Town of Oak Grove

This article is about the Talladega County municipality. For other uses, see Oak Grove (disambiguation).

Town of Oak Grove
Incorporated	1966
Population	528
Mayor	Tony White
School district	Talladega County Schools
Government	Oak Grove Town Council Oak Grove Fire Department Oak Grove Police Department
Web site	townofoakgrove.org
Locate with Google Maps

The Town of Oak Grove is a town of 528 on 1.8 square miles on both sides of Landers Hill and Merkle Mountain in southern Talladega County, on the outskirts of Sylacauga. It was incorporated in 1966. The mayor is Tony White.

The Town of Oak Grove is accessed on U.S. Highway 280, 40 miles southeast of Birmingham and on U.S. Highway 231 70 miles north of Montgomery. Highway 280, known locally as "the four-lane", and the former Talladega County Road 280 serve as the town's commercial area. Part of old highway 280, toward Childersburg, is called "Gravity Hill Road" for an optical illusion that makes it seem as if cars will coast uphill.

In 1954 Oak Grove resident Ann Hodges was struck by an 8.5-pound fragment of a meteorite that crashed through the roof of her house on Odens Mill Road. The artifact, called the Hodges meteorite, is displayed at the Alabama Museum of Natural History at the University of Alabama.

Former mayor Bloise Zeigler operated a Christmas tree farm in the city until 2009, which provided the state Christmas tree to the Governor's mansion in 2004. Zeigler donated the property to the city for use as the "Comet Grove" community garden.

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.	%±
1970	482	—
1980	638	32.4%
1990	436	-31.7%
2000	457	4.8%
2010	528	15.5%
2014	521	-1.3%

As of the 2000 census, there were 457 people, 178 households, and 124 families residing in the Town of Oak Grove. The population density was 399.4 people per square mile. There were 203 housing units at an average density of 177.4 per square mile. The racial makeup of the town was 97% white.

There were 178 households out of which 32.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.7% were married couples living together, 10.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.8% were non-families. 25.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 2.96.

In the town the population was spread out with 24.5% under the age of 18, 7.4% from 18 to 24, 26.7% from 25 to 44, 26.9% from 45 to 64, and 14.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 87.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 77.8 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $28,625, and the median income for a family was $29,625. Males had a median income of $29,417 versus $19,375 for females. The per capita income for the town was $12,865. About 10.4% of families and 15.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.0% of those under age 18 and 21.8% of those age 65 or over.

Notable residents

• Skinny Graham, baseball pitcher
• Ann Hodges, struck by a meteorite
• Jim Zeigler, Alabama Public Service Commission

References

• "Oak Grove, Alabama (March 11, 2016) Wikipedia - accessed June 21, 2016

External links

• Town of Oak Grove website