Carrollton, AL

Carrollton is the Pickens County seat in western Alabama, with 1,023 residents in the 2020 census. The town was laid out on 80 acres given to the county in 1830 and incorporated in 1831, taking its name from Charles Carroll of Maryland, the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence. State Highways 17 and 86 cross here, and the courthouse square remains the town’s clearest landmark. Carrollton’s location makes it a county-service center for the surrounding farm country.

ATTRhttps://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/al0691.photos.006371p / Public domain

The courthouse story has more than one chapter. Union troops burned the first courthouse in 1865, a second courthouse was lost to arson in 1876, and the 1877 building remained in use until a new facility opened in 1994. The old courthouse still stands, across from the Hugh Wilson Hill House, one of the first homes built on Carrollton’s planned streets. Pickens County schools include Carrollton Elementary and a high school, while Bevill State Community College adds a postsecondary connection. Each fall, the Face in the Window Fest turns a courthouse legend into a community event. Carrollton is a county seat where history, schools, roads, and local storytelling all meet around one square.