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Jefferson was established by an act of the first
legislature of the State, Dec. 13, 1819. The
territory was taken from Blount, and is nearly the same as
when first organized.
It lies in the north
centre of the State, south of Blount and Walker, west of
Shelby and St. Clair, north of Shelby, east of Tuskaloosa and
Walker.
It was named for Mr. Jefferson, the Virginia
statesman.
Its area is about 975 square miles.
Property was assessed in 1870 at $1,350,630.00; of which
$1,072,099.00 was real estate, and $278,531.00 was
personalty.
The population decennially is exhibited as
follows:
|
1830 |
1840 |
1850 |
1860 |
1870 |
| Whites |
5121 |
5486 |
6714 |
9078 |
9839 |
| Blacks |
1734 |
1645 |
2275 |
2668 |
2505 |
The farm lands--56,964
acres improved, and 197,308 acres unimproved--were valued at
$1,140,247 in 1870.
The live stock--1754 horses,
686 mules, 8360 neat cattle, 5437 sheep, and 13, 753
hogs--were valued at $430,702.
The productions in 1869
were 45,219 bushels of wheat, 251,184 bushels of corn, 9336
bushels of oats, 26,082 bushels of potatoes, 31,566 pounds of
butter, 8180 gallons of sourghum, 1470 bales of cotton, 8135
pounds of wool; the value of animals slaughtered was $108,809;
and the value of all the farm productions was
$607,967.
The surface is a succession of mountainous
ridges and alluvial valleys. The soil is generally
light, with a clay substratum, and admirably adapted for small
farms.
This is one of the great mineral counties of the
State. Iron ore abounds in an inexhaustible quantity,
coal is plentiful, and sand-rock, marble, lime, &c.,
exist.
The iron deposits attracted attention many years
ago, and the Irondale and Red Mountain smelting and casting
furnaces were in successful operation during the war between
the States. They were both burned by the troops of Gen.
Wilson, but the former has been rebuilt. Two or three
other industries of the kind are about to be established, and
Jefferson bids fair to lead her sister counties in this
important source of wealth.
The Locust fork of
Tuskaloosa river flows through the western portion of the
county. Forty-five miles of the Alabama and Chattanooga
railroad lie within its limits; and about thirty-four miles of
the railroad from Montgomery to Decatur. Other roads are
projected through the county.
Elyton is the seat of
justice. It was incorporated Dec., 20, 1820, having been
laid out just previous to that date, and Matthew H. Gillaspie,
Samuel Hall, Wm. C. Tarrant, and Col. John Martin were
appointed to hold the first municipal election. It now
has about 700 inhabitants. It is named for Mr. W. H.
Ely, the agent of the deaf and dumb asylum, and who deeded to
the county the quarter section of land on which the town
stands on the condition that the courthouse should be erected
here.
Birmingham is the name of a young city two miles
northeast of Elyton, at the crossing of the railroads.
The "Elyton Land Company," of which Col. James R. Powell is
president, selected the site, and called it for the
manufacturing city of the same name in England. The lots
were exposed for sale June 1, 1871, the first house was built
August 29, and it was incorporated as a city December 19, with
a population of 1200 souls. Its growth continues, and
the population is now estimated at 2500 souls. It lies
in the heart of the great mineral region, and capitalists have
already invested largely in the vicinity with the view of
developing its wondrous resources.
Jonesboro is a
village in Jones' Valley.
Reuben Read, William Ervin,
John Admas, John Cochran, and William Prude were the
commissioners appointed by the legislature in 1819 to select a
site for the courthouse of Jefferson, and John Martin and
Peyton King were added in 1822.
Election
precincts were first established in the county in 1819 at the
store of Wiggin & McWhorter, at Greer's old store-house,
and at the store of King & Brown. A year later one
was established at Micajah Lindsay's, and in 1821 one at
Squire Sanders', and Old Town.
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