Odenville, Alabama
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| Odenville, Alabama | |
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| Coordinates: | |
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| Country | United States |
| State | Alabama |
| County | St. Clair |
| Area | |
| - Total | 3.2 sq mi (8.4 km²) |
| - Land | 3.2 sq mi (8.4 km²) |
| - Water | 0 sq mi (0 km²) |
| Elevation | 748 ft (228 m) |
| Population (2000) | |
| - Total | 1,131 |
| - Density | 353.4/sq mi (134.6/km²) |
| Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
| - Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| ZIP code | 35120 |
| Area code(s) | 205 |
| FIPS code | 01-56400 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0164791 |
Odenville is a town in St. Clair County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 1,131.
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[edit] Geography
Odenville is located at (33.681762, -86.399295)[1].
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 3.2 square miles (8.4 km²), all of it land.
[edit] Demographics
As of the census[2] of 2000, there were 1,131 people, 421 households, and 333 families residing in the town. The population density was 348.3 people per square mile (134.4/km²). There were 459 housing units at an average density of 141.3/sq mi (54.5/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 95.93% White, 1.95% Black or African American, 0.35% Native American, 0.35% from other races, and 1.41% from two or more races. 1.33% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 421 households out of which 39.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.5% were married couples living together, 12.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.9% were non-families. 19.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.69 and the average family size was 3.07.
In the town the population was spread out with 26.5% under the age of 18, 9.2% from 18 to 24, 30.7% from 25 to 44, 21.9% from 45 to 64, and 11.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 95.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.8 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $36,473, and the median income for a family was $40,694. Males had a median income of $31,429 versus $21,736 for females. The per capita income for the town was $17,330. About 5.0% of families and 5.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.0% of those under age 18 and 10.5% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] Education
On July 18, 1908 the original St. Clair County High School building was constructed. On May 1st of the same year it was awarded the first high school in St. Clair County. When doors were opened SCCHS had only 25 students and in 1912 held its first Graduation Ceremony. More to Come....
[edit] History
The history of the settling of Beaver Valley in the area that would one day be called Odenville, begins in September, 1821, when a Methodist minister, Christopher Vandegrift, and his family left Chester County, South Carolina, for Alabama. Christopher and Rebecca Amber son Vandegrift were parents of four boys and three girls: William, John, Jim, Leonard, Ellen, Margaret and Betsey) all adults when the migration to Alabama began.
Traveling by horse-drawn schooner wagons and making their way steadily westward, the Vandegrifts stopped for a while in Jasper County, Georgia. It was here that Peter Hardin met and fell in love with Ellen Vandegrift. Her parents consented to the wedding, and on November 21, 1821, they were married. Peter cast in his lot with his bride's family and came with them to Alabama.
There was excellent traveling weather that fall, and the company made good progress, approaching the Coosa River in mid-December. They crossed the Coosa into St. Clair County at a place that in 1832 would be called Greensport; a place that in 1968 would be covered by the waters of Neely Henry Lake.
A few days after the crossing, the company arrived at their destination and set their stakes at a place they called Walnut Grove, about a mile east of present-day Odenville. In the early 1900s, Walnut Grove was called Jones Cut because it was near the entrance to the first cut made along the Seaboard Airline Railroad.
Christopher Vandegrift and his sons wasted no time in clearing land for a home and for crops. Their first house was a one-room dwelling made of logs with a boarded roof and dirt floor. The first summer was perhaps the hardest because there was a shortage of corn and Christopher had to go as far as Guntersville to get corn for planting.
Whatever the hardships, their hard work, perseverance and faith saw them through those months of settling a new place, and this new land truly became home.
Although we do not know the exact date, Peter and Ellen Hardin moved from Walnut Grove and settled in the vicinity of today's Odenville. A pre-1951 note in the file at the Ashville Archives relates that Peter first settled "in the old field southeast of the site of Odenville, near the Shockley home at the foot of the mountain. In 1824 he moved to a new home at the foot of the mountain, where W. J. Hodges now lives." W. J. (Willard Jerusalem) Hodges married Peter's granddaughter Nell Hartte Hardin. W. J. Hodges died in 1951.
Peter Hardin's home in Odenville was of hand-hewn logs. It survived for nearly 150 years. A description of the house was recorded in 1975. Originally the log cabin consisted of three rooms and a detached kitchen in the back. The main 'big room' had a distinctive stone fireplace with a stone hearth and mantel. At the back of this room were two bedrooms, one upstairs and one down." This original building was added to as the years went by: a new fireplace in 1840 (the date carved into the stone mantel), the logs were boarded over, modern porches built across the front, and a front bay window. Across the front were thirteen square pillars, and two swings hung from the porch ceiling. To the rear of the original house, a narrow passage connected a wing that replaced the original log kitchen and dining room
The last descendent of Peter Hardin to live in the home was his granddaughter, Nell. The rambling old home sat vacant for several years and finally was demolished. The 1840 stone fireplace remained a lonely sentinel until 1990 when it was removed for a new building. The stone mantel was preserved by Mrs. Dean Stepp. On the property today are the Church of God of Prophesy sanctuary and Gary Stepp's Napa Auto Parts store.
Peter Hardin established a blacksmithery and a cabinet shop, and the location where he had settled soon became known as Hardin's Shop. In his two businesses, Peter could make and/or repair all the things necessary for a pioneer village. A circa 1840-1845 cherry wood, cannon ball bed which Peter made is still used by an Odenville family today, and a hand-forged fireplace shovel is in another family's collection. A copy of Peter's Day Book, his journal of accounts, etc., is on file in the Special Collections of Samford University, Birmingham.
[edit] Notable Residents
Local Morning Edition anchor and Alabama Public Radio correspondent Brandon Hollingsworth is a native of Odenville. Hollingsworth spent his formative years in the placid hamlet, often splashing in the ol' swimming hole or kicking cans near Foster's Hollow. Actually, none of that is true. Hollingsworth spent many an hour reading, drawing, conducting science experiments, watching the Weather Channel and generally being erudite. He still is. Today, Hollingsworth is proud to call Odenville home, because it's a town of "good, nice people doing good, nice things. Now leave me alone." He would also like to mention he rather enjoys watching NBC News Today. Since July 2, 2007, Hollingsworth has been a contributing artist to ABC's World News Now.
[edit] References
- ^ US Gazetteer files: 2000 and 1990. United States Census Bureau (2005-05-03). Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
- ^ American FactFinder. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
[edit] External links
- Odenville, Alabama is at coordinates Coordinates:
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