Branchville

Branchville is a town of about 900 in St Clair County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 3.1 mi², all land. The mayor, elected in 2004, is Tom Dixon.

Branchville was originally settled in 1819, and was called The Branch for its location near the headwaters of Kelly Creek. A Branchville Post Office was established in 1834 and the town was incorporated in 1968.

In recent years the city has struggled to balance its budget, running up a deficit of $70,000 by 2004 which has only recently been paid off. With very few commercial businesses in the town, there is barely sufficient tax base to pay for the town's police and fire protection.

In January 2007 a petition was filed in the St Clair County Probate Court of Judge Wallace Wyatt, Jr seeking a referendum on dissolving the town and seeking annexation into Odenville. The city of Moody courted the town as well, and some residents discussed being annexed into Margaret. On April 24, 2007 the town voted 164 to 79 in favor of dissolving itself in order to become part of Odenville.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 825 people, 319 households, and 256 families residing in the town of Branchville. The population density was 269.6/mi². There were 345 housing units at an average density of 112.7/mi². The racial makeup of the town was 97.09% White, 0.36% Black, 1.21% Native American, 0.48% from other races, and 0.85% from two or more races. 1.94% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 319 households out of which 30.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 67.4% were married couples living together, 9.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 19.7% were non-families. 18.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.59 and the average family size was 2.90.

In the town the population was spread out with 25.2% under the age of 18, 5.7% from 18 to 24, 27.9% from 25 to 44, 26.3% from 45 to 64, and 14.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 92.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.6 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $40,438, and the median income for a family was $43,594. Males had a median income of $35,313 versus $32,639 for females. The per capita income for the town was $20,541. About 6.5% of families and 7.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.1% of those under age 18 and 5.3% of those age 65 or over.

References

• Thornton, William (April 25, 2007) "Residents vote to dissolve town, be annexed into Odenville." Birmingham News.
• Thornton, William (January 27, 2007) "Branchville weighs dissolving itself." Birmingham News.
• Foscue, Virginia O. (1989) Place Names in Alabama. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press. ISBN 081730410X
• "Branchville, Alabama." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 28 May 2006, 14:29 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 27 Jan 2007 [1].