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Clarke County, Alabama
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==History== ===Pre-European era=== For thousands of years, this area was occupied along the rivers by varying cultures of [[indigenous peoples]]. At the time of European encounter, Clarke County was the traditional home of the [[Choctaw]] and the [[Creek people]]. They traded with the French, who had settlements in Mobile and New Orleans. They also were reached by some English and Scots traders from the British colonies along the Atlantic Coast. After the [[Louisiana Purchase]], they started to establish relations with the United States. In 1805, by the [[Treaty of Mount Dexter]], the Choctaw conveyed large amounts of land in what is now southeastern [[Mississippi]] and southwestern [[Alabama]], including much of the western portion of Clarke County, to the United States for settlement by European Americans.<ref name=Finlay>{{cite journal|last=Finlay|first=Louis M. Jr.|title=The Mitchell Reserve|journal=Clarke County Historical Society Quarterly|date=Summer 2000|volume=25|issue=1|pages=9}}</ref> ===Modern era=== Clarke County was established on December 10, 1812, by the [[Mississippi Territory]]. The county had numerous forts, built by settlers for protection during the [[Creek War]] (1813β1814). Some of these forts included: [[Fort Carney]], [[Fort Easley]], [[Fort Glass]], [[Fort Landrum]], [[Fort Madison]], [[Fort Sinquefield]], [[Turner's Fort]], and [[Fort White (Alabama)|Fort White]].<ref name="cchm">{{cite web |url=https://www.clarkemuseum.com/html/creek_war_forts.html |title=Creek War Forts (1813-1814) |access-date=October 22, 2021 |work=Clarke County Historical Museum }}</ref> The first [[county seat]] was [[Clarkesville, Alabama|Clarkesville]], founded in 1820. The seat was moved to Macon, later renamed Grove Hill, in 1831. In 1883, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the conviction of Tony Pace and Mary Cox for [[interracial dating]], in ''[[Pace v. Alabama]]''. That precedent was subsequently overturned. In 1892, Clarke County was the scene of a violent confrontation around economic divides that later became known as the [[Mitcham War]].<ref name=Encyclopedia>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Mitcham War|url=http://encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-3209|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopedia of Alabama]]|access-date=August 6, 2012}}</ref> ===Alcohol prohibition=== Following the national [[repeal of prohibition]] in 1933, Clarke County voted to become a [[dry county]] in 1937, when wet-dry counties were established in Alabama.<ref name="southalabamian">{{cite news |title='Yes' to Jackson alcohol sales |author=Evan Carden |url=http://www.southalabamian.com/news/2005-05-12/Front_Page/001.html |newspaper=The South Alabamian |date=May 12, 2005 |access-date=July 24, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928012018/http://www.southalabamian.com/news/2005-05-12/Front_Page/001.html |archive-date=September 28, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In the first decade of the 21st century, the county's largest communities voted to legalize alcohol sales: [[Jackson, Alabama|Jackson]] on May 10, 2005; [[Thomasville, Alabama|Thomasville]] on August 14, 2007; and [[Grove Hill, Alabama|Grove Hill]] on November 3, 2009.<ref name="southalabamian"/><ref>{{cite news |title=Thomasville goes wet |author=Arthur McLean |url=http://www.thethomasvilletimes.com/news/2007-08-16/front_page/001.html |newspaper=The Thomasville Times |date=August 16, 2007 |access-date=July 24, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929182549/http://www.thethomasvilletimes.com/news/2007-08-16/front_page/001.html |archive-date=September 29, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Voters in Grove Hill approve sale of alcohol inside city |author=Connie Baggett |url=http://blog.al.com/live/2009/11/voters_in_grove_hill_approve_s.html |newspaper=Press-Register |date=November 3, 2009 |access-date=July 24, 2011}}</ref> ===Salt production=== Clarke County is home to numerous [[brine spring|salt springs]]. These springs have been used as a source for salt as early as the [[Mississippian period]] in 1100 AD.<ref name=salt>{{cite journal |last1=Dumas |first1=Ashley A. |editor1-last=Alexianu |editor1-first=Marius |editor2-last=CurcΔ |editor2-first=Roxana-Gabriela |editor3-last=Weller |editor3-first=Olivier |editor4-last=Dumas |editor4-first=Ashley A. |title=Recent Archaeology of Salt in Southeastern North America |journal=Mirrors of Salt: Proceedings of the First International Congress on the Anthropology of Salt |date=August 2015 |doi=10.32028/9781784914561 |url=https://www.archaeopress.com/Archaeopress/Products/9781784914561 |page=155 |doi-access=free }}</ref> During the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], the county was notable for its salt production due to the naval blockade of southern ports.<ref name="CLRKHST"/> The Commissioner's Court of Clarke County appropriated $1500 in 1862 for the manufacturing of salt at the salt springs and the State of Alabama operated multiple salt works during the Civil War.<ref name=NRHP>{{cite web |url=https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/64500005_text |title=National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation Form |publisher=Department of the Interior |format= |accessdate=September 19, 2023}}</ref> These salt works had housing for workers, hospitals, and cemeteries and the salt was produced for military and civilian use.<ref name=salt/> Forts were built at Oven Bluff (Fort Sidney Johnston) and Carney Bluff (Fort Gullett) to protect the salt works and the approach up the Tombigbee River while an additional fort was built at Choctaw Bluff ([[Fort Stonewall]]) to protect any advance up the Alabama River.<ref name=NRHP/>
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