Coosa

Formed December 18, 1832 (40^th county)

Coosa County (10,382), Rockford (354), Goodwater (1,292)

The light brown brick and concrete columned courthouse of Coosa County is located on Main Street at Court Alley.  United States Highway 231 is Main Street going through the city.  The courthouse was built in 1858 and remodeled in 1970 to its current look.  The building with balcony was designed by Elliot and Bradford in Neo-Classical style.  The county seat is presumably a geographical term.  The county’s name came from a Native American village.  Coosa County was formed on December 18, 1832 from Montgomery County as the 40^th county.  Rockford has been the county seat since the county formation. 

Coosa County government consists of a sheriff, revenue commissioner, and coroner (executive).  It has 5 commissioners (legislative.)  A Circuit Judge serves Coosa and Clay counties and a District Judge, a Probate Judge, a District Attorney, and a County Clerk serve Coosa County (judicial.)  The county is situated in central Alabama with the Coosa River as its western border.  The center of the county is 7.6 miles North-Northwest of Rockford.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Talladega, Clay, Tallapoosa, Elmore, Chilton, and Shelby counties.  Birmingham, Alabama is northwest and Montgomery, Alabama is south of the county.  Rockford is slightly south of the county center.  Goodwater is located in the extreme northeast corner of the county.  Rockford is the county seat and Goodwater is the largest city.  Rockford is 3.4% of the county population and Goodwater is 12.4% of the county population.  The county is pronounced KOO-SA. 

The county has an area of 650.9 square miles.  It ranks 37 out of 67 in size.  It ranks 63 out of 67 in population in the state.  It has a density of 15.6 persons per square mile making it 58 out of 67 in the state.  Coosa County has 17.1% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 231 enters from Talladega County on the north and exits south into Elmore County.  United States Highway 280 also comes in from Talladega County but crosses diagonally to the east into Tallapoosa County.  The county is a rectangle except for a bulging western border of the river.  The county is in the Alexander City Micropolitan Statistical Area.