Bullock County AlArchives History .....Bullock County 1888
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IV.
BULLOCK COUNTY.

    Population: White, 6,800; colored, 21,486. Area, 660 square miles. Woodland
all. except a few square miles of prairie. Prairie region, 300 square miles (200
of black prairie etc., and 109 hill prairie, or Chunnenugga Ridge). Oak and
hickory uplands, with long-leaf pine, 360 square miles.

    Acres in cotton (approximately), 80,470; in corn, 47,441; in oats, 6,177; in
wheat, 111; in rye, 88; in sugar-cane, 429; in rice, 16; in sweet potatoes, 773.

    Approximate number of bales of cotton, in round numbers, 22,000.

    County Seat—Union Springs; population, 2,200; situated near the center of
the county.

    Newspapers published at County Seat—Bullock County Reporter and Herald (both
Democratic).

    Postoffices in the County—Aberfoil, Arbor Vitae, Baghall, Enon,
Fitzpatrick's, Flora, Guerrytown, Hector, Indian Creek, Inverness, James,
Midway, Mitchell's Station, Mount Hilliard, Perote, Pine Grove, Postoak,
Shopton, Strawberry, Suspension, Thompson, Three Notch, Union Springs.

    Bullock County, situated in what is known as the Black Belt of Alabama, was
formed in 1886 out of parts of the adjacent counties of Macon, Russell, Barbour,
Pike and Montgomery.

    It took its name from the late Edward C. Bullock, of Barbour County.

    The tax valuation of its property in 1887 was about $3,500,000, with rate
for the county of four mills, which is sufficient for current expenses, the
county being out of debt.

    The county is divided into two nearly equal parts by Chunnenugga Ridge,
which extends quite through it from the northeast to the southwest.

    That portion north and west of the Ridge is known as the prairie district.
It is from 100 to 150 feet lower than the ridge, and is for the most part level
but sufficiently undulating for thorough drainage. These lands are chiefly what
are known as black and post oak prairie, being of calcareous formation,
interspersed in many places with phosphatic nodules, and are very rich. They are
best adapted to cotton and corn, which constitute the chief crop, though small
grain, potatoes, sugar-cane, and all varieties of vegetables and many fruits
grow quite as well.

    From a third to half a bale of cotton and twelve to fifteen bushels of corn
to the acre, are regarded as about the average yield. Fully one-half of the
tillable lands are devoted to cotton. These lands range in price from five to
ten dollars per acre, depending upon the amount and character of the improvements.

    That portion of the county south of the Ridge is of drift formation, and
constitutes what are called the uplands. It is generally elevated, having very
nearly the altitude of the Ridge, sloping gently, however, toward the south.
This region is composed mostly of what is known as oak and hickory lauds, sandy
with clay subsoil. They are abundantly watered, and in the main thoroughly well
drained, naturally. The head waters of Pea and Conecuh Rivers are in this
county; besides there are important tributaries of the Chattahoochee in the
eastern, and Tallapoosa River in the western and northern parts of the county.

    The lands in the southern part of the county, though less rich than the
prairie region, yield. with moderate fertilization, abundant crops of corn and
cotton, and in their capacity for vegetables and all kinds of fruits are
probably unexcelled in the South. Stock-raising is but recently beginning to
receive attention, and promises from the favorable soil and climate for the
production of grasses, to equal any of the more favored portions of the State.

    Besides several varieties of valuable native grasses, the Japan clover
(Lespidgrza) and Bermuda grass, imported probably through accident, grow and
spread abundantly on all uncultivated lands. Many cultivated grasses as Texas
blue grass, Lucerne and Mellilotus grow well.

    Much of the original forestry still exists, abounding in all varieties of
oak, hickory, ash, elm, beach, poplar, and other varieties of valuable woods.

    Manufacturing has hitherto received no very special attention, the county
being preeminently an agricultural one, though it is believed that, situated
centrally in the cotton belt as it is, the manufacture of this staple might be
made very profitable. The altitude at Union Springs is 519 feet above sea-level,
being perhaps the highest point on this parallel of latitude anywhere between
the Atlantic Ocean and Rocky Mountains. This extraordinary altitude is thought
to protect it in some degree from excessive rain-fall, the average from a
correctly kept record of seventeen years being only forty-eight inches annually,
which was distributed tolerably nearly equally through the four seasons of the
year. The southwest winds are most frequently the ones that attend the rains,
though seasons of somewhat continuous rains are chiefly brought by the southeast
winds.

    Gentle breezes from the south Gulf region are very common during the summer
months of June and July, setting in late in the afternoon and continuing until
midnight, generally rendering the nights sufficiently comfortable for refreshing
sleep.

    The summer heat, which occurs chiefly in June and July, rarely ascends
higher than 90°, nor is this height maintained for very many days. Exceptionally
it reaches 94°or 96°, but these periods are of short duration, usually not more
than a day or two, before they are broken by refreshing showers.

    From carefully kept vital and mortuary statistics, regulated by law, it
appears that the white death rate from all causes, per 1,000 of population in
1886, was 11.47, and in 1887 the rate was 10.73 per 1,000.

    The prevailing diseases, gleaned from the same source, are malarial fever,
dysentery and pneumonia. Among the colored people there is considerable
consumption, due probably to their want of proper regard for personal hygiene,
but the death rate from this cause in 1887, in the county, was only 1.1 per
1,000 of population among the whites. In deed, consumption, in any of its forms,
is a very rare disease among the whites in this part of the State. In most cases
it yields to proper treatment, and, it is known, to our physicians, that many
cases, contracted in the North, get well by a kind of self-limitation when moved
to the southern part of Alabama.

    Union Springs, the county seat, is situated near the center of the county,
on Chunnennggee Ridge, overlooking the immense prairie district to the north,
and at the crossing of the Mobile & Girard with the Montgomery & Eufaula
Railroads. It has a population of about 2,500. It is beautifully laid off and
shaded with numerous oaks and elms. It has several splendid buildings, among
which may be mentioned the court house, which cost about $60,000, and in point
of magnificence is second only to the best in the State.

    There are four churches, namely, Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist and
Episcopalian. There are two very fine schools in successful operation. The Union
Springs Female College, chartered by the Legislature in 1866, Prof. H. K. W.
Smith, President, with a full corps of teachers, and the Union Springs Seminary,
presided over by Prof. J. R. Smith. There is also a street railroad owned by a
corporation of the town.

    Surrounded by one of the finest agricultural districts of the State, Union
Springs has few-superiors in a business point of view. Her merchants are
thrifty, and many of them in very easy circumstances—a wealth that has for the
most part been accumulated by a legitimate business confined to the immediate
vicinity.

    Midway, the next largest town in the county, with a population of about 500,
is situated on the Montgomery & Eufaula Railroad, twelve miles Southeast of
Union Springs. It is noted for its refined society, its excellent schools, the
thrift of its merchants and the fertile quality of its agricultural lands.

    Enon, Guerryton, Perote, Inverness, Thompson's and Fitzpatrick's are the
other smaller towns.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

Northern Alabama: Historical and Biographical
Birmingham, Ala.: Smith and De Land
1888

PART III.
HISTORICAL RESUME OF THE VARIOUS COUNTIES IN THE STATE.
COTTON BELT.


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