The Butler County
Historical & Genealogical Society, Inc. |
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![]() Robert Newton family |
| ![]() Perdue sisters, 1950: "It was a good year."
Melba & Edna in front, Jeanette & Zelna leaning on car. |
BCHGS
Membership / Publications Available
/ Library Research Room Butler County Beginnings (county history, biographies, family stories & photos, other data) |
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Butler County is a county older than the state of Alabama. We were created
on December 13, 1819 – one day before Alabama became a state. Our first
county seat was at Fort Dale, where a large pioneer community grew into existence
around the fort built by Capt. Sam Dale in spring 1818 near the Federal Road.
Fort Dale was the site of Butler County's first school, first church and
first Masonic lodge. It was one of our first voting precincts, and the first
court session in the county was held under the trees around the fort. In
1822, the county seat was moved to Greenville (originally called "Butlerville"),
where it remains today.
The Butler County courthouse burned in April 1853, but our Historical Society has collected a vast amount of records to bridge the gap caused by this unfortunate occurence. There ARE many surviving records before 1853 – just ask us! |
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THE BUTLER COUNTY BICENTENNIAL CELBRATION on NOVEMBER 2nd, 2019 was an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime event! |
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![]() Alabama's Bicentennial Celebration
was amazing! Saturday, December 14th, 2019 was a fantastic day, filled with
great history, heritage and happenings. We hope you participated in some
part of it!
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"A
Taste of Butler County, Alabama: Treasured
Family Recipes of the Butler County Historical
Society" is our cookbook published to celebrate
the Society's 40th anniversary. Reprinted again and again, it's filled
with over 250 pages of wonderful family photos,
heirloom recipes and priceless stories and
memories. Only $12 plus $3 shipping per copy! Send your
check or money order for $15
per book to:
BCHGS
COOKBOOK, P. O. Box 561, Greenville, AL 36037
Featured
on the cookbook cover is a 1904 photograph of the
Stringer family of northeastern Butler County:
Josiah Hope Stringer (1867-1931) and wife Nancy
Elizabeth Thornton (1870-1946) with 11 of their 13
children.
HISTORIC NOTECARDS are also available: 12 cards & envelopes $10.00, or 6 cards & envelopes $5.00, plus shipping cost (depending on amount ordered). Assorted subjects: people and places of Butler County. ![]() ![]() The Palings (left) was an inn and stagecoach stop that operated at Fort Dale from about 1818 until the mid-19th century, first as a log cabin and later as a plantation-style dwelling. Its last main building, pictured above, burned to the ground in 1953 (photo courtesy of the Alabama Department of Archives & History). James and Charlotte Phelps had their family photograph taken about 1900-1905 on the front porch of their log cabin (right). The pioneer Phelps home was built of huge squared logs cut from original-growth pine timber, with a later clapboard addition. |
(and what does it do)? |
The
Butler County Historical & Genealogical Society is
a nonprofit organization established in 1964 in
Greenville, Alabama (the county seat), with
58 charter members. Everyone interested in the history
of the county and
its families was invited to participate. Founding members worked hard on important preservation projects: surveying cemeteries, transcribing early county documents, censuses, family bibles, diaries and letters, visiting elderly residents and writing their stories, and more. The community continues to benefit from these volunteer efforts today as The Butler County Historical and Genealogical Society provides information and research opportunities to members and the public. Visitors may explore their heritage at the BCHGS research room in Greenville or from a distance through the Society’s many publications. |
![]() with his Indian motorcycle. |
The Butler County Historical and Genealogical Society today is one of the largest genealogical groups in Alabama. We have several hundred members as individuals and organizations, not only in Alabama and neighboring states of Georgia, Florida, Mississippi and Tennessee, but all over the United States: Texas, Louisiana, North and South Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Arizona, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, California, Maryland, New Jersey, Washington, New Mexico, Arkansas, Wisconsin, Indiana. |
![]() The Butler County Historical &
Genealogical Society, Inc.
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Copyright 2019-2020 by The Butler County Historical &
Genealogical Society, Inc.
Web page maintained by Annie Crenshaw
[Note: If the copyright date on this page is not current,
please inquire by phone, letter or email for updated
information.]