DeKalb

Formed January 9, 1836 (48^th county)

DeKalb County (71,109), Fort Payne (14,876)

A very governmental courthouse is made of brown brick and masonry.  It is located at the end of 3^rd Street Southwest on Grand Avenue Southwest.  The 1950 building was remodeled in 2000 and is located one block northwest of United States Highway 11.  This Modern style courthouse was designed by Sherlock, Smith and Adams.  Additions have been added. There was an 1891 courthouse in Fort Payne.  Lebanon (1836) and Fort Payne (1876) have both been the county seat.  The county was named for General Baron Johan DeKalb.  Fort Payne is named for the fort which was named for its commander Major John Payne.  DeKalb County was formed from Cherokee Nation land on January 9, 1836 as the 48^th county. 

DeKalb County government consists of a sheriff, revenue commissioner, and coroner (executive).  It has 5 commissioners (legislative.)  Three Circuit Judges serve DeKalb and Cherokee counties and a District Judge, a Probate Judge, a District Attorney, and a County Clerk serve DeKalb County (judicial.)  The county is situated in northeast Alabama with Georgia on its eastern border.  The center of the county is 6.6 miles West-Northwest of Fort Payne nearer Rainsville.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Jackson County and Georgia and Cherokee, Etowah, and Marshall counties.  Huntsville, Alabama is northwest and Atlanta, Georgia is southeast. 

The county has an area of 777.1 square miles.  It ranks 24 out of 67 in size.  It ranks 20 out of 67 in population in the state.  It has a density of 92.7 persons per square mile making it 22 out of 67 in the state.  DeKalb County has 47.8% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 59 crosses diagonally from the northeast, Georgia, to the southwest, Etowah County.  United States Highway 11 parallels Interstate Highway 59 from Georgia to Etowah County.  The county is basically a slash from northeast to southwest.  Fort Payne is in the far eastern part of the county.  Fort Payne is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 20.9% of the county population.  The county is pronounced DI-KAB.  The county is in the Fort Payne Micropolitan Statistical Area.