Ladonia, AL

Ladonia is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Russell County, on the Alabama side of the Columbus, Georgia–Alabama metro. The 2020 census counted 3,074 residents. Because there is no incorporated town government at the center of the place, Ladonia is easier to understand as a residential and school community spread through the Chattahoochee Valley than as a traditional courthouse-square town. Its address is tied to Russell County and the Phenix City side of the metro, while day-to-day needs flow across a state line toward Columbus and Phenix City.

School is the clearest local institution. Ladonia Elementary is part of the Russell County School District, which also includes Russell County Middle and High School and several other elementary campuses in the county. That gives the community a recognizable school route even though the larger commercial and employment network sits in nearby cities. The region’s geography is cross-border by nature: Alabama roads, Georgia jobs, the Chattahoochee Valley, and a shared metropolitan area overlap in ordinary errands. Ladonia’s story is therefore about connection more than a single downtown—a small Russell County place whose residents are close to a larger urban circuit while still carrying their own school name and local map.