Macon

Formed December 18, 1832 (41^st county)

Macon County (19,534), Tuskegee (9,381)                

A classic brown brick courthouse serves Macon County.  It was built in 1906 replacing an 1853 structure.  It is located in Rosa Parks Plaza on Northside at Main streets.  United States Highway 80 is one block to the southeast of the site.  J. W. Golecke & Company designed this Richardsonian Romanesque courthouse.  The structure features a working clock tower and veteran memorials are across the street.  Macon County is named for South Carolina Senator Nathaniel Macon.  Macon County was the birthplace of 1 Alabama Governor, William D. Jelks.  A Native American tribe is the source for the seat’s name.  Montgomery County ceded the land for Macon County on December 18, 1832 as the 41^st county. 

Macon County government consists of a sheriff, revenue commissioner, and coroner (executive).  It has 5 commissioners (legislative.)  Three Circuit Judges serve Macon, Chambers, Randolph and Tallapoosa counties and a District Judge, a Probate Judge, a District Attorney, and a County Clerk serve Macon County (judicial.)  The county is located in the east central Alabama.  Montgomery, Alabama is west and Columbus, Georgia is east of the county.  The center of the county is in Tuskegee 1.1 miles Southwest of the city center.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Tallapoosa, Lee, Russell, Bullock, Montgomery, and Elmore counties.  Tuskegee has been the county seat since the county formation.  The Tallapoosa River forms part of the northwest border of the county.  A house shape with a bulge to the west best describes the county’s shape.  Tuskegee is near the center of the county.  Tuskegee is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 48.0% of the county population.  The county seat is pronounced TUHS-KEE-GEE.  

The county has an area of 608.9 square miles.  It ranks 48 out of 67 in size.  It ranks 50 out of 67 in population in the state.  It has a density of 30.4 persons per square mile making it 45 out of 67 in the state.  Macon County has 57.5% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 85 crosses the northern part of the county from east to west, Lee County to Montgomery County.  United States Highway 29 enters from Lee County in the east and exits south into Bullock County.  United States Highway 80 crosses east to west from Lee County to Montgomery County.  The county is in the Tuskegee Micropolitan Statistical Area.

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