 1997, the Alabama Legislature designated Monroeville and Monroe County the "Literary Capital of Alabama".[16]
Television
In the television show Private Practice, created and produced by Shonda Rhimes, the fictional character Charlotte King was born in Monroeville.
Notable people
- Marsha Barbour, first lady of the State of Mississippi from 2004 to 2012
- Chris Booker, Major League Baseball player
- Truman Capote, author[13]
- Mark Childress, novelist
- Marva Collins, educator
- Amasa Coleman Lee, lawyer and legislator
- Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird and Go Set a Watchman[13]
- Walter McMillian, exonerated and freed in 1993 after being sentenced to death in a wrongful conviction
- Allison Moorer, folk singer
- Fannie E. Motley, first African-American student to graduate from Spring Hill College
- Marie Rudisill, author and television personality
- Cleveland Indians
- Cynthia Tucker, syndicated columnist who won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary
- Tytus Howard, current tackle for the Houston Texans
References
- ^ "2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
- ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
- ^ a b "Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Monroeville city, Alabama". U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder. Archived from the original on February 12, 2020. Retrieved February 1, 2013.
- ^ "Monroeville - Encyclopedia of Alabama". Encyclopedia of Alabama. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
- ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. February 12, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
- ^ "SoilWeb: An Online Soil Survey Browser - California Soil Resource Lab". casoilresource.lawr.ucdavis.edu. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
- ^ "U.S. Decennial Census". Census.gov. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
- ^ "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2013". Retrieved June 3, 2014.
- ^ "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
- ^ "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved August 5, 2015.
- ^ "Explore Census Data". data.census.gov. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
- ^ Shields, pp. 199–200.
- ^ a b c Theroux, Paul. "What's Changed, and What Hasn't, in the Town That Inspired To Kill a Mockingbird", Smithsonian (magazine), July 2015. Accessed May 7, 2017. "Lee's Maycomb, indelibly evoked in the novel that sells a million copies annually, endures in the small-town reality of Monroeville.... The town boasts that it has produced two celebrated writers, who grew up as neighbors and friends, Truman Capote and Harper Lee. Their homes no longer stand, but other landmarks persist, those of Maycomb, the fictional setting of To Kill A Mockingbird."
- ^ "Truman Capote". Encyclopedia of World Biography. Advameg, Inc. 2003. Retrieved June 29, 2015.
- ^ Cathy Newman "To Catch a Mockingbird", National Geographic, January 2006
- ^ "discover literary heritage". Discover Monroeville. Retrieved May 7, 2017.
Bibliography
- Shields, Charles. Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee. Henry Holt and Co.: 2006. ISBN 0-8050-7919-X