Chambers County
Alabama Genealogy & History Network

Welcome to Chambers County ALGHN

Welcome to the Chambers County Alabama Genealogy & History Network website providing free information to genealogical and historical researchers.

To share your Chambers County, Alabama genealogy or history information, send an email to alghn@outlook.com - we will be pleased to include it here. If you have information to share for other Alabama Counties, visit the Alabama Genealogy & History Network state website and choose the appropriate county.

About Chambers County, Alabama...

Chambers County was created by an act of the Alabama State Legislature on December 18, 1832, from former Creek Indian territory ceded to the United States during the 1832 Treaty of Cusseta. The county is named for Senator Henry H. Chambers, who served in the 1819Alabama constitutional convention. The first white settler in Chambers County was Nimrod Doyle, a sub-agent of Indian affairs who was hired to survey the land.

Chambers County, like many areas in Alabama before the Civil War, prospered as a cotton-growing area. In 1851 the area received an economic boost with the arrival of the Montgomery and West Point Railroad near the town of Cusseta. During the Civil War, the Confederacy constructed Fort Tyler in Chambers County to protect the railroad bridge, wagon bridge, and Confederate supplies in the city of West Point, Georgia, just over the county line. Union forces seized the fort and destroyed the railroad during the Battle of West Point, one of the last battles of the war.

The region suffered economic recession after the Civil War but was revitalized when local businessmen and planters established two textile mills in 1866. In August of that year, James McClendon of West Point formed the Chattahoochee Manufacturing Company, and George Huguley of Chambers County founded the Alabama and Georgia Manufacturing Company. Both mills began production in 1869 using water power from the Chattahoochee River but were forced to close temporarily during the Panic of 1873. In 1880 the Chattahoochee Manufacturing Company was reorganized into West Point Manufacturing, and the mill operated by the company was renamed Langdale Mill for its president Thomas Lang. West Point Manufacturing acquired the Alabama and Georgia Manufacturing Company in 1921.

As West Point prospered, three other mills were added at Fairfax, Riverdale, and Lannet. All four mills were set in company-owned towns that provided workers and their families with schools, housing, recreational facilities, and other amenities. Eventually the four mills became known as "the Valley" and in 1980, citizens from three of the four towns (Lanett became an incorporated town in 1895) came together to build a new town named Valley, which is currently the largest population center in the county.

Since its formation, Chambers County's economy has been linked to cotton, both agriculturally and industrially. Prior to the Civil War, the area was an agricultural community dependent upon cotton, and afterward it was devoted to the textile industry. The Chattahoochee Manufacturing Company and the Alabama and Georgia Manufacturing Company were founded in 1866, and in 1880 the Chattahoochee Manufacturing Company was reorganized into West Point Manufacturing and the mill was renamed Langdale Mills and became the hub of a company town. The company opened mill villages at Fairfax and Lanett and in 1921 acquired Alabama and Georgia Manufacturing, which had been renamed Riverdale Mill. The prosperous mills produced towels and cotton duck, a heavy material used to make canvas. In 1965 stock in West Point manufacturing became publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. That same year the company merged with Pepperell Manufacturing of Maine and in 1988 acquired J.P. Stevens Inc. From 1880 to 1990 the company operated under one family, the Lanier’s. In 1993 the company changed its name to WestPoint Stevens. Today the company is the leading manufacturer of bed and bath linens.

The county has a total area of 603 square miles, of which 597 square miles is land and 6.6 square miles (1.1%) is water. The population recorded in the 1840 Federal Census was 17,333. The 2010 census recorded 34,215 residents in the county.

Neighboring counties are Randolph County (north), Troup County, Georgia (east), Harris County, Georgia (southeast), Lee County (south), and Tallapoosa County (west). Communities in the county include Cusseta, LaFayette, Lanett, Valley, Waverly (Partly in Lee County), Five Points, Oak Bowery, Oakland, White Plains, Abanda, Fredonia, Huguley, Penton, and Standing Rock.

Chambers County, Alabama Records

Alabama Genealogy & History Network has much information on our county websites - cemetery listings, community data, etc. Please visit the county or counties of interest to you.

Birth Records - The Alabama Department of Public Health maintains records of births from 1908 to present. This was the year Alabama began keeping official birth records. You can obtain official copies of birth certificates by visiting the birth record page on their website and following the instructions. Since there are no official birth records before 1908 for births prior to that date you will need to determine birth information from census records, bible records, baptismal records, cemetery tombstones, etc.

Death Records - The Alabama Department of Public Health maintains death records after 1908 on file. This was the year Alabama began keeping official death records. You can obtain official copies of death certificates by visiting the death record page on their website and following the instructions. Since there are no official death records before 1908 for deaths prior to that date you will need to determine death information from census records, bible records, funeral home records, cemetery tombstones, etc.

Marriage Records - The Alabama Department of Public Health can provide you with information for marriages that took place from 1936 to present by by visiting the marriage record page on their website and following the instructions.

All existing county marriage records for any date not listed above (and for the dates listed above for that matter) may be obtained from the county's Probate Office in which the marriage was held.

Divorce Records - The Alabama Department of Public Health maintains divorce records from 1950 to present. You can obtain official copies of devorce records by visiting the divorce record page on their website and following the instructions. Records for divorces occuring before 1950 may be obtained from the Circuit Clerk in the county where the divorce took place.