Demopolis, Alabama
Encyclopedia
Demopolis is the largest city in Marengo County
, Alabama
, United States
. The population was 7,483 at the time of the 2010 United States Census.
The city lies within Webb's Bend at the confluence
of the Black Warrior
and Tombigbee
rivers. It is situated atop a cliff composed of the Demopolis Chalk Formation
, known locally as White Bluff
, on the east bank of the Tombigbee River. It is at the center of Alabama's Canebrake
region and is also within the Black Belt
.
Demopolis was founded and named by a group of French expatriates, a mix of exiled former Bonapartists
and other French migrants who had settled in the United States following the overthrow of the colonial government in Saint-Domingue
. The name, meaning the People's City or City of the People, was chosen to honor the democratic ideals behind the endeavor. First settled in 1817, it is one of the oldest continuous settlements in Alabama. It was incorporated on December 11, 1821.
, the French expatriates petitioned the U.S. Congress to sell them property for land to colonize. Congress granted approval by an act on March 3, 1817 that allowed them to buy four townships in the Alabama Territory
at $2 per acre, with the provision that they cultivate grape vines and olive trees. Following advice obtained from experienced Western pioneers, they determined that Alabama would provide a good climate for cultivating these crops. By July 14, 1817, a small party of pioneers had settled at White Bluff
on the Tombigbee River, at the present site of Demopolis, founding the Vine and Olive Colony
.
Most prominent and wealthiest among the immigrants was Count Lefebvre Desnouettes
, who had been a cavalry officer with the rank of Lieutenant-General, under Napoleon. Considered Napoleon's best friend, he had ridden in Napoleon's carriage during his failed invasion of Russia. Other prominent figures among them included Lieutenant-General Baron Henri-Dominique Lallemand
, Count Bertrand Clausel, Joseph Lakanal
, Simon Chaudron, Pasqual Luciani, Colonel Jean-Jerome Cluis, Jean-Marie Chapron, Colonel Nicholas Raoul, and Frederic Ravesies. Most of these expatriates had little interest in pioneer life and sold their shares in the colony, remaining in Philadelphia. By 1818, the colony consisted of only 69 settlers.
Due to a variety of adversities, their pioneering efforts were not the great success for which they had hoped. Following a survey in August of 1818, they were to find that their new homes did not fall under the territories encompassed by the congressional approval, and the Vine and Olive Colony was soon forced to move. They learned that their actual land grants began less than a mile to the east of their newly cleared land. After abandoning the settlement of Demopolis, they soon established two other towns, Aigleville
and Arcola
.
port
. A land company was formed in 1819 with the express purpose of purchasing the land and laying off of a town, the White Bluff Association (later renamed the Company of the Town of Demopolis). George Strother Gaines
was named as the company spokesman and he bought the town site atop White Bluff as soon as it offered for sale. Commissioners for the company were George Strother Gaines, James Childress, Walter Crenshaw, Count Charles Lefebvre Desnouettes, and Dr. Joseph B. Earle.
The commissioners were responsible for overseeing the survey of the site, lot sales, and the early operations of the town. The commissioners laid off the site into streets, blocks, and lots, with a block of roughly two acres divided into eight lots. The Demopolis Town Square
, encompassing one city block, was established in 1819. The first lots were sold beginning on April 22, 1819. When Count Desnouettes died in 1822, Allen Glover was appointed to replace him. As other commissioners retired they were succeeded by David E. Moore, William H. Lyon, Thomas McGee, and George N. Stewart.
The streets were laid off utilizing a grid plan
, using Philadelphia as a model. The original streets running north-south were named for trees, such as Ash, Cedar, Cherry, and Chestnut. Exceptions were made for Commissioners, Strawberry, and Market (now Main) streets. Several short north-south streets were also named for commissioners, such as Desnouettes, Earle, Glover, Griffin, and McGee. The east-west streets were named for national and local heroes, as well as commissioners, such as Childress, Fulton, Gaines, Lyon, Monroe, Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, and Jackson. Most streets were designed to be 66 feet (20.1 m) wide. A strip of land that was remain public property, for the use of all, was the land adjoining the Tombigbee River from where Riverside Cemetery is today, to the southwest of the city proper, all the way to the Upper Landing in the north, with Arch Street following the route along the top of the cliff. Only the portion of Arch Street adjacent to the cemetery remains intact.
Some flaws and limitations of the original town plan had become apparent by the late 1820s and 1830s. The typical town lots, at 75 feet (22.9 m) wide and 150 feet (45.7 m) deep were not conducive to the building of the stately homes desired by the more prosperous citizens of the town, although some grand mansions did begin to appear by the late 1820s. One of the first was the brick -story Federal
-style Allen Glover house at the foot of Capitol street. It was one of the, if not the, first neoclassical structure to appear in Marengo County. It was soon followed by Bluff Hall
, built in 1832 by Allen Glover for his daughter, Sarah Serena, and son-in-law, Francis Strother Lyon
.
One major flaw in the town plan was that there was no clearly defined business district, resulting in commercial and residential buildings mixed together all over town. This eventually resulted in numerous blighted areas. Some stores did open around the town square, however, and warehouses started to appear adjacent to the town's three major river landings, Upper Landing, above the modern Demopolis Yacht Basin and Marina, Webb's Landing at the western terminus of Washington Street, and Lower Landing to the west of Riverside Cemetery and the Whitfield Canal.
By the 1830s Demopolis had developed into a regional commercial river hub, attracting American and European-born craftsmen and merchants including the Beysiegle, Breitling, Breton, Dupertuis, Foster, Hummell, Kirker, Knapp, Marx, Michael, Mulligan, Oberling, Rhodes, Rudisill, Rosenbaum, Schmidt, Shahan, Stallings, and Zaiser families. Numerous plantation owners also established town houses in the community or on its outskirts, including the Allen, Ashe, Curtis, DuBose, Foscue, Glover, Griffin, Lane, Lyon, McAllister, Prout, Reese, Strudwick, Whitfield, and Vaughan families. However, unlike many other towns in the Canebrake and Black Belt, Demopolis was never overwhelmed by a homogeneous planter class that came to dominate so many of the others. During these years and those to come, the rivers brought in a large itinerant population with a desire for raucous entertainment. This created a profitable and brisk trade for those operating taverns, and did much to earn early Demopolis a reputation for decadence.
During the 1840s many of the streets laid out by the town fathers had yet to be opened to traffic. The town council focused much of its attention on clearing the intended streets of obstacles and opening them to traffic, other street improvements, and the building of wooden sidewalks along major thoroughfares. The council also approved measures for protecting trees in the common areas and streets. Several town ordinances were enacted in 1842 to further restrain the enslaved
African American
population. These included the prohibition of selling or purchasing any article or commodity from or to a slave without written permission from their master or overseer, no slave was allowed to purchase alcohol without written consent, if any slave were convicted of assault upon "any white man, negro
, or mulatto
" the owner would be fined $50, any slave caught running "any horse
, gelding
, or mule
" through town would be subject to fifteen lashes
unless the owner pays a fine of $1, any slave caught driving any wagon or cart or driving a horse or mule on or across the sidewalks of the town would be subject to 10 lashes, unless the owner pays a fine of 50 cents.
With its eclectic mix of citizenry, Demopolis was slow to erect houses of worship. In fact, a group of Methodist
ministers convened nearby in 1843 pronounced Demopolis as "wholly irreligious." Mainline Protestant churches were slow to take root, in fact no churches at all were built in Demopolis until 1840. Prior to that time various denominational groups met in a log assembly house on the town square until it was torn down in 1844. A Baptist
group had been established in the 1820s, but ended due to a lack of support. The Episcopalians
established a congregation in 1834, but did not build their Trinity Episcopal Church until 1850. A Presbyterian
congregation was established in 1839 and completed their first church, a brick structure now known as Rooster Hall, on the town square in 1843. The Methodist congregation was established in 1840 and the first building was completed in 1843. Present in Demopolis from the beginning, the Catholic congregation in town was listed as a mission of Saint John the Baptist in Tuscaloosa
in 1851. It was switched to Selma
in 1880. They met in a small frame church and private homes until the current Saint Leo the Great was built in 1905. The Jewish congregation, B'nai Jeshurun
, was established in 1858, although the community had been present since the 1840s. B'nai Jeshurun was the fourth Jewish congregation established in Alabama. They initially met in homes and businesses until eventually building a Moorish Revival-style temple in 1893.
By the 1850s several palatial steamboat
s were visiting the town as a regular stop on the Mobile
to Columbus, Mississippi
route along the Tombigbee. These included the Forest Monarch, Alice Vivian, and the ill-fated Eliza Battle
. Several others were dedicated to almost exclusively to Demopolis and the cotton trade, including the Allen Glover, Canebrake, Cherokee, Demopolis, Frank Lyon, Marengo, and the Mollie Glover. Major hotels during this same period included the Planter's Hotel, later known as Madison House Hotel, and the River Hotel.
The year 1853 saw a yellow fever
epidemic strike the city, with some interments in an ill-defined two acre cemetery to the north of town in the river bend. The Jewish Cemetery was established in 1878 to the east of town on Jefferson Street. The Glover Mausoleum
was completed on the banks of the Tombigbee in 1845, with the burial of many family members in and around it. This led to the establishment of the main burial ground for the city, Riverside Cemetery, officially opened with the sale of additional plots to the public in 1882. A circular Gothic Revival
-style amphitheater, complete with a crenelated
roof-line, was completed in 1859 north of town in Webb's Bend at the fairgrounds. The fairgrounds and its buildings covered approximately 20 acres (8.1 ha) and hosted a variety of events until the outbreak of the Civil War
.
By 1860, the population within the town limits had grown to approximately 1,200 people. The wealthiest citizens were, in order from the highest real and property values, Gaius Whitfield, Goodman G. Griffin, Nathan B. Whitfield, Augustus Foscue, Francis S. Lyon, Gottlieb Breitling, George F. Glover, Simeon Wheeler, Daniel F. Prout, George G. Lyon, Henry W. Reese, Benjamin N. Glover, Cecile Fournier Poole, Evelina H. Henley, David Compton, Jr., Alexander M. McDowell, Augustus Zaiser, Alexander Fournier, Timothy G. Cornish, and Luther G. Houston. The town began to attract new entertainments, such as musical and dramatic performances, concert artists, lecturers, circuses, and carnivals, but the reality of war soon ended all of that.
and the formation of the Confederate States of America
. These feelings ran high in the county's largest town also. Prominent secessionists included Nathan B. Whitfield, Francis S. Lyon, Goodman G. Griffin, Kimbrough C. DuBose, George B. Lyon, Dr. James D. Browder, and George E. Markham. However, many other powerful men in town had opposed secession, including Benjamin Glover Shields, William H. Lyon, Jr., William B. Jones, Pearson J. Glover, Gaius Whitfield, Alfred Hatch, Joel C. DuBose, Robert V. Montague, and Henry A Tayloe. In the end, however, most men on both sides of the argument joined in the Confederate cause once secession was inevitable.
With the start of the Civil War
, several Confederate companies drew heavily from the population of the Demopolis area and Marengo County. These included the 4th, 11th, 21st, 23rd, and 43rd Alabama Infantry Regiments in addition to the 8th Alabama Cavalry, Company E of the Jeff Davis Legion, and Selden's Battery. During the course of the war, more of these men would be lost to exhaustion, disease, and malnutrition than to battle. The city itself, on two navigable rivers and a railroad, became home to a number of Confederate installations and offices. These included commissary
and quartermaster
offices and warehouses, engineers' offices and workshops, a large ordnance
depot, two large hospitals, offices of the medical purveyor of the Department of Alabama, Mississippi, and East Louisiana, and a huge military encampment at the fairgrounds in Webb's Bend. These brought in thousands of soldiers into town at a time, one that had a had just over a thousand of its own inhabitants prior to the war, putting an enormous strain on food and accommodations in the town. Many hundreds of the soldiers who died in the hospitals during the war were buried in a Confederate cemetery on the south end of Webb's Bend, but the site is under water today, following the damming of the river below Demopolis in the 20th century.
After the loss of its primary east-west railroad during the war, the Confederate government completed the Alabama and Mississippi Rivers Railroad from Selma
through Demopolis and on to Meridian, Mississippi
in 1862. The project had been in the works since the 1850s, but several miles between Demopolis and Uniontown
had not been finished when war erupted. As the war raged in all directions around Demopolis in 1864, the city was subjected to a huge influx of war refugees. Nathan B. Whitfield noted in his journal that those from Mobile had taken every available vacant house and the others were crowded with natives along with their descendants and relatives.
March 1865 saw Demopolis preparing to defend the town against Union threats, with the fortification of key positions. Three circular batteries
, surrounded by earthworks, were constructed and other fortifications built across the southern reaches of town. With the impending fall of Selma in early April, during Wilson's Raid
, all of the railroad's rolling stock was sent full of supplies westward through Demopolis and on to Meridian. A flotilla of eighteen Confederate gunboat
s and packet ship
s were relocated to the Tombigbee River at Demopolis around this same time. These included the CSS Nashville
, CSS Morgan
, CSS Baltic
, the Southern Republic, Black Diamond, Admiral, Clipper, Farrand, Marengo and St. Nicholas.
With the surrender of the last of the Confederates, Demopolis was left a much different city from what it had been prior to the war. At the end of May 1865, the townspeople learned that an occupying force of Federal soldiers, the 5th Minnesota Infantry, were in-route to occupy the town. Once there, they occupied the former fairgrounds. Despite the usual unpleasantness associated with the occupation of many defeated Southern towns, two of the Minnesota commanders, Colonel William B. Gere and General Lucius Frederick Hubbard
apparently came to be well-liked by the townspeople. Despite some bright spots in relations, the Episcopal Church in the South was slow to give up on the notion of the Confederacy, resulting in the military governor of Alabama closing all Episcopal churches in the state, effective on September 20, 1865. Trinity Episcopal Church in Demopolis was put under Federal guard, and during this time the church mysteriously burned down. Blame was placed on the soldiers for intentionally burning it, but this has never been born out by the facts. Aside from all of this, the more pressing matter was the devastated economy of the community and surrounding countryside, a problem that would continue through the Reconstruction era.
During Reconstruction, the new authorities in charge of the government decided to move the county seat
of Marengo from its central location in Linden
to Demopolis by an act approved on December 4, 1868. The county appointed Richard Jones, Jr., Lewis B. McCarty, and Dr. Bryan W. Whitfield to build or buy a new courthouse in Demopolis. They negotiated the purchase of the Presbyterian church on the town square, now known as Rooster Hall, for the sum of $3000. It was conveyed to the county on April 8, 1869. The county built a fireproof brick building next door to the former church in 1869–70 to house the probate and circuit clerk offices. This building serves as Demopolis City Hall today. The move of the county seat was highly controversial, and the Alabama Legislature
set April 18, 1870 as the date for a county-wide referendum to decide if Dayton
, Demopolis, or Linden would become the county seat. Due to the closeness of the vote and voting irregularities, a run-off between Linden and Demopolis was set for May 14, 1870. Irregularities appeared again and votes from Dayton, mostly in favor of Linden, were rejected by the board of supervisors. Linden continued an attempt to persuade the state legislature to move the county seat back to their town, with success in February 1871. The former courthouse buildings reverted from county ownership to Demopolis and remain city property today.
of cotton continued to be a major basis of the economy up until the World War I
-era. The boll weevil
infestations of the 1920s and the Great Depression
of the 1930s finally ended the one-crop farming system.
Demopolis had electric light
s, water works
and a sewerage
system, chert
-covered streets, paved sidewalks, and a fire department
by the second decade of the 20th century. It was increasingly serving as a major banking
and retail
hub in the region during this time. Major financial institutions included the Commercial National Bank, City Bank and Trust Company, and Robertson Banking Company. One of the first large department store
s of note in the area, Mayer Brothers, built its three-story brick building adjacent across from the public square in 1897 and operated for most of the 20th century. That building is now utilized by Robertson Banking Company. The Rosenbush Furniture Company was established in 1895 and operated until 2002. The J. H. Spight Grocery was established in 1901 as one of the earliest and most successful grocery store
s for more than 50 years, prior to the era of corporate chain stores. Although the community had many newspapers throughout its first 100 years, the only one to survive into the 21st century, The Demopolis Times, was established in 1904.
A number of theaters sprang up in the city, beginning in the late 19th century. Rooster Hall, following its incarnations as a church, courthouse, and then a city property, was leased for use as the Demopolis Opera House from 1876 to 1902. It hosted live dramatic performances, civic lectures, and minstrel show
s. The Braswell Opera House, with its ornate interior and private box galleries
, opened on October 23, 1902 with a performance of Louisiana playwright Epsy William's Unorna. It continued as an entertainment venue into the 1920s and was eventually demolished in 1972–73. The first theater built for the presentation of motion pictures
, the Elks Theater, opened on October 1, 1915. It was renamed the Si-Non in 1916. The building was restored during the 1990s.
Following the demise of cotton production, beef cattle
farming and, more recently, catfish aquaculture became new major agricultural pursuits. Industrial activities became the major sources of employment by mid-century, with the cement
, lumber
, and paper
industries playing a prominent role in the city's economy into the 21st century.
, 87°50'14" West
(32.509465, -87.837265). According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 12.5 square miles (32.4 km²), of which 12.2 square miles (31.6 km²) is land and 0.2 square mile (0.517997622 km²) (2.00%) is water.
, and the nearby State Route 69. A proposed Interstate 85
extension from Interstate 59
/20
near the Mississippi
state line to Interstate 65
near Montgomery
is planned to pass near to the city. A bus system is operated by West Alabama Transportation.
Demopolis is served by several railway companies
, including Norfolk Southern Railway
, BNSF Railway
, and the Alabama and Gulf Coast Railway
.
The Alabama State Port Authority has inland docks at the Port of Demopolis with direct access to inland and intracoastal waterways serving the Great Lakes
, the Ohio
and Tennessee
rivers and the Gulf of Mexico
via the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway
.
The Demopolis Municipal Airport is located northwest of the city, adjacent to Airport Industrial Park and the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway. It has a 5,000 foot runway and a ten-unit hangar
.
was 616.4 people per square mile (238.0/km2). There were 3,311 housing units at an average density of 270.7 per square mile (104.5/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 50.90% Black
or African American
, 47.75% White
, 0.09% Native American
, 0.20% Asian
, none Pacific Islander
, 0.48% from other races
, and 0.58% from two or more races. 0.98% of the population were Hispanic
or Latino
of any race.
There were 3,014 households out of which 34.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.1% were married couples
living together, 22.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.3% were non-families. 28.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 3.05.
In the city the population was spread out with 29.1% under the age of 18, 8.4% from 18 to 24, 26.6% from 25 to 44, 21.6% from 45 to 64, and 14.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 81.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 75.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $26,481, and the median income for a family was $35,752. Males had a median income of $37,206 versus $20,265 for females. The per capita income
for the city was $16,687. About 26.0% of families and 30.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 38.3% of those under age 18 and 21.1% of those age 65 or over.
, appointing department heads and advisory board members and signing off on all motions, resolutions and ordinances passed by the council.
The city council consists of five members who are elected from single member districts. The council controls all legislative and policy-making for the city through the use of ordinance, resolution or motion. The council also adopts the annual budget and confirms appointments made by the mayor.
is an antebellum historic house museum on the National Register of Historic Places
and is a listed National Historic Landmark. It was built between 1843-61 in an asymmetrical Greek Revival style. It features domed ceilings, ornate plasterwork, columned rooms, and most of its original furnishings. Gaineswood is owned and operated by the Alabama Historical Commission
.
Bluff Hall
is an antebellum historic house museum on the National Register of Historic Places. It was built in 1832 in the Federal style and modified in the 1840s to reflect the Greek Revival style. It is owned and operated by the Marengo County Historical Society.
Laird Cottage is a restored 1870 residence with a mix of the Greek Revival and Italianate styles. It currently serves as the headquarters of the Marengo County Historical Society and also houses history exhibits and the works of Geneva Mercer, a Marengo County native who gained fame as an artist and sculptor. She served as an intern to Giuseppe Moretti
, the sculptor who created Birmingham's
mountaintop Vulcan statue
. Following her internship, she lived and worked with Moretti and his wife until his death.
Other historic sites in Demopolis include White Bluff
, the Demopolis Historic Business District
, Demopolis Town Square
, Lyon Hall
, Ashe Cottage
, the Curtis House, the Glover Mausoleum
, and the Foscue-Whitfield House
.
, a Broadway
play. The melodrama was written by Lillian Hellman
, whose maternal ancestors were all natives of Demopolis. It was first performed in 1939, with Alabama-born actress Tallulah Bankhead
giving a legendary performance in the lead role of Regina. This hit production ran a year on Broadway. The 1941 film version was directed by William Wyler
and starred Bette Davis
, Herbert Marshall
and Teresa Wright
. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture in 1941. In 1949 the play was adapted into an opera by Marc Blitzstein
, under the title Regina.
Lillian Hellman's 1946 play, Another Part of the Forest
, was also loosely based on her Demopolis ancestors.
The 1949 film, The Fighting Kentuckian
, is set in Demopolis and tells a story about an interaction with the original French settlers. The basic plots features two Kentuckians returning from service with Andrew Jackson's forces in the War of 1812
. Their unit passes through the port of Mobile, Alabama
, where John Breen, played by John Wayne
, meets the pretty Fleurette De Marchand, played by Vera Ralston
, from Demopolis. He makes sure the unit passes through Demopolis on its way back home and he stays there as the unit leaves. He discovers that De Marchand is about marry a wealthy riverman and a love triangle ensues, with Breen eventually winning out.
Marengo County, Alabama
Marengo County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama. It is named in honor of a battlefield near Turin, Italy, where the French defeated the Austrians on June 14, 1800. As of 2010 the population was 21,027...
, Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The population was 7,483 at the time of the 2010 United States Census.
The city lies within Webb's Bend at the confluence
Confluence
Confluence, in geography, describes the meeting of two or more bodies of water.Confluence may also refer to:* Confluence , a property of term rewriting systems...
of the Black Warrior
Black Warrior River
The Black Warrior River is a waterway in west central Alabama in the southeastern United States. The river rises in the extreme southern edges of the Appalachian Highlands and flows 178 miles to the Tombigbee River, of which the Black Warrior is the primary tributary...
and Tombigbee
Tombigbee River
The Tombigbee River is a tributary of the Mobile River, approximately 200 mi long, in the U.S. states of Mississippi and Alabama. It is one of two major rivers, along with the Alabama River, that unite to form the short Mobile River before it empties into Mobile Bay on the Gulf of Mexico...
rivers. It is situated atop a cliff composed of the Demopolis Chalk Formation
Demopolis Chalk Formation
The Demopolis Chalk Formation is a geological formation in North America, within the U.S. states of Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee. The chalk was formed by pelagic sediments deposited along the eastern edge of the Mississippi embayment during the middle Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous...
, known locally as White Bluff
White Bluff (Demopolis, Alabama)
White Bluff, also known as Ecor Blanc, is a historic site located along the Tombigbee River in Demopolis, Alabama, United States. It is a chalk cliff, roughly one mile long, that is composed of a geological layer known as the Demopolis Chalk Formation, part of the Selma Group...
, on the east bank of the Tombigbee River. It is at the center of Alabama's Canebrake
Canebrake (region of Alabama)
The Canebrake refers to a historical region of west-central Alabama that was once dominated by thickets of Arundinaria, a type of bamboo, or cane, native to North America. It was centered on the junction of the Tombigbee and Black Warrior rivers, near Demopolis, and extended eastward to include...
region and is also within the Black Belt
Black Belt (region of Alabama)
The Black Belt is a region of the U.S. state of Alabama, and part of the larger Black Belt Region of the Southern United States, which stretches from Texas to Maryland. The term originally referred to the region underlain by a thin layer of rich, black topsoil developed atop the chalk of the Selma...
.
Demopolis was founded and named by a group of French expatriates, a mix of exiled former Bonapartists
Bonapartism
Bonapartism is often defined as a political expression in the vocabulary of Marxism and Leninism, deriving from the career of Napoleon Bonaparte. Karl Marx was a student of Jacobinism and the French Revolution as well as a contemporary critic of the Second Republic and Second Empire...
and other French migrants who had settled in the United States following the overthrow of the colonial government in Saint-Domingue
Saint-Domingue
The labour for these plantations was provided by an estimated 790,000 African slaves . Between 1764 and 1771, the average annual importation of slaves varied between 10,000-15,000; by 1786 it was about 28,000, and from 1787 onward, the colony received more than 40,000 slaves a year...
. The name, meaning the People's City or City of the People, was chosen to honor the democratic ideals behind the endeavor. First settled in 1817, it is one of the oldest continuous settlements in Alabama. It was incorporated on December 11, 1821.
Colonization
Organizing themselves first in PhiladelphiaPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
, the French expatriates petitioned the U.S. Congress to sell them property for land to colonize. Congress granted approval by an act on March 3, 1817 that allowed them to buy four townships in the Alabama Territory
Alabama Territory
The Territory of Alabama was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 15, 1817, until December 14, 1819, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Alabama.-History:...
at $2 per acre, with the provision that they cultivate grape vines and olive trees. Following advice obtained from experienced Western pioneers, they determined that Alabama would provide a good climate for cultivating these crops. By July 14, 1817, a small party of pioneers had settled at White Bluff
White Bluff (Demopolis, Alabama)
White Bluff, also known as Ecor Blanc, is a historic site located along the Tombigbee River in Demopolis, Alabama, United States. It is a chalk cliff, roughly one mile long, that is composed of a geological layer known as the Demopolis Chalk Formation, part of the Selma Group...
on the Tombigbee River, at the present site of Demopolis, founding the Vine and Olive Colony
Vine and Olive Colony
The Vine and Olive Colony was an ill-fated effort by a group of French Bonapartists who, fearing for their lives after the fall of Napoleon Bonaparte and the Bourbon Restoration, attempted to establish an agricultural settlement growing wine grapes and olive trees in the Alabama wilderness...
.
Most prominent and wealthiest among the immigrants was Count Lefebvre Desnouettes
Charles, comte Lefebvre-Desnouettes
Charles, comte Lefebvre-Desnouettes or Lefèbvre-Desnoëttes became a French officer during the French Revolutionary Wars and a general during the Napoleonic Wars...
, who had been a cavalry officer with the rank of Lieutenant-General, under Napoleon. Considered Napoleon's best friend, he had ridden in Napoleon's carriage during his failed invasion of Russia. Other prominent figures among them included Lieutenant-General Baron Henri-Dominique Lallemand
Charles Lallemand
François Antoine "Charles" Lallemand was a French general who served Napoleon I of France, tried to found a colony in what is now Texas, and finally returned to France to serve as governor of Corsica.-Early years:...
, Count Bertrand Clausel, Joseph Lakanal
Joseph Lakanal
Joseph Lakanal was a French politician, and an original member of the Institut de France.-Early career:...
, Simon Chaudron, Pasqual Luciani, Colonel Jean-Jerome Cluis, Jean-Marie Chapron, Colonel Nicholas Raoul, and Frederic Ravesies. Most of these expatriates had little interest in pioneer life and sold their shares in the colony, remaining in Philadelphia. By 1818, the colony consisted of only 69 settlers.
Due to a variety of adversities, their pioneering efforts were not the great success for which they had hoped. Following a survey in August of 1818, they were to find that their new homes did not fall under the territories encompassed by the congressional approval, and the Vine and Olive Colony was soon forced to move. They learned that their actual land grants began less than a mile to the east of their newly cleared land. After abandoning the settlement of Demopolis, they soon established two other towns, Aigleville
Aigleville (Alabama)
Aigleville, literally translated as Eagle Town, was a town on the Black Warrior River in what is now Marengo County, Alabama. The settlement was established in late 1818 by former French Bonapartists and refugees from Saint-Domingue, as a part of their Vine and Olive Colony...
and Arcola
Arcola, Alabama
Arcola is a ghost town on the Black Warrior River in Hale County, Alabama. Named to honor the French victory during the Battle of Arcola, it was established in the early 1820s by former French Bonapartists as part of their Vine and Olive Colony, after they were forced to abandon their first town...
.
American settlement
Upon learning of the survey and that the French grants lay elsewhere, American settlers began to quickly purchase the property of the former French settlement with the intent of turning it into a major riverRiver
A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...
port
Port
A port is a location on a coast or shore containing one or more harbors where ships can dock and transfer people or cargo to or from land....
. A land company was formed in 1819 with the express purpose of purchasing the land and laying off of a town, the White Bluff Association (later renamed the Company of the Town of Demopolis). George Strother Gaines
George Strother Gaines
George Strother Gaines was a leader in the Mississippi Territory and in both states formed from it, Mississippi and Alabama. He was a longtime trader among the Choctaws, and was trusted by them...
was named as the company spokesman and he bought the town site atop White Bluff as soon as it offered for sale. Commissioners for the company were George Strother Gaines, James Childress, Walter Crenshaw, Count Charles Lefebvre Desnouettes, and Dr. Joseph B. Earle.
The commissioners were responsible for overseeing the survey of the site, lot sales, and the early operations of the town. The commissioners laid off the site into streets, blocks, and lots, with a block of roughly two acres divided into eight lots. The Demopolis Town Square
Demopolis Town Square
Demopolis Town Square, currently officially known as Confederate Park, is a historic park in the city of Demopolis, Alabama, United States. It is one of the oldest public squares in the state. Demopolis had its beginnings in 1817 with the Vine and Olive Colony and the park was established in 1819...
, encompassing one city block, was established in 1819. The first lots were sold beginning on April 22, 1819. When Count Desnouettes died in 1822, Allen Glover was appointed to replace him. As other commissioners retired they were succeeded by David E. Moore, William H. Lyon, Thomas McGee, and George N. Stewart.
The streets were laid off utilizing a grid plan
Grid plan
The grid plan, grid street plan or gridiron plan is a type of city plan in which streets run at right angles to each other, forming a grid...
, using Philadelphia as a model. The original streets running north-south were named for trees, such as Ash, Cedar, Cherry, and Chestnut. Exceptions were made for Commissioners, Strawberry, and Market (now Main) streets. Several short north-south streets were also named for commissioners, such as Desnouettes, Earle, Glover, Griffin, and McGee. The east-west streets were named for national and local heroes, as well as commissioners, such as Childress, Fulton, Gaines, Lyon, Monroe, Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, and Jackson. Most streets were designed to be 66 feet (20.1 m) wide. A strip of land that was remain public property, for the use of all, was the land adjoining the Tombigbee River from where Riverside Cemetery is today, to the southwest of the city proper, all the way to the Upper Landing in the north, with Arch Street following the route along the top of the cliff. Only the portion of Arch Street adjacent to the cemetery remains intact.
Federal architecture
Federal-style architecture is the name for the classicizing architecture built in the United States between c. 1780 and 1830, and particularly from 1785 to 1815. This style shares its name with its era, the Federal Period. The name Federal style is also used in association with furniture design...
-style Allen Glover house at the foot of Capitol street. It was one of the, if not the, first neoclassical structure to appear in Marengo County. It was soon followed by Bluff Hall
Bluff Hall
Bluff Hall is a historic residence in Demopolis, Alabama, United States. The original portion of the house is in the Federal style with later additions that altered it to the Greek Revival style. It was documented as part of the Historic American Buildings Survey in 1936, and added to the National...
, built in 1832 by Allen Glover for his daughter, Sarah Serena, and son-in-law, Francis Strother Lyon
Francis Strother Lyon
Francis Strother Lyon was a prominent Alabama attorney and politician. He served two terms in the Confederate States Congress during the American Civil War after being an antebellum member of the United States Congress.-Early life:Lyon was born in Stokes County, North Carolina...
.
One major flaw in the town plan was that there was no clearly defined business district, resulting in commercial and residential buildings mixed together all over town. This eventually resulted in numerous blighted areas. Some stores did open around the town square, however, and warehouses started to appear adjacent to the town's three major river landings, Upper Landing, above the modern Demopolis Yacht Basin and Marina, Webb's Landing at the western terminus of Washington Street, and Lower Landing to the west of Riverside Cemetery and the Whitfield Canal.
By the 1830s Demopolis had developed into a regional commercial river hub, attracting American and European-born craftsmen and merchants including the Beysiegle, Breitling, Breton, Dupertuis, Foster, Hummell, Kirker, Knapp, Marx, Michael, Mulligan, Oberling, Rhodes, Rudisill, Rosenbaum, Schmidt, Shahan, Stallings, and Zaiser families. Numerous plantation owners also established town houses in the community or on its outskirts, including the Allen, Ashe, Curtis, DuBose, Foscue, Glover, Griffin, Lane, Lyon, McAllister, Prout, Reese, Strudwick, Whitfield, and Vaughan families. However, unlike many other towns in the Canebrake and Black Belt, Demopolis was never overwhelmed by a homogeneous planter class that came to dominate so many of the others. During these years and those to come, the rivers brought in a large itinerant population with a desire for raucous entertainment. This created a profitable and brisk trade for those operating taverns, and did much to earn early Demopolis a reputation for decadence.
During the 1840s many of the streets laid out by the town fathers had yet to be opened to traffic. The town council focused much of its attention on clearing the intended streets of obstacles and opening them to traffic, other street improvements, and the building of wooden sidewalks along major thoroughfares. The council also approved measures for protecting trees in the common areas and streets. Several town ordinances were enacted in 1842 to further restrain the enslaved
History of slavery in Alabama
Following the War of 1812 and the defeat and expulsion of the Creek Nation, European-American settlement in Alabama was intensified, as was the presence of slavery on newly-established plantations in the territory...
African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
population. These included the prohibition of selling or purchasing any article or commodity from or to a slave without written permission from their master or overseer, no slave was allowed to purchase alcohol without written consent, if any slave were convicted of assault upon "any white man, negro
Negro
The word Negro is used in the English-speaking world to refer to a person of black ancestry or appearance, whether of African descent or not...
, or mulatto
Mulatto
Mulatto denotes a person with one white parent and one black parent, or more broadly, a person of mixed black and white ancestry. Contemporary usage of the term varies greatly, and the broader sense of the term makes its application rather subjective, as not all people of mixed white and black...
" the owner would be fined $50, any slave caught running "any horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
, gelding
Gelding
A gelding is a castrated horse or other equine such as a donkey or a mule. Castration, and the elimination of hormonally driven behavior associated with a stallion, allows a male horse to be calmer and better-behaved, making the animal quieter, gentler and potentially more suitable as an everyday...
, or mule
Mule
A mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse. Horses and donkeys are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes. Of the two F1 hybrids between these two species, a mule is easier to obtain than a hinny...
" through town would be subject to fifteen lashes
Flagellation
Flagellation or flogging is the act of methodically beating or whipping the human body. Specialised implements for it include rods, switches, the cat o' nine tails and the sjambok...
unless the owner pays a fine of $1, any slave caught driving any wagon or cart or driving a horse or mule on or across the sidewalks of the town would be subject to 10 lashes, unless the owner pays a fine of 50 cents.
With its eclectic mix of citizenry, Demopolis was slow to erect houses of worship. In fact, a group of Methodist
United Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination which is both mainline Protestant and evangelical. Founded in 1968 by the union of The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church, the UMC traces its roots back to the revival movement of John and Charles Wesley...
ministers convened nearby in 1843 pronounced Demopolis as "wholly irreligious." Mainline Protestant churches were slow to take root, in fact no churches at all were built in Demopolis until 1840. Prior to that time various denominational groups met in a log assembly house on the town square until it was torn down in 1844. A Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
group had been established in the 1820s, but ended due to a lack of support. The Episcopalians
Episcopal Church (United States)
The Episcopal Church is a mainline Anglican Christian church found mainly in the United States , but also in Honduras, Taiwan, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the British Virgin Islands and parts of Europe...
established a congregation in 1834, but did not build their Trinity Episcopal Church until 1850. A Presbyterian
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
The Presbyterian Church , or PC, is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States. Part of the Reformed tradition, it is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the U.S...
congregation was established in 1839 and completed their first church, a brick structure now known as Rooster Hall, on the town square in 1843. The Methodist congregation was established in 1840 and the first building was completed in 1843. Present in Demopolis from the beginning, the Catholic congregation in town was listed as a mission of Saint John the Baptist in Tuscaloosa
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Tuscaloosa is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west central Alabama . Located on the Black Warrior River, it is the fifth-largest city in Alabama, with a population of 90,468 in 2010...
in 1851. It was switched to Selma
Selma, Alabama
Selma is a city in and the county seat of Dallas County, Alabama, United States, located on the banks of the Alabama River. The population was 20,512 at the 2000 census....
in 1880. They met in a small frame church and private homes until the current Saint Leo the Great was built in 1905. The Jewish congregation, B'nai Jeshurun
Temple B'nai Jeshurun (Demopolis, Alabama)
Temple B'nai Jeshurun was a synagogue located in Demopolis, Alabama, United States. The B'nai Jeshurun congregation was established in 1858, making it the fourth oldest Jewish congregation in Alabama. It was active throughout the latter half of the 19th century and most of the 20th. The original...
, was established in 1858, although the community had been present since the 1840s. B'nai Jeshurun was the fourth Jewish congregation established in Alabama. They initially met in homes and businesses until eventually building a Moorish Revival-style temple in 1893.
By the 1850s several palatial steamboat
Steamboat
A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...
s were visiting the town as a regular stop on the Mobile
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
to Columbus, Mississippi
Columbus, Mississippi
Columbus is a city in Lowndes County, Mississippi, United States that lies above the Tombigbee River. It is approximately northeast of Jackson, north of Meridian, south of Tupelo, northwest of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and west of Birmingham, Alabama. The population was 25,944 at the 2000 census...
route along the Tombigbee. These included the Forest Monarch, Alice Vivian, and the ill-fated Eliza Battle
Eliza Battle
The Eliza Battle was a Tombigbee River steamboat that ran a route between Columbus, Mississippi and Mobile, Alabama during the 1850s. She was destroyed in a fire on the river near modern Pennington, Alabama on March 1, 1858...
. Several others were dedicated to almost exclusively to Demopolis and the cotton trade, including the Allen Glover, Canebrake, Cherokee, Demopolis, Frank Lyon, Marengo, and the Mollie Glover. Major hotels during this same period included the Planter's Hotel, later known as Madison House Hotel, and the River Hotel.
The year 1853 saw a yellow fever
Yellow fever
Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....
epidemic strike the city, with some interments in an ill-defined two acre cemetery to the north of town in the river bend. The Jewish Cemetery was established in 1878 to the east of town on Jefferson Street. The Glover Mausoleum
Glover Mausoleum
The Glover Mausoleum, also known as the Glover Vault, is a Greek Revival mausoleum located within the Riverside Cemetery in Demopolis, Marengo County, Alabama...
was completed on the banks of the Tombigbee in 1845, with the burial of many family members in and around it. This led to the establishment of the main burial ground for the city, Riverside Cemetery, officially opened with the sale of additional plots to the public in 1882. A circular Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
-style amphitheater, complete with a crenelated
Battlement
A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet , in which portions have been cut out at intervals to allow the discharge of arrows or other missiles. These cut-out portions form crenels...
roof-line, was completed in 1859 north of town in Webb's Bend at the fairgrounds. The fairgrounds and its buildings covered approximately 20 acres (8.1 ha) and hosted a variety of events until the outbreak of the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
.
By 1860, the population within the town limits had grown to approximately 1,200 people. The wealthiest citizens were, in order from the highest real and property values, Gaius Whitfield, Goodman G. Griffin, Nathan B. Whitfield, Augustus Foscue, Francis S. Lyon, Gottlieb Breitling, George F. Glover, Simeon Wheeler, Daniel F. Prout, George G. Lyon, Henry W. Reese, Benjamin N. Glover, Cecile Fournier Poole, Evelina H. Henley, David Compton, Jr., Alexander M. McDowell, Augustus Zaiser, Alexander Fournier, Timothy G. Cornish, and Luther G. Houston. The town began to attract new entertainments, such as musical and dramatic performances, concert artists, lecturers, circuses, and carnivals, but the reality of war soon ended all of that.
Civil War and aftermath
Marengo County, with its large number of slaveholders, was decidedly in favor of the secession from the UnionUnion (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
and the formation of the Confederate States of America
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
. These feelings ran high in the county's largest town also. Prominent secessionists included Nathan B. Whitfield, Francis S. Lyon, Goodman G. Griffin, Kimbrough C. DuBose, George B. Lyon, Dr. James D. Browder, and George E. Markham. However, many other powerful men in town had opposed secession, including Benjamin Glover Shields, William H. Lyon, Jr., William B. Jones, Pearson J. Glover, Gaius Whitfield, Alfred Hatch, Joel C. DuBose, Robert V. Montague, and Henry A Tayloe. In the end, however, most men on both sides of the argument joined in the Confederate cause once secession was inevitable.
With the start of the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, several Confederate companies drew heavily from the population of the Demopolis area and Marengo County. These included the 4th, 11th, 21st, 23rd, and 43rd Alabama Infantry Regiments in addition to the 8th Alabama Cavalry, Company E of the Jeff Davis Legion, and Selden's Battery. During the course of the war, more of these men would be lost to exhaustion, disease, and malnutrition than to battle. The city itself, on two navigable rivers and a railroad, became home to a number of Confederate installations and offices. These included commissary
Commissary
A commissary is someone delegated by a superior to execute a duty or an office; in a formal, legal context, one who has received power from a legitimate superior authority to pass judgment in a certain cause or to take information concerning it.-Word history:...
and quartermaster
Quartermaster
Quartermaster refers to two different military occupations depending on if the assigned unit is land based or naval.In land armies, especially US units, it is a term referring to either an individual soldier or a unit who specializes in distributing supplies and provisions to troops. The senior...
offices and warehouses, engineers' offices and workshops, a large ordnance
Military logistics
Military logistics is the discipline of planning and carrying out the movement and maintenance of military forces. In its most comprehensive sense, it is those aspects or military operations that deal with:...
depot, two large hospitals, offices of the medical purveyor of the Department of Alabama, Mississippi, and East Louisiana, and a huge military encampment at the fairgrounds in Webb's Bend. These brought in thousands of soldiers into town at a time, one that had a had just over a thousand of its own inhabitants prior to the war, putting an enormous strain on food and accommodations in the town. Many hundreds of the soldiers who died in the hospitals during the war were buried in a Confederate cemetery on the south end of Webb's Bend, but the site is under water today, following the damming of the river below Demopolis in the 20th century.
After the loss of its primary east-west railroad during the war, the Confederate government completed the Alabama and Mississippi Rivers Railroad from Selma
Selma, Alabama
Selma is a city in and the county seat of Dallas County, Alabama, United States, located on the banks of the Alabama River. The population was 20,512 at the 2000 census....
through Demopolis and on to Meridian, Mississippi
Meridian, Mississippi
Meridian is the county seat of Lauderdale County, Mississippi. It is the sixth largest city in the state and the principal city of the Meridian, Mississippi Micropolitan Statistical Area...
in 1862. The project had been in the works since the 1850s, but several miles between Demopolis and Uniontown
Uniontown, Alabama
Uniontown is a city in Perry County, Alabama in the United States of America. As of the 2000 census, the population of the city is 1,636. The current mayor is Jamaal O. Hunter.-History:...
had not been finished when war erupted. As the war raged in all directions around Demopolis in 1864, the city was subjected to a huge influx of war refugees. Nathan B. Whitfield noted in his journal that those from Mobile had taken every available vacant house and the others were crowded with natives along with their descendants and relatives.
Artillery battery
In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit of guns, mortars, rockets or missiles so grouped in order to facilitate better battlefield communication and command and control, as well as to provide dispersion for its constituent gunnery crews and their systems...
, surrounded by earthworks, were constructed and other fortifications built across the southern reaches of town. With the impending fall of Selma in early April, during Wilson's Raid
Wilson's Raid
Wilson's Raid was a cavalry operation through Alabama and Georgia in March–April 1865, late in the American Civil War. Brig. Gen. James H. Wilson led his Union Army Cavalry Corps to destroy Southern manufacturing facilities and was opposed unsuccessfully by a much smaller force under ...
, all of the railroad's rolling stock was sent full of supplies westward through Demopolis and on to Meridian. A flotilla of eighteen Confederate gunboat
Gunboat
A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.-History:...
s and packet ship
Packet ship
A "packet ship" was originally a vessel employed to carry post office mail packets to and from British embassies, colonies and outposts. In sea transport, a packet service is a regular, scheduled service, carrying freight and passengers...
s were relocated to the Tombigbee River at Demopolis around this same time. These included the CSS Nashville
CSS Nashville (1864)
CSS Nashville was a large side-wheel steam ironclad built by the Confederates at Montgomery, Alabama intended to exploit the availability of riverboat engines. Launched in mid-1863, Nashville was taken to Mobile, Alabama for completion in 1864. Part of her armor came from the...
, CSS Morgan
CSS Morgan
CSS Morgan was a partially armored gunboat of the Confederate States Navy in the American Civil War.Morgan was built at Mobile, Alabama in 1861-62. She operated in the waters around Mobile from the time of her completion early in 1862 to the close of hostilities. One reference of October 1862 gave...
, CSS Baltic
CSS Baltic
The CSS Baltic was an iron and cottonclad sidewheeler ship built in 1860 in Philadelphia as a river tow boat belonging to the Southern Steamship Co. She was purchased by the State of Alabama, converted to an armored ram, and turned over to the Confederate States Navy in the middle of 1862. Her...
, the Southern Republic, Black Diamond, Admiral, Clipper, Farrand, Marengo and St. Nicholas.
With the surrender of the last of the Confederates, Demopolis was left a much different city from what it had been prior to the war. At the end of May 1865, the townspeople learned that an occupying force of Federal soldiers, the 5th Minnesota Infantry, were in-route to occupy the town. Once there, they occupied the former fairgrounds. Despite the usual unpleasantness associated with the occupation of many defeated Southern towns, two of the Minnesota commanders, Colonel William B. Gere and General Lucius Frederick Hubbard
Lucius Frederick Hubbard
Lucius Frederick Hubbard was an American politician. He served as the ninth Governor of Minnesota from January 10, 1882 to January 5, 1887. He was a Republican....
apparently came to be well-liked by the townspeople. Despite some bright spots in relations, the Episcopal Church in the South was slow to give up on the notion of the Confederacy, resulting in the military governor of Alabama closing all Episcopal churches in the state, effective on September 20, 1865. Trinity Episcopal Church in Demopolis was put under Federal guard, and during this time the church mysteriously burned down. Blame was placed on the soldiers for intentionally burning it, but this has never been born out by the facts. Aside from all of this, the more pressing matter was the devastated economy of the community and surrounding countryside, a problem that would continue through the Reconstruction era.
During Reconstruction, the new authorities in charge of the government decided to move the county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
of Marengo from its central location in Linden
Linden, Alabama
Linden is a city in and the county seat of Marengo County, Alabama, United States.. The population was 2,424 at the 2000 census.-History:Originally known as the Town of Marengo, it was changed to Hohenlinden in 1823 to honor the county's earliest European settlers, French Bonapartist refugees to...
to Demopolis by an act approved on December 4, 1868. The county appointed Richard Jones, Jr., Lewis B. McCarty, and Dr. Bryan W. Whitfield to build or buy a new courthouse in Demopolis. They negotiated the purchase of the Presbyterian church on the town square, now known as Rooster Hall, for the sum of $3000. It was conveyed to the county on April 8, 1869. The county built a fireproof brick building next door to the former church in 1869–70 to house the probate and circuit clerk offices. This building serves as Demopolis City Hall today. The move of the county seat was highly controversial, and the Alabama Legislature
Alabama Legislature
The Alabama Legislature is the legislative branch of the state government of Alabama. It is a bicameral body composed of the Alabama House of Representatives, with 105 members, and the Alabama Senate, with 35 members...
set April 18, 1870 as the date for a county-wide referendum to decide if Dayton
Dayton, Alabama
Dayton is a town in Marengo County, Alabama, United States. The population was 60 at the 2000 census.-History:Dayton began to be settled in the early 19th century, with a town survey done and a "public well" established in 1832. The post office was established in 1837. It was incorporated on...
, Demopolis, or Linden would become the county seat. Due to the closeness of the vote and voting irregularities, a run-off between Linden and Demopolis was set for May 14, 1870. Irregularities appeared again and votes from Dayton, mostly in favor of Linden, were rejected by the board of supervisors. Linden continued an attempt to persuade the state legislature to move the county seat back to their town, with success in February 1871. The former courthouse buildings reverted from county ownership to Demopolis and remain city property today.
20th century
The struggle to rebuild the economy of Demopolis and the surrounding region continued into the 20th century. The growing, trading, and millingCotton mill
A cotton mill is a factory that houses spinning and weaving machinery. Typically built between 1775 and 1930, mills spun cotton which was an important product during the Industrial Revolution....
of cotton continued to be a major basis of the economy up until the World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
-era. The boll weevil
Boll weevil
The boll weevil is a beetle measuring an average length of six millimeters, which feeds on cotton buds and flowers. Thought to be native to Central America, it migrated into the United States from Mexico in the late 19th century and had infested all U.S. cotton-growing areas by the 1920s,...
infestations of the 1920s and the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
of the 1930s finally ended the one-crop farming system.
Demopolis had electric light
Electric light
Electric lights are a convenient and economic form of artificial lighting which provide increased comfort, safety and efficiency. Most electric lighting is powered by centrally-generated electric power, but lighting may also be powered by mobile or standby electric generators or battery systems...
s, water works
Water supply
Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavours or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes...
and a sewerage
Sewerage
Sewerage refers to the infrastructure that conveys sewage. It encompasses receiving drains, manholes, pumping stations, storm overflows, screening chambers, etc. of the sanitary sewer...
system, chert
Chert
Chert is a fine-grained silica-rich microcrystalline, cryptocrystalline or microfibrous sedimentary rock that may contain small fossils. It varies greatly in color , but most often manifests as gray, brown, grayish brown and light green to rusty red; its color is an expression of trace elements...
-covered streets, paved sidewalks, and a fire department
Fire department
A fire department or fire brigade is a public or private organization that provides fire protection for a certain jurisdiction, which typically is a municipality, county, or fire protection district...
by the second decade of the 20th century. It was increasingly serving as a major banking
Bank
A bank is a financial institution that serves as a financial intermediary. The term "bank" may refer to one of several related types of entities:...
and retail
Retailing
Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...
hub in the region during this time. Major financial institutions included the Commercial National Bank, City Bank and Trust Company, and Robertson Banking Company. One of the first large department store
Department store
A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
s of note in the area, Mayer Brothers, built its three-story brick building adjacent across from the public square in 1897 and operated for most of the 20th century. That building is now utilized by Robertson Banking Company. The Rosenbush Furniture Company was established in 1895 and operated until 2002. The J. H. Spight Grocery was established in 1901 as one of the earliest and most successful grocery store
Grocery store
A grocery store is a store that retails food. A grocer, the owner of a grocery store, stocks different kinds of foods from assorted places and cultures, and sells these "groceries" to customers. Large grocery stores that stock products other than food, such as clothing or household items, are...
s for more than 50 years, prior to the era of corporate chain stores. Although the community had many newspapers throughout its first 100 years, the only one to survive into the 21st century, The Demopolis Times, was established in 1904.
A number of theaters sprang up in the city, beginning in the late 19th century. Rooster Hall, following its incarnations as a church, courthouse, and then a city property, was leased for use as the Demopolis Opera House from 1876 to 1902. It hosted live dramatic performances, civic lectures, and minstrel show
Minstrel show
The minstrel show, or minstrelsy, was an American entertainment consisting of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music, performed by white people in blackface or, especially after the Civil War, black people in blackface....
s. The Braswell Opera House, with its ornate interior and private box galleries
Box (theatre)
In theater, a box is a small, separated seating area in the auditorium for a limited number of people.Boxes are typically placed immediately to the front, side and above the level of the stage. They are often separate rooms with an open viewing area which typically seat five people or fewer. ...
, opened on October 23, 1902 with a performance of Louisiana playwright Epsy William's Unorna. It continued as an entertainment venue into the 1920s and was eventually demolished in 1972–73. The first theater built for the presentation of motion pictures
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, the Elks Theater, opened on October 1, 1915. It was renamed the Si-Non in 1916. The building was restored during the 1990s.
Following the demise of cotton production, beef cattle
Cattle
Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
farming and, more recently, catfish aquaculture became new major agricultural pursuits. Industrial activities became the major sources of employment by mid-century, with the cement
Cement
In the most general sense of the word, a cement is a binder, a substance that sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. The word "cement" traces to the Romans, who used the term opus caementicium to describe masonry resembling modern concrete that was made from crushed...
, lumber
Lumber
Lumber or timber is wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural material for construction, or wood pulp for paper production....
, and paper
Paper
Paper is a thin material mainly used for writing upon, printing upon, drawing or for packaging. It is produced by pressing together moist fibers, typically cellulose pulp derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets....
industries playing a prominent role in the city's economy into the 21st century.
Geography
Demopolis is located at 32°30'34" NorthLatitude
In geography, the latitude of a location on the Earth is the angular distance of that location south or north of the Equator. The latitude is an angle, and is usually measured in degrees . The equator has a latitude of 0°, the North pole has a latitude of 90° north , and the South pole has a...
, 87°50'14" West
Longitude
Longitude is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east-west position of a point on the Earth's surface. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees, minutes and seconds, and denoted by the Greek letter lambda ....
(32.509465, -87.837265). According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 12.5 square miles (32.4 km²), of which 12.2 square miles (31.6 km²) is land and 0.2 square mile (0.517997622 km²) (2.00%) is water.
Transportation
Major roads include two U.S. Highways, U.S. Highway 80 runs east–west through the city and U.S. Highway 43 north–south. Alabama state highways include State Route 8, State Route 13Alabama State Route 13
State Route 13 is a state highway in the western part of the U.S. state of Alabama. Except for a portion roughly between Berry and Russellville, SR-13 is the unsigned designation for U.S. Highway 43...
, and the nearby State Route 69. A proposed Interstate 85
Interstate 85
Interstate 85 is a major interstate highway in the Southeastern United States. Its current southern terminus is at an interchange with Interstate 65 in Montgomery, Alabama; its northern terminus interchanges with Interstate 95 in Petersburg, Virginia, near Richmond...
extension from Interstate 59
Interstate 59
Interstate 59 is an Interstate Highway in the southern United States. Its southern terminus is near Slidell, Louisiana, a suburb of New Orleans, at an intersection with Interstate 10 and Interstate 12, its northern terminus is at Wildwood, Georgia, at an intersection with Interstate 24.The road's...
/20
Interstate 20
Interstate 20 is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the Southern United States. I‑20 runs 1,535 miles from near Kent, Texas, at Interstate 10 to Florence, South Carolina, at Interstate 95...
near the Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
state line to Interstate 65
Interstate 65
Interstate 65 is a major Interstate Highway in the United States. The southern terminus is located at an intersection with Interstate 10 in Mobile, Alabama, and its northern terminus is at an interchange with Interstate 90 , U.S. Route 12, and U.S...
near Montgomery
Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery is the capital of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is the county seat of Montgomery County. It is located on the Alabama River southeast of the center of the state, in the Gulf Coastal Plain. As of the 2010 census, Montgomery had a population of 205,764 making it the second-largest city...
is planned to pass near to the city. A bus system is operated by West Alabama Transportation.
Demopolis is served by several railway companies
Railway company
A railway company or railroad company is an entity that operates a railroad track and/or trains. Such a company can either be private or public...
, including Norfolk Southern Railway
Norfolk Southern Railway
The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I railroad in the United States, owned by the Norfolk Southern Corporation. With headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia, the company operates 21,500 route miles in 22 eastern states, the District of Columbia and the province of Ontario, Canada...
, BNSF Railway
BNSF Railway
The BNSF Railway is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. It is one of seven North American Class I railroads and the second largest freight railroad network in North America, second only to the Union Pacific Railroad, its primary...
, and the Alabama and Gulf Coast Railway
Alabama and Gulf Coast Railway
The Alabama and Gulf Coast Railway is one of several Class III short-line railroad companies owned by RailAmerica, Inc. It operates of track from the Pensacola, Florida export terminals, west of downtown, north to Columbus, Mississippi, with trackage rights along BNSF Railway to Amory, Mississippi...
.
The Alabama State Port Authority has inland docks at the Port of Demopolis with direct access to inland and intracoastal waterways serving the Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
, the Ohio
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
and Tennessee
Tennessee River
The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately 652 miles long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other names...
rivers and the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
via the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway
Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway
The Tennessee–Tombigbee Waterway is a 234-mile man-made, artificial waterway that extends from the Tennessee River to the junction of the Black Warrior-Tombigbee River system near Demopolis, Alabama, United States. The Tenneessee-Tombigbee Waterway links commercial navigation from the nation’s...
.
The Demopolis Municipal Airport is located northwest of the city, adjacent to Airport Industrial Park and the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway. It has a 5,000 foot runway and a ten-unit hangar
Hangar
A hangar is a closed structure to hold aircraft or spacecraft in protective storage. Most hangars are built of metal, but other materials such as wood and concrete are also sometimes used...
.
Demographics
During the 2000 United States Census, there were 7,540 people, 3,014 households, and 2,070 families residing in the city. The population densityPopulation density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 616.4 people per square mile (238.0/km2). There were 3,311 housing units at an average density of 270.7 per square mile (104.5/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 50.90% Black
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
or African American
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 47.75% White
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 0.09% Native American
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 0.20% Asian
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, none Pacific Islander
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 0.48% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 0.58% from two or more races. 0.98% of the population were Hispanic
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
or Latino
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
of any race.
There were 3,014 households out of which 34.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.1% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 22.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.3% were non-families. 28.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 3.05.
In the city the population was spread out with 29.1% under the age of 18, 8.4% from 18 to 24, 26.6% from 25 to 44, 21.6% from 45 to 64, and 14.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 81.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 75.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $26,481, and the median income for a family was $35,752. Males had a median income of $37,206 versus $20,265 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the city was $16,687. About 26.0% of families and 30.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 38.3% of those under age 18 and 21.1% of those age 65 or over.
Government
Demopolis is governed by a mayor–council system. The mayor is elected at large to a four-year term and functions as the executive officerExecutive officer
An executive officer is generally a person responsible for running an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization.-Administrative law:...
, appointing department heads and advisory board members and signing off on all motions, resolutions and ordinances passed by the council.
The city council consists of five members who are elected from single member districts. The council controls all legislative and policy-making for the city through the use of ordinance, resolution or motion. The council also adopts the annual budget and confirms appointments made by the mayor.
Historic sites
GaineswoodGaineswood
Gaineswood is a plantation house in Demopolis, Alabama, United States. The house was completed on the eve of the American Civil War after a construction period of almost twenty years. It is the grandest plantation house ever built in Marengo County and is one of the most significant remaining...
is an antebellum historic house museum on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
and is a listed National Historic Landmark. It was built between 1843-61 in an asymmetrical Greek Revival style. It features domed ceilings, ornate plasterwork, columned rooms, and most of its original furnishings. Gaineswood is owned and operated by the Alabama Historical Commission
Alabama Historical Commission
The Alabama Historical Commission is the historic preservation agency for the U. S. state of Alabama. The agency was created by an act of the state legislature in 1966 with a mission of safeguarding Alabama’s historic buildings and sites. It consists of twenty members appointed by the state...
.
Bluff Hall
Bluff Hall
Bluff Hall is a historic residence in Demopolis, Alabama, United States. The original portion of the house is in the Federal style with later additions that altered it to the Greek Revival style. It was documented as part of the Historic American Buildings Survey in 1936, and added to the National...
is an antebellum historic house museum on the National Register of Historic Places. It was built in 1832 in the Federal style and modified in the 1840s to reflect the Greek Revival style. It is owned and operated by the Marengo County Historical Society.
Laird Cottage is a restored 1870 residence with a mix of the Greek Revival and Italianate styles. It currently serves as the headquarters of the Marengo County Historical Society and also houses history exhibits and the works of Geneva Mercer, a Marengo County native who gained fame as an artist and sculptor. She served as an intern to Giuseppe Moretti
Giuseppe Moretti
Giuseppe Moretti was an Italian émigré sculptor who became known in America for his public monuments in bronze and marble. Most notable among his works is Vulcan in Birmingham, Alabama, which is the largest cast iron statue in the world...
, the sculptor who created Birmingham's
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
mountaintop Vulcan statue
Vulcan statue
The Vulcan statue is the largest cast iron statue in the world, and is the city symbol of Birmingham, Alabama, reflecting its roots in the iron and steel industry. The tall statue depicts the Roman god Vulcan, god of the fire and forge. It was created as Birmingham's entry for the Louisiana...
. Following her internship, she lived and worked with Moretti and his wife until his death.
Other historic sites in Demopolis include White Bluff
White Bluff (Demopolis, Alabama)
White Bluff, also known as Ecor Blanc, is a historic site located along the Tombigbee River in Demopolis, Alabama, United States. It is a chalk cliff, roughly one mile long, that is composed of a geological layer known as the Demopolis Chalk Formation, part of the Selma Group...
, the Demopolis Historic Business District
Demopolis Historic Business District
The Demopolis Historic Business District is a historic district in the city of Demopolis, Alabama, United States. Demopolis had its beginnings in 1817 with the Vine and Olive Colony. The historic district is a ten block area, roughly bounded by Capitol Street, Franklin Street, Desnouettes Street,...
, Demopolis Town Square
Demopolis Town Square
Demopolis Town Square, currently officially known as Confederate Park, is a historic park in the city of Demopolis, Alabama, United States. It is one of the oldest public squares in the state. Demopolis had its beginnings in 1817 with the Vine and Olive Colony and the park was established in 1819...
, Lyon Hall
Lyon Hall (Demopolis, Alabama)
Lyon Hall, also known as the Lyon-Lamar House, is a historic Greek Revival mansion in Demopolis, Alabama, United States. It was built over a period of three years by George Gaines Lyon and his wife, Anne Glover Lyons...
, Ashe Cottage
Ashe Cottage
Ashe Cottage, also known as the Ely House, is a historic Carpenter Gothic house in Demopolis, Alabama. It was built in 1832 and expanded and remodeled in the Gothic Revival style in 1858 by William Cincinnatus Ashe, a physician from North Carolina...
, the Curtis House, the Glover Mausoleum
Glover Mausoleum
The Glover Mausoleum, also known as the Glover Vault, is a Greek Revival mausoleum located within the Riverside Cemetery in Demopolis, Marengo County, Alabama...
, and the Foscue-Whitfield House
Foscue-Whitfield House
The Foscue-Whitfield House, best known as the Foscue House, is a historic Federal style house just outside the city limits of Demopolis, Alabama, United States.-History:...
.
Demopolis in the arts
The Marx and Newhouse families of Demopolis were reputedly the inspiration for The Little FoxesThe Little Foxes
The Little Foxes is a 1939 play by Lillian Hellman. Its title comes from Chapter 2, Verse 15 in the Song of Solomon in the King James version of the Bible, which reads, "Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes." Set in a small town in Alabama in...
, a Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
play. The melodrama was written by Lillian Hellman
Lillian Hellman
Lillian Florence "Lily" Hellman was an American playwright, linked throughout her life with many left-wing causes...
, whose maternal ancestors were all natives of Demopolis. It was first performed in 1939, with Alabama-born actress Tallulah Bankhead
Tallulah Bankhead
Tallulah Brockman Bankhead was an award-winning American actress of the stage and screen, talk-show host, and bonne vivante...
giving a legendary performance in the lead role of Regina. This hit production ran a year on Broadway. The 1941 film version was directed by William Wyler
William Wyler
William Wyler was a leading American motion picture director, producer, and screenwriter.Notable works included Ben-Hur , The Best Years of Our Lives , and Mrs. Miniver , all of which won Wyler Academy Awards for Best Director, and also won Best Picture...
and starred Bette Davis
Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...
, Herbert Marshall
Herbert Marshall
Herbert Marshall , born Herbert Brough Falcon Marshall, was an English actor.His parents were Percy F. Marshall and Ethel May Turner. He graduated from St. Mary's College in Old Harlow, Essex and worked for a time as an accounting clerk...
and Teresa Wright
Teresa Wright
Teresa Wright was an American actress. She received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1942 for her performance in Mrs. Miniver. That same year, she received an Academy Award for Best Actress nomination for her performance in Pride of the Yankees opposite Gary Cooper...
. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture in 1941. In 1949 the play was adapted into an opera by Marc Blitzstein
Marc Blitzstein
Marcus Samuel Blitzstein, better known as Marc Blitzstein , was an American composer. He won national attention in 1937 when his pro-union musical The Cradle Will Rock, directed by Orson Welles, was shut down by the Works Progress Administration...
, under the title Regina.
Lillian Hellman's 1946 play, Another Part of the Forest
Another Part of the Forest
Another Part of the Forest is a 1946 play by Lillian Hellman, a prequel to her 1939 drama The Little Foxes.-Plot synopsis:Set in the fictional town of Bowden, Alabama in June 1880, the plot focuses on the wealthy, ruthless, and innately evil Hubbard family and their rise to prominence...
, was also loosely based on her Demopolis ancestors.
The 1949 film, The Fighting Kentuckian
The Fighting Kentuckian
The Fighting Kentuckian American comedy action film starring John Wayne and Oliver Hardy. The movie was written and directed by George Waggner and made by Republic Pictures...
, is set in Demopolis and tells a story about an interaction with the original French settlers. The basic plots features two Kentuckians returning from service with Andrew Jackson's forces in the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
. Their unit passes through the port of Mobile, Alabama
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
, where John Breen, played by John Wayne
John Wayne
Marion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
, meets the pretty Fleurette De Marchand, played by Vera Ralston
Vera Ralston
Vera Ralston was a Czech figure skater and actress. She later became a naturalized American citizen. She worked as an actress during the 1940s and 1950s.-Early life:...
, from Demopolis. He makes sure the unit passes through Demopolis on its way back home and he stays there as the unit leaves. He discovers that De Marchand is about marry a wealthy riverman and a love triangle ensues, with Breen eventually winning out.
See also
- Christmas on the RiverChristmas on the RiverChristmas on the River is a week-long annual Christmas festival held in Demopolis, Alabama. It features a week of events that culminate with a nighttime parade of boats lighted with Christmas-themed decorations on the Tombigbee River at Demopolis...
- List of people from Demopolis, Alabama
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Marengo County, Alabama