Goodwater, AL

Goodwater is a Coosa County town in the northeast corner of central Alabama, near the spring that feeds Hatchett Creek. That spring shaped the name: the settlement was first known as Adkins Gap, then became Goodwater as the spring became a local reference point. The town’s location also put it on a useful rail line between Columbus, Georgia, and Birmingham, and the Central of Georgia Railroad changed its scale in the 1870s.

ATTRRivers Langley / CC BY-SA 4.0

The railroad arrived in 1874, Goodwater incorporated in 1875, and a depot followed in 1887. Because the station had the only coal chute on the line between Columbus and Birmingham, trains stopped for fuel and farmers used the town as a shipping point. The old depot was donated back to Goodwater in 1984, moved to State Highway 9, and now serves as the local Ruritan headquarters. Coosa County schools serve Goodwater students, while the town’s streets, churches, shops, and civic groups keep the old rail-centered pattern in view.