Escambia County, Alabama

Escambia County
Escambia County
U.S. county
	Escambia County Alabama Courthouse
	Location within the U.S. state of Alabama
	Alabama's location within the U.S.
	Coordinates: 31°07′36″N 87°09′44″W / 31.126666666667°N 87.162222222222°W
Country	United States
State	Alabama
Founded	December 10, 1868
Seat	Brewton
Largest city	Atmore
Area
• Total	952.95 sq mi (2,468.1 km2)
• Land	947.38 sq mi (2,453.7 km2)
• Water	5.57 sq mi (14.4 km2) (0.58%)%
Population (2010)
• Total	38,319
• Density	40/sq mi (15.6/km2)

Escambia County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of 2010, 38,319 people lived there. Its county seat is Brewton.

HistoryEdit

Escambia County was formed after the American Civil War, on December 10, 1868. This was during the Reconstruction era. The name "Escambia" may come from the Creek name Shambia, meaning "clearwater",^[1] or the Choctaw word for "cane-brake" or "reed-brake".

In September 1979, the county was declared a disaster area due to damage from Hurricane Frederic, and again in September 2004 due to damage from Hurricane Ivan.

GeographyEdit

According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 952.95 square miles (2,468.1 km²). 947.38 square miles (2,453.7 km²) (or 99.42%) is land and 5.57 square miles (14.4 km²) (or 0.58%) is water.^[2]