Benton County was established on December 18, 1832, named forThomas Hart Benton, a member of theUnited States Senate fromMissouri. Itscounty seat wasJacksonville. Benton, an enslaver, was a political ally ofJohn C. Calhoun, a U.S. senator fromSouth Carolina, and also a slaveholder and planter. Through the 1820s-1840s, however, Benton's and Calhoun's political interests diverged. Calhoun was increasingly interested in using the threat ofsecession as a weapon to maintain and expandslavery throughout the United States. Benton, on the other hand, was slowly concluding that slavery was wrong and that the preservation of the union was paramount. On January 29, 1858,[3] Alabama supporters of slavery, objecting to Benton's change of heart, renamed Benton County asCalhoun County.
During theReconstruction era and widespread violence by whites to suppress black and white Republican voting in the state during the campaign for the 1870 gubernatorial election, four blacks and one white werelynched.[4]
After years of controversy and a State Supreme Court ruling in June 1900, the county seat was moved to Anniston.
The county was hit by an F4 tornado during the1994 Palm Sunday tornado outbreak on March 27, 1994. Twelve minutes after theNational Weather Service ofBirmingham issued a tornado warning for northern Calhoun, southeastern Etowah, and southern Cherokee counties, the tornado destroyedPiedmont's Goshen United Methodist Church.
According to theUnited States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 612 square miles (1,590 km2), of which 606 square miles (1,570 km2) is land and 6.4 square miles (17 km2) (1.0%) is water.[5]
Calhoun County, Alabama – Racial and ethnic composition Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.
As of thecensus[14] of 2010, there were 118,572 people, 47,331 households, and 31,609 families residing in the county. Thepopulation density was 194 people per square mile (75 people/km2). There were 53,289 housing units at an average density of 87 units per square mile (34 units/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 74.9%White, 20.6%Black orAfrican American, 0.5%Native American, 0.7%Asian, 0.1%Pacific Islander, 1.6% fromother races, and 1.7% from two or more races. 3.3% of the population wereHispanic orLatino of any race.
There were 47,331 households, out of which 26.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.8% weremarried couples living together, 15.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.2% were non-families. 27.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 2.97.
In the county, the population was spread out, with 22.9% under the age of 18, 10.9% from 18 to 24, 24.8% from 25 to 44, 27.1% from 45 to 64, and 14.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38.2 years. For every 100 females there were 93.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.8 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $38,407, and the median income for a family was $49,532. Males had a median income of $41,599 versus $29,756 for females. Theper capita income for the county was $20,574. About 15.2% of families and 19.5% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 26.8% of those under age 18 and 10.9% of those age 65 or over.
Calhoun County contains fivepublic school districts. There are approximately 17,000 students in public K-12 schools in Calhoun County.[15] Public school districts are not conterminous with the county boundary.
The last Democrat to win a majority in the county wasJimmy Carter in1976. In2016 and2020, RepublicanDonald Trump won more than two-thirds of the county's vote.
United States presidential election results for Calhoun County, Alabama[17]
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