Greenville, Alabama

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:For other places with the same name, see Greenville.

Greenville is a city in Butler County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 7,228. The city is the county seat of Butler County. It is known as the Camellia City, the state flower of Alabama. Its original name was Fort Dale, named for a fortification that was built during the Creek Indian war. Sam Dale fought to defend the citizens of Butler County. The site of Fort Dale lies on the northern end of the town on Highway 185 near Fort Dale Cemetery.

The namesake of the county, Capt. William Butler was killed during the Creek Indian War. He is buried in the Pioneer Cemetery. That is across from the oldest church in Butler County, the First United Methodist Church of Greenville. The downtown layout is quite unique, most towns have a central square. Greenville's downtown is bordered by the county courthouse, which sits in the middle of Commerce Street, and a Spanish style train depot. The post office and city hall sit nearly in the middle downtown between the depot and courthouse. Also near the center of downtown is a theater, built in the art deco style. The Ritz theatre is a beautiful movie theater that was saved from certain demolition by the Greenville Arts Council and Mrs. Roberta Gamble, a local drama teacher.

The city's residents were featured on the premiere episode of the ABC reality/game show series My Kind of Town, on Sunday, August 14 2005.

Greenville has gained national attention of late because it is home to one of the premier golf courses on the Robert Trent Jones golf trail: Cambrian Ridge. The clubhouse for the golf course was built on the highest point in Butler County. It is also the home of the Watermelon Jubilee, a locally popular arts and crafts expo.

Geography

Greenville is located at 31°49'52.583" North, 86°37'39.241" West (31.831273, -86.627567)^{[Geographic references#1GR1]}.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 55.2 km² (21.3 mi²). 54.8 km² (21.1 mi²) of it is land and 0.5 km² (0.2 mi²) of it (0.84%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census^{[Geographic references#2GR2]} of 2000, there were 7,228 people, 2,919 households, and 1,929 families residing in the city. The population density was 132.0/km² (341.7/mi²). There were 3,324 housing units at an average density of 60.7/km² (157.1/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 50.69% White, 48.31% Black or African American, 0.28% Native American, 0.36% Asian, 0.06% from other races, and 0.30% from two or more races. 0.86% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 2,919 households out of which 31.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.6% were married couples living together, 23.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.9% were non-families. 31.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 3.02.

In the city the population was spread out with 26.8% under the age of 18, 8.9% from 18 to 24, 24.2% from 25 to 44, 21.9% from 45 to 64, and 18.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 80.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 73.6 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $22,106, and the median income for a family was $27,167. Males had a median income of $29,236 versus $20,125 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,439. About 24.8% of families and 30.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 40.4% of those under age 18 and 26.1% of those age 65 or over.

External links

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