Etowah

Formed December 7, 1866 (59^th county)

Etowah County (103,441), Gadsden (33,932)

A modernistic masonry courthouse with a working clock serves Etowah County.  The 1949 structure was remodeled in 2000 and is located on a square at Forrest Avenue, North 8^th Street, 1^st Avenue and North 9^th Street.  United States Highway 278 is two blocks to the north of the site.  Paul W. Hofferbert is the designer of the Federalist style courthouse.  It was enlarged in 1964.  A Judicial Building was added in 2000.  Etowah is Native American for “edible tree.”  The county seat was named for Colonel James Gadsden.  The only county seat has been at Gadsden.  Etowah County was taken from parts of Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, De Kalb, Marshall, and St. Clair counties on December 7, 1866 as the 59^th county and named Baine County.  It was renamed to Etowah in 1867. 

Etowah County government consists of a sheriff, revenue commissioner, and coroner (executive).  It has 6 commissioners (legislative.)  Three Circuit Judges, Two District Judges, a Probate Judge, a District Attorney, and a County Clerk serve Etowah County (judicial.)  The county is located in northeast Alabama with the Coosa River flowing right through the county’s heart.  The center of the county is in Gadsden 1.6 West-Northwest of the city center.  The county is surrounded clockwise by De Kalb, Cherokee, Calhoun, St. Clair, Blount, and Marshall counties.  Gadsden is slightly south of center in the county.  Gadsden is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 32.8% of the county population.  The county is pronounced ET-O-WA.

The county has an area of 535.0 square miles.  It ranks 67 out of 67 in size.  It ranks 13 out of 67 in population in the state.  It has a density of 192.7 persons per square mile making it 9 out of 67 in the state.  Etowah County has 57.1% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 59 comes in from De Kalb County in the northeast and goes out into St. Clair County in the southwest.  United States Highway 11 parallels Interstate Highway 59 from De Kalb County to St. Clair County.  United States Highway 278 crosses east to west from Calhoun County into Blount County.  United States Highway 411 enters from the east, Cherokee County, and exits to the southwest, St. Clair County.  United States Highway 431 goes northwest to southeast through the county from Marshall County to Calhoun County.  The county looks like a bowl of ice cream turned upside down.  The county is in the Gadsden Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Southside