Greenville, Alabama
Butler County Courthouse in Greenville
Location in Butler County and the state of Alabama
Coordinates: 31°49′52″N 86°37′39″W / 31.83111, -86.6275
Country	United States
State	Alabama
County	Butler
Area
- Total	21.4 sq mi (55.3 km²)
- Land	21.2 sq mi (54.8 km²)
- Water	0.2 sq mi (0.5 km²)
Elevation	440 ft (134 m)
Population (2000)
- Total	7,228
- Density	337.8/sq mi (130.7/km²)
Time zone	Central (CST) (UTC-6)
- Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP code	36037
Area code(s)	334
FIPS code	01-31912
GNIS feature ID	0119376

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 and is known as the Camellia City, the state flower of Alabama. The push to change the state flower from the goldenrod to the camellia originated in Greenville.

Greenville's original name was Fort Dale. This fortification was named for Sam Dale who fought to defend the area during the Creek Indian War. The site of Fort Dale lies on the northern end of the city on Highway 185, near Fort Dale Cemetery. The namesake of the county, Captain William Butler, was killed during the Creek Indian War. He is buried in the Pioneer Cemetery, which is across from the oldest church in Butler County, the First United Methodist Church of Greenville.

The downtown layout is interesting, as most small Southern towns laid out in the early nineteenth century have a central square. Greenville's downtown is bordered on one end by the Butler County Courthouse, which is at the intersection of Commerce and Conecuh Streets, with the streets forming a roundabout around the building. The appearance of the courthouse was adversely affected by the early 1970s addition of a marble Greek Revival façade, which clashes with the red brick of the remainder of the Federal style edifice. A copper dome sits upon a 75 feet tall clock tower at the front of the building.

At the other end of the downtown area is a Spanish Colonial Style train depot next to an early twentieth century masonry railroad bridge. Commerce Street dips under this bridge as it continues to the western parts of the city. The hundred-year-old buildings around the depot show signs of decay, but the depot itself is well maintained, although it is no longer used as a train stop.

View of the old L&N train depot

View of Confederate Park

View of Greenville Post Office

View of Greenville City Hall

The Post Office and City Hall sit nearly in the middle of downtown, on Commerce Street, across from Confederate Park. Both buildings are attractive brick buildings, built in the 1920s and 1930s in the Federal style. Confederate Park covers one block and has a life-sized statue of a Confederate soldier and a large fountain. Also near the center of downtown is the Ritz Theater, a 1930s art deco style structure. The building is a beautiful movie theater that the Greenville Arts Council and Mrs. Roberta Gamble, a local drama teacher, saved from certain demolition in the 1980s. Most of the uptown and downtown business structures are of the neoclassic or Federal style. All of the power and communication lines are buried, giving the downtown area a cleaner look that period streetlights accent.

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. Greenville is also the home of the Watermelon Jubilee, a locally popular arts and crafts exposition.

Beth Chapman, the incumbent Alabama Secretary of State is a native of Greenville.

Geography

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

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

Demographics

As of the census^[2] of 2000, there were 7,228 people, 2,919 households, and 1,929 families residing in the city. The population density was 341.7 people per square mile (132.0/km²). There were 3,324 housing units at an average density of 157.1/sq mi (60.7/km²). 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.

References

External links

• Greenville's official web site
• The South Alabama News
• Fort Dale Academy, a K-12 college-preparatory school in Greenville
• The Greenville Advocate
• Cambrian Ridge Golf Course, part of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail
• Article on Greenville by Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) in Salon magazine

• Greenville, Alabama is at coordinates 31°49′53″N 86°37′39″W / 31.831273, -86.627567 (Greenville, Alabama)Coordinates: 31°49′53″N 86°37′39″W / 31.831273, -86.627567 (Greenville, Alabama)

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