Chilton County, Alabama

Chilton County
Chilton County
U.S. county
	Chilton County Courthouse in Clanton, Alabama
	Location within the U.S. state of Alabama
	Alabama's location within the U.S.
	Coordinates: 32°50′43″N 86°42′52″W / 32.8453°N 86.7144°W
Country	United States
State	Alabama
Founded	December 30, 1868
Seat	Clanton
Largest city	Calera
Area
• Total	700.76 sq mi (1,815.0 km2)
• Land	693.98 sq mi (1,797.4 km2)
• Water	6.78 sq mi (17.6 km2) (0.97%)%
Population (2010)
• Total	43,643
• Density	63/sq mi (24/km2)

Chilton County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama. In 1942, the U.S. Navy commissioned a new vessel, the USS Chilton, in honor of Chilton County. In 2010, the population was 43,643. The county seat is Clanton. It is a dry county which means alcoholic drinks cannot be sold.

The county is known for its peaches and its unique landscape. It is home to swamps, prairies and mountains due to the foothills of the Appalachians. It also has the Coosa River basin and is close to the Black Belt Prairie.

HistoryEdit

Baker County was formed on December 30, 1868. It was named for Alfred Baker, with its county seat at Grantville. Residents of the county asked the Alabama legislature for the renaming of their county. In 1874, they chose the name Chilton County. William Parish Chilton, Sr. (1810–1871), was a lawyer who became Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court. Later he represented Montgomery County in the Congress of the Confederate States of America. It is not known when the county seat was moved.

GeographyEdit

According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 700.76 square miles (1,815.0 km²). 693.98 square miles (1,797.4 km²) (or 99.03%) is land and 6.78 square miles (17.6 km²) (or 0.97%) is water.^[1]