January 20, 1830
On this day in 1830, the Alabama General Assembly established Lowndes County, which was formed from parts of Butler, Dallas and Montgomery counties. That same year, the first and only county seat was established in Hayneville. The county was named in honor of William Lowndes, a U.S. congressman from South Carolina. Lowndes County is known for its role at the forefront of efforts to reform voting rights and other areas of racial injustice. The Lowndes Interpretive Center, which the National Park Service runs, commemorates events such as Bloody Sunday associated with the 1965 voting rights marches from Selma to Montgomery. It is one of several sites along the Selma to Montgomery March National Historic Trail.
Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama.
William Lowndes, c. 1901. (Frontispiece from “Life and Times of William Lowndes of South Carolina, 1782-1822” by St. Julien Ravenel, Wikipedia)
Lowndes County is 29th in size among Alabama counties and is located in the south-central part of the state. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of University of Alabama Cartographic Research Laboratory)
Lowndes Interpretive Center. (Alabama NewsCenter)
Lowndes County Courthouse, Washington Street at Town Square, Hayneville. (Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division)
Hayneville was established as the Lowndes County seat in 1830. The first county courthouse was built in 1832 and was replaced with a Greek Revival structure in 1856 that remains in use today. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of Jimmy Emerson)
Lowndesboro is a small town in northern Lowndes County. It was founded in the 1830s and includes nearly 30 structures that predate the Civil War. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of Jimmy Emerson)
Lowndes Interpretive Center. (Alabama NewsCenter)
Lowndes Interpretive Center. (Alabama NewsCenter)
Lowndes Interpretive Center. (Alabama NewsCenter)
Lowndes Interpretive Center. (Alabama NewsCenter)
For more on Alabama’s Bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.
