Editing Wedowee, Alabama (section)

==History==
Wedowee, which means "old water" in the [[Creek people|Creek]] language, was named after a Muscogee Creek Indian chief. This area was historically occupied by the [[Muscogee Creek people]].

Following [[Indian Removal]] of the Creek in the 1830s to [[Indian Territory]] west of the Mississippi River by the US government, this area was settled by European Americans. The town of Wedowee was designated as the county seat of [[Randolph County, Alabama|Randolph County]] in 1835. The county was developed for the cultivation of cotton as a commodity crop, with labor primarily done by enslaved African Americans, many of whom had been sold to the Deep South from the Upper South in the domestic slave trade.

Since the late 20th century, [[Lake Wedowee]] was created by the impoundment of the [[Tallapoosa River]]. This has enhanced the tourist drawing power of the town. Also known as the [[Lake Wedowee|R. L. Harris Reservoir]], the lake draws thousands of visitors to Wedowee every year.
<ref name="Wedowee">{{Citation | title = Small Town Historic Markers | publisher = Alabama Tourism Department | url = http://www.alabama.travel/homecoming/ | access-date = February 2, 2011 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110203101446/http://www.alabama.travel/homecoming/ | archive-date = February 3, 2011 }}</ref>