Pickens

Formed December 20, 1820 (30^th county)

Pickens County (19,124), Carrollton (1,021), Aliceville (2,172)

This tan brick Justice Center was built in 1994.   It is located at Tuscaloosa and Phoenix.  Alabama State Highway 86 is Tuscaloosa Street.  The facility was designed by Johnson, Henderson, Bailey, and McNeil.  It features columns.  The 1876 courthouse and veteran memorials sits across the street.  The courthouse was designed by the county commissioners and remodeled in 2011.  Pickens County was formed on December 20, 1820 as the 30^th county from Tuscaloosa County and named for General Andrew Pickens.  Charles Carroll, a signer of the Declaration of Independence provided his name for the county seat.  There were two earlier courthouses from 1865 and 1876, both burnt down, all in Carrollton. 

Pickens County government consists of a sheriff, revenue commissioner, and coroner (executive).  It has 5 commissioners (legislative.)  Two Circuit Judges serve Pickens, Fayette, and Lamar counties and a District Judge, a Probate Judge, a District Attorney, and a County Clerk serve Pickens County (judicial.)  The county is in the western part of the state on the border with Mississippi.  Tuscaloosa, Alabama is just east.  The Sipsey River forms most of the southern border.  The center of the county is 1.4 miles North-Northeast of Carrollton.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Lamar, Fayette, Tuscaloosa, Greene, and Sumter counties and Mississippi. 

The county has an area of 881.4 square miles.  It ranks 18 out of 67 in size.  It ranks 48 out of 67 in population in the state.  It has a density of 21.2 persons per square mile making it 53 out of 67 in the state.  Pickens County has 36.6% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 82 crosses the country from east to west coming from Tuscaloosa County and going into Mississippi.  The county has an overall rectangular shape with the southeast corner being cut off by the river.  Carrollton is at or near the center of the county.  Aliceville is in the southwest quarter of the county.  Carrollton is the county seat and Aliceville is the largest city.  Carrollton is 5.3% of the county population while Aliceville is 11.4% of the county population.