The county derives its name from the beautiful river which enters the northwestern portion and traces its course diagonally across it. It is one of the counties of the State the resources of which are but measurably known. Its agricultural capabilities have been somewhat tested, and in some particulars it leads the other counties of the State. Its mineral wealth is supposed to be considerable from the indications afforded. To these items our attention will now be directed somewhat in detail.

The county has an area of 810 square miles.

Population in 1870, 16,963; population in 1880, 23,401. White, 16,108; colored, 7,293.

Tilled Land: 143,175 acres.—Area planted in cotton, 41,200 acres; in corn, 41,415 acres; in oats, 9,106 acres; in wheat, 14,572 acres; in tobacco, 21 acres; in sugar-cane, 41 acres; in sweet potatoes, 408 acres.

Cotton Production : 14,161 bales.

The county has two predominating varieties of soil—the red and the gray. These soils usually rest upon a subsoil which is more or less reddish or yellowish in color. Here, as in the adjoining counties, the red soils are usually best suited to the production of grain. In addition to the prevailing upland soils of red and gray there are fertile bottoms, the richness of which has been derived from the washings of the neighboring hills. In some cases these are the best lands found in the* county. These lowlands embrace about one-sixth of the entire county.

The cotton soils of Tallapoosa are the red and gray soils, and some of the bottom lands along the river and creeks.

In addition to these, the loamy lands of the southern end of Tallapoosa are much used for the production of cotton. Most of the cotton raised in tlfe county is produced in the southern sections, because of the prevalence of the soils best adapted to its growth.

Upon the best grain lands are produced from thirty to forty bushels of corn per acre. The other chief productions of Tallapoosa are oats, wheat, sorghum, sweet potatoes, etc. It leads all the other counties in the State in the production of wheat.

The forests are heavily timbered with white, red, and Spanish oak, poplar, hickory, pine, ash, mulberry, and gum. These valuable timbers will be brought into requisition as the demand grows for their use in the mechanical arts.

The county is watered by the Tallapoosa river and the Hillabee, Chattasofka, Big Sandy, Little Sandy, Sorgahatchee, Buck, Elkehatchee, Blue, Winn, and Emuckfaw creeks. Immense water-power prevails in every section of the county and upon all the principal streams, notably upon Big Sandy and Hillabee. The incline planes over which the vast volumes of water are precipitated give them immense power for manufacturing purposes. In the southern end of the county are the famous Tallapoosa Great Falls, which possess the greatest water-power in the State. The water rushes along a steep declivity for two hundred yards, the inclination being fifty-three feet. The power is estimated at thirty-thousand-horse. Adjacent to the falls are vast quantities of granite rock, while immense forests of yellow pine timber extend backward into the interior for many miles. All indications point to this wonderful locality as one of the future centers of Southern manufacture. The famous Tallassee Cotton Mills are located upon the western side of the river, in the county of Elmore.

The minerals of Tallapoosa are numerous and abundant, and the indications are that they will soon prove immensely valuable to the county. There have been some rich finds of gold, even of late, in Tallapoosa. In the Terrcl Mine, at Log Pit and Ely Pit, considerable quantities of gold are dug. Near Dadeville has been discovered gold which promises to yield abundantly. Silver has been discovered, but the extent of its prevalence is not known.

Near Dudleyville there are outcroppings of superior mica. Plates have been picked up fully eight inches square. Graphite is also found. Asbestos and emery exist in different sections of the county, and in some quarters asbestos, particularly, is found to be abundant. Through Dudleyville and Dadeville there passes a broad belt of magnesian rocks, chiefly soapstone; this prevails in immense quantities. Flagging-stone also prevails.

The chief towns are, Dadeville, the county-seat, with a population of 1,500, Dudleyville, Alexander City, Camp Hill, and Davislon.

At each of the towns of Dadeville, Camp Hill, Daviston, Alexander City, and Hackneyville there is a high-school, with good common school facilities existing throughout the county. A moral and religious sentiment prevails, which finds expression in good .Sunday-schools and numerous churches of the various denominations.

A channel of transportation exists by reason of the junction of the Columbus and Western railroad with the Anniston and Atlantic at Syllacauga. This gives an outlet in both directions—to the line of the East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia, on the one hand, and the Western railroad of Alabama on the other.

Good lands may be purchased in the county at prices ranging from $3 to $12 per acre. Immigration is earnestly desired by the residents of the county.

Tallapoosa county contains 6,160 acres of government land,

 Source: Alabama As It Is by Benjamin Franklin Riley, D. D., 1887 , Transcribed by C. Anthony

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