Langston is a town in Jackson County,

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

, United States, and is included in the Chattanooga-Cleveland-Dalton, TN-GA-AL Combined Statistical Area. In the 2010 census, the population was 270, up from 254. It initially incorporated in 1899.Jackson County Historical Timeline
Ancestry.com. At some point after 1920 it disincorporated, then reincorporated in 1980 (after the census was taken that year, since it was not counted). Its peak population was 500, in 1920.

History

Langston was settled in the 1810s, and was initially known as "Coffeetown" after the Coffee brothers, who were among the early settlers. A post office was established in 1845 with Langston Coffee as the first postmaster. In 1869, most of Coffeetown's residents moved to

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, and the following year, James Morgan sold lots for the creation of a new town. The new town was named "Langston" after Langston Coffee.James Kaetz,
Langston
" ''Encyclopedia of Alabama'', September 8, 2016. Langston initially thrived as a river port along the

Tennessee River The Tennessee River is a long river located in the Southern United States, southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. Flowing through the states of Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, it begins at the confluence of Fren ...

, eventually growing to include nine stores and a blacksmith. With the rise of railroad traffic in the late 19th century and automobile traffic in the early 20th, it began to decline. The construction of

Guntersville Dam Guntersville Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Tennessee River in Marshall County, Alabama, Marshall County, in the U.S. state of Alabama. It is one of nine dams on the river owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the d ...

by the

Tennessee Valley Authority The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolin ...

in the late 1930s flooded a significant portion, further reducing its population.

Geography

Langston is located at . The town is situated on the eastern shore of the

, at river mile 377. This section of the river is part of Guntersville Lake, which is formed by Guntersville Dam nearly downstream. Sand Mountain rises immediately to the east of Langston. Scottsboro lies across the river to the north, and

Section Section, Sectioning, or Sectioned may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea * Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents ** Section sig ...

lies atop Sand Mountain to the northeast. County Road 67 connects Langston with State Route 35 to the northeast. According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, the town has a total area of , of which is land and (39.06%) is water.

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 254 people, 109 households, and 80 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 193 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 94.09%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 3.15%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

and 2.76% Native American. There were 109 households, out of which 21.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.5% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 9.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.7% were non-families. 25.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.33 and the average family size was 2.74. In the town, the population was spread out, with 19.3% under the age of 18, 6.3% from 18 to 24, 22.4% from 25 to 44, 35.0% from 45 to 64, and 16.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.8 males. The median income for a household in the town was $33,333, and the median income for a family was $42,344. Males had a median income of $26,750 versus $29,375 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the town was $16,266. About 2.7% of families and 6.7% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including none of those under the age of eighteen and 13.9% of those 65 or over.

References

External links

* {{authority control Towns in Jackson County, Alabama Towns in Alabama Alabama populated places on the Tennessee River