Somerville is a town in Morgan 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. It is included in the Decatur Metropolitan Area and the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the town was 796.

History

Somerville was the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

of Morgan County from 1818 to 1891, when the seat was moved to Decatur. The town was named for Robert M. Summerville, an officer killed in 1814 during the

Creek War The Creek War (also the Red Stick War or the Creek Civil War) was a regional conflict between opposing Native American factions, European powers, and the United States during the early 19th century. The Creek War began as a conflict within th ...

. Initially incorporated on December 3, 1819,http://www.legislature.state.al.us/aliswww/history/acts_and_journals/Acts_Oct_Dec_1819/Page13_pg111-120.html ]. "An act to establish the town of Sommerville, in the county of Cotaco."] ''Journal of the House of Representatives of the General Assembly of the State of Alabama''. Cahawba. Printed at the Press Office. 1820. Pages 113-114. it is a few days older than the state. After its loss of the county seat in the 1890s, its incorporation lapsed. It was reorganized (reincorporated) on December 1, 1955.

Geography

Somerville is located in central Morgan County at (34.469961, -86.798782), along Alabama State Route 67, which leads northwest to Decatur and southeast to the edge of Baileyton. 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 , or 0.14%, are water. Somerville is drained by Town Creek, which flows east to Cotaco Creek, a north-flowing tributary of 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 ...

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 347 people, 148 households, and 97 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 160 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 91.35%

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 ...

, 5.76%

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 ...

, 1.73% Native American, 0.29% from other races, and 0.86% from two or more races. 0.58% of the population were

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race. There were 148 households, out of which 28.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.4% 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, 11.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.8% were non-families. 29.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.92. In the town, the population was spread out, with 22.5% under the age of 18, 11.2% from 18 to 24, 33.1% from 25 to 44, 22.5% from 45 to 64, and 10.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 103.8 males. The median income for a household in the town was $26,250, and the median income for a family was $31,250. Males had a median income of $29,107 versus $18,958 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 $13,747. About 13.3% of families and 13.7% 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 11.0% of those under age 18 and 32.1% of those age 65 or over.

Mayor and city council

Mayor *Darren Tucker Town Council *Place 1: Rodger McClure *Place 2: Ron Jones *Place 3: Michael Rea *Place 4: Carl Flemons *Place 5: Jackie Teague

Notable people

Josiah Patterson Josiah Patterson (April 14, 1837 – February 10, 1904) was a Confederate soldier, political figure, and a member of the United States House of Representatives for the 10th District of Tennessee. Biography Patterson was born in Morgan County, A ...

congressman A member of congress (MOC), also known as a congressman or congresswoman, is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The t ...

from 1891 to 1897 *

Malcolm R. Patterson Malcolm Rice Patterson (June 7, 1861 – March 8, 1935) was an American politician and jurist. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1901 to 1906, and as the 30th governor of Tennessee from 1907 to 1911. He later served as a circuit ...

governor of Tennessee The governor of Tennessee is the head of government of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the commander-in-chief of the U.S. state, state's Tennessee Military Department, military forces. The governor is the only official in the Government of Tenne ...

from 1907 to 1911 * Joseph Humphrey Sloss, congressman from 1871 to 1875 * Ryan Williams, theoretical computer scientist * Gary Winton, former basketball player for the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

References

External links

{{authority control Towns in Alabama Towns in Morgan County, Alabama Decatur metropolitan area, Alabama Huntsville-Decatur, AL Combined Statistical Area