Books About Alabama
Washington County is a county in the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2010 census, the population was 17,581. The county seat is Chatom. The county was named in honor of George Washington, the first President of the United States.
Washington County is located in southwest Alabama and enclosed by the Mississippi state line, Choctaw County, the Tombigbee River and Mobile County. The county is about 60 miles north of the Gulf of Mexico, and exceeds 682,000 acres and about 1,065 square miles. About 88 percent of the land area is situated forest and pine plantations.
Urban areas comprise about 7,900 acres in the towns of Chatom, McIntosh and Millry. Leroy, Al. is a large geographical community of approximately 800 residents. The average annual temperature is 74 degrees and the average annual rainfall is 57 inches. Washington County’s population is approximately 18,097 people. Farming is an important part of rural Washington County.
Washington County was the first county organized in what would later become Alabama, as settlers moved westward after the American Revolutionary War. Washington County is the site of St. Stephens, the first territorial capital of Alabama. In 1807 former U.S. Vice President Aaron Burr was arrested at Wakefield in Washington County, during his flight from being prosecuted for alleged treason (which he was eventually found innocent of).
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