Lee

Formed December 5, 1866 (56^th county)

Lee County (174,244), Opelika (31,009), Auburn (76,143)

A very courthouse-like red brick structure serves Lee County.  It was built in 1896 on 9^th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B.  United States Highway 431 is three blocks east of the location.  Andrews & Stevens are the building architects in a Classical Revival style.  A Justice Center was added in 1984.  An Annex was added in 2019.  The structure features a working clock tower and columns.  A park sits across the street.  Opelika gets its name from a Native American village.  General Robert E. Lee is the namesake of the county.  On December 5, 1866 land was taken from Macon, Tallapoosa, Chambers, and Russell counties to form Lee County as the 56^th county. 

Lee 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 Lee County (judicial.)  The county is located in east Alabama.  The Chattahoochee River forms the eastern border with Georgia.  Opelika has always been the county seat.  The center of the county is in Opelika 4.9 miles Southeast of the city center.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Chambers County and Georgia and Russell, Macon, and Tallapoosa counties.  The overall rectangular shape has a foot on its south border of the county.  Opelika is in the north center part of the county.  Auburn is located adjacent to Opelika to its southwest in the western half of the county.  Opelika is the county seat and Auburn is the largest city.  Opelika is 17.8% of the county population while Auburn is 43.7% of the county population. 

The county has an area of 607.5 square miles.  It ranks 50 out of 67 in size.  It ranks 8 out of 67 in population in the state.  It has a density of 297.5 persons per square mile making it 4 out of 67 in the state.  Lee County has 68.7% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 85 crosses northeast, Chambers County, to southwest, Macon County.  United States Highway 29 basically parallels Interstate Highway 85 from Chambers County into Macon County.  United States Highway 80 cuts across the foot part of the county from Russell County, east, to Macon County, west.  United States Highway 280 enters from the southeast and exits to the northwest, Russell County to Tallapoosa County.  United States Highway 431 is joined with United States Highway 280 coming from Russell County, splits in Opelika, and heads north into Chambers County.  The county seat is pronounced OE-POO-LA-KUH.  The county is in the Auburn-Opelika Metropolitan Statistical Area.

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