Editing Lockhart, Alabama

{{Use American English|date=September 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox settlement
|official_name            = Lockhart, Alabama
|settlement_type          = Town
|image_skyline            = 
|imagesize                = 
|image_caption            = 
|image_seal               = 
|image_map                = File:Covington County Alabama Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Lockhart Highlighted 0143816.svg
|mapsize                  = 250px
|map_caption              = Location of Lockhart in Covington County, Alabama.
|image_map1               = 
|mapsize1                 = 
|map_caption1             = 
|subdivision_type         = Country
|subdivision_type1        = State
|subdivision_type2        = [[List of counties in Alabama|County]]
|subdivision_name         = United States
|subdivision_name1        = [[Alabama]]
|subdivision_name2        = [[Covington County, Alabama|Covington]]
|government_type          = 
|leader_title             = 
|leader_name              = 
|established_date         = 
|area_magnitude           = 
|area_total_km2           = 2.92
|area_total_sq_mi         = 1.13
|area_land_km2            = 2.82
|area_land_sq_mi          = 1.09
|area_water_km2           = 0.10
|area_water_sq_mi         = 0.04
|elevation_ft             = 289
|elevation_m              = 88
|population_as_of         = [[2020 United States census|2020]]
|population_footnotes     = 
|population_total         = 445
|population_metro         = 
|population_density_km2   = 157.90
|population_density_sq_mi = 409.01
|timezone                 = [[Central Time Zone (North America)|Central (CST)]]
|utc_offset               = −6
|coordinates              = {{coord|31|0|41|N|86|21|2|W|region:US-AL|display=inline}}
|timezone_DST             = CDT
|utc_offset_DST           = −5
|postal_code_type         = [[ZIP code]]
|postal_code              = 36455
|area_code                = [[Area code 334|334]]
|area_code_type           = [[North American Numbering Plan|Area code]]
|blank_name               = [[Federal Information Processing Standards|FIPS code]]
|blank_info               = 01-43816
|blank1_name              = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
|blank1_info              = 0121944
|footnotes                = 
|website                  = 
|pop_est_as_of = 
|pop_est_footnotes = 
|population_est = 
|unit_pref = Imperial
|area_footnotes = <ref name="CenPopGazetteer2020">{{cite web|title=2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2020_Gazetteer/2020_gaz_place_01.txt|publisher=United States Census Bureau|accessdate=October 29, 2021}}</ref>
}}

'''Lockhart''' is a town in [[Covington County, Alabama]], United States. At the [[2020 United States census|2020 census]], the population was 445.

==Geography==
Lockhart is located in southern Covington County at {{Coord|31|0|41|N|86|21|2|W|type:city}} (31.011435, -86.350652),<ref name="GR1">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/gazetteer-files.html|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|accessdate=April 23, 2011|date=February 12, 2011|title=US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990}}</ref> {{convert|1|mi|0}} north of the [[Florida]] state line. Lockhart is bordered by the town of [[Florala, Alabama|Florala]] to the east.

According to the [[U.S. Census Bureau]], the town has a total area of {{convert|2.9|km2|order=flip}}, of which {{convert|2.8|km2|order=flip}} is land and {{convert|0.1|km2|order=flip|2}}, or 3.53%, is water.<ref name="Census 2010">{{cite web| url=http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/G001/1600000US0143816| archive-url=https://archive.today/20200212163452/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/G001/1600000US0143816| url-status=dead| archive-date=February 12, 2020| title=Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Lockhart town, Alabama| publisher=U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder| accessdate=June 10, 2014}}</ref>

==History==
Lockhart came into being about 1904 when the [[Jackson Lumber Company]] mill was constructed there, the community being a company town. Many streets were named for [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] tribes. The mill was erected to handle the dense forests of [[Pinus palustris|yellow pine]] in what was known as the "Jackson Tract". The town was named for [[Standard Oil]] magnate and [[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]] financier, Charles Lockhart.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://pghbridges.com/articles/biography/lockhart-charles_brilliant.htm|title = Bridges and Tunnels of Allegheny County and Pittsburgh, PA - Charles Lockhart and the Brilliant Refinery}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.southernspaces.org/2013/inside-jackson-tract-battle-over-peonage-labor-camps-southern-alabama-1906|title = Inside the Jackson Tract: The Battle over Peonage Labor Camps in Southern Alabama, 1906}}</ref> In 1912, the mill employed around a thousand workers and ran 24/7. At that time Lockhart was the largest lumber mill in the United States. Flooring for the famous [[Waldorf-Astoria Hotel]] in New York City came from Lockhart.

In 1903 the mill was the center of a [[peonage]] scandal. More than a hundred immigrant laborers recruited in cities in the North were held against their will in a walled compound on the site. Company officials were sentenced to as much as eighteen months in jail when convicted but were able to have their sentences reduced by political friends.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Flynt|first1=Wayne |title=Poor But Proud|date=February 5, 2016 |publisher=University of Alabama Press}}</ref>

The milling facility was served by both the [[Central of Georgia Railroad]] and the [[Louisville and Nashville Railroad]], connecting through nearby [[Florala, Alabama]].<ref>http://www.floralahistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/11-LN-CofGa-Depots-in-Lockhart-AL.21.jpg {{Bare URL image|date=March 2022}}</ref> "The mill, however, closed in 1940, and historical accounts offer two reasons. Military enlistments prior to U.S. entry in World War II caused a labor shortage, or company officials sold their holdings and the land to the residents after cutting all the timber in the area and deciding not to wait for replanted timber to mature. Jackson Lumber Company also donated much land to the state that was replanted and developed by the [[Civilian Conservation Corps]] into [[Geneva State Forest]] in neighboring [[Geneva County, Alabama|Geneva County]]."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-3446|title=Lockhart}}</ref> This land had little value after it had been [[clearcutting|clear cut]], the practice of the time, and being unable to sell the now-deforested acreage during the [[Great Depression]], the company returned it to the state in the 1930s rather than pay taxes on it.<ref name="gsf">{{cite web |title=Geneva State Forest |publisher=Alabama Forestry Commission |url=http://www.forestry.state.al.us/geneva_state_forest.aspx?bv=2&s=8 |accessdate=September 30, 2010}}</ref>

==Demographics==
{{US Census population
|1940= 910
|1950= 819
|1960= 799
|1970= 698
|1980= 547
|1990= 484
|2000= 548
|2010= 516
|2020= 445
|align-fn=center
|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=U.S. Decennial Census|publisher=Census.gov|accessdate=June 6, 2013}}</ref><br />2013 Estimate<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/popest/data/cities/totals/2013/SUB-EST2013-3.html|title=Annual Estimates of the Resident Population: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2013|accessdate=June 3, 2014|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140522161634/http://www.census.gov/popest/data/cities/totals/2013/SUB-EST2013-3.html|archivedate=May 22, 2014}}</ref>
}}
[[File:Lockhart, Alabama post office.jpg|left|thumb|250px|The Lockhart [[post office]] and [[town hall]] share a building at the east end of [[oak tree|oak]]-canopied Seminole Street.]]

As of the [[census]]<ref name="GR2">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|accessdate=January 31, 2008|title=U.S. Census website}}</ref> of 2000, there were 548 people, 229 households, and 147 families residing in the town. The population density was {{convert|504.1|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. There were 264 housing units at an average density of {{convert|242.9|/sqmi|/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. The racial makeup of the town was 74.82% [[Race (United States Census)|White]], 23.91% [[Race (United States Census)|Black]] or [[Race (United States Census)|African American]], 0.36% [[Race (United States Census)|Native American]], 0.36% [[Race (United States Census)|Pacific Islander]], and 0.55% from two or more races. 2.19% of the population were [[Race (United States Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Race (United States Census)|Latino]] of any race.

There were 229 households, out of which 30.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.5% were married couples living together, 11.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.4% were non-families. 33.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 3.01.

In the town, the population was 25.4% under the age of 18, 8.0% from 18 to 24, 24.8% from 25 to 44, 25.4% from 45 to 64, and 16.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.1 males. The median income for a household in the town was $23,281, and the median income for a family was $29,688. Males had a median income of $20,625 versus $18,750 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the town was $14,338. About 17.5% of families and 25.5% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 32.4% of those under age 18 and 22.5% of those age 65 or over.

==Education==
*[[WS Harlan Elementary School]] (1903)

==Notable people==
*[[Charles LeMaistre]], physician and educator
*[[George LeMaistre]], lawyer, banker, professor, and chairman of the [[Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation]].
*[[William March]], author of ''[[The Bad Seed]]'' and World War I novel ''[[Company K]]''. "March" was the maiden name of William's mother, which the writer chose for his pen name rather than his given name William Campbell.
*[[Art White]], former [[offensive lineman]] in the [[National Football League]] for the [[New York Giants]] and [[Chicago Cardinals (NFL, 1920–59)|Chicago Cardinals]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{Coord|display=title|31.011435|-86.350652}}
{{Covington County, Alabama}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Towns in Covington County, Alabama]]
[[Category:Towns in Alabama]]
[[Category:Populated places established in the 1900s]]
[[Category:1900s establishments in Alabama]]