Jackson

Formed December 13, 1819 (26^th county)

Jackson County (52,582), Scottsboro (15,589)

The red brick courthouse in Scottsboro was built in 1912, remodeled in 1954, and enlarged in 1968.  The current facility is located one block south of Alabama Highway 35 on the square at Laurel, Peachtree, Market, and Broad streets.  Richard H. Hunt is the building designer in the Neo-Classical style.  The facility has a tower with a working clock and columns.  The grounds have a canon.  There was an 1868 version also in Scottsboro.  Sauta Cave, Sauta, and Bellefonte were the county seats before Scottsboro.  General Andrew Jackson is the source for the county’s name.  The city’s founder, Robert Scott, is the namesake for the county seat.  Jackson County was originally part of Cherokee Territory prior to its December 13, 1819 creation as the 26^th county. 

Jackson County government consists of a sheriff, revenue commissioner, and coroner (executive).  It has 5 commissioners (legislative.)  Two Circuit Judges, a District Judge, a Probate Judge, a District Attorney, and a County Clerk serve Jackson County (judicial.)  The county is situated in the northeast corner of Alabama bordering both Georgia and Tennessee.  The center of the county is 12.2 miles Northeast of Scottsboro nearer Hollywood.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Tennessee and Georgia and De Kalb, Madison, and Marshall counties.  Scottsboro is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 29.7% of the county population. 

The Tennessee River cuts through the middle of the county east to west.  The county has an area of 1077.9 square miles.  It ranks 7 out of 67 in size.  It ranks 27 out of 67 in population in the state.  It has a density of 49.1 persons per square mile making it 33 out of 67 in the state.  Jackson County has 48.3% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 72 enters from the northeast, Tennessee, and exits west into Madison County.  The county is shaped like a fat apostrophe.  Scottsboro is in the extreme south of the county.  The county is in the Scottsboro Micropolitan Statistical Area.