Butler, AL

Butler is the seat of Choctaw County in southwest Alabama, near the Mississippi border. Choctaw County formed in 1847, and state law moved the county seat toward the geographic center in 1848, naming the new town for Col. Pierce Butler. The courthouse remains the town's physical center: the current building was constructed in 1906-07 after earlier structures burned or were replaced. Butler's growth has followed government more than a lumber boom; in the 1950s, an American Can paper, pulp, and converting mill on the Tombigbee River built housing in Butler for workers 17 miles away.

ATTRChris Pruitt / CC BY-SA 3.0

State Routes 10 and 17, County Road 24, and the Butler-Choctaw County Airport organize access around town. Choctaw County School District operates an elementary school, junior high, high school, alternative school, and career technical center, while Patrician Academy provides a private-school option. Butler Fest fills the October calendar with food, arts and crafts, races, and music. For a newcomer, the courthouse, schools, airport, and annual festival make the county-seat role concrete: Butler is a small town serving as Choctaw County's government and service center.