Demopolis, Alabama (City of the People)
Demopolis, Alabama is where the “City of the People” and two rivers meet. Demopolis is located on the white bluffs just below where the Tombigbee River and Black Warrior River come together. It was founded by a group of political exiles who had been banished from France following the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte. This group reached the White Bluffs (the present site of Demopolis) on July 14, 1817 and established the “Vine and Olive Colony”. Their plan was to develop an agricultural settlement that grew wine grapes and olive trees. Their attempts failed and after a few years the settlements were practically abandoned by the French refugees. These French settlers are responsible for naming Demopolis. This is a Greek word that means the people’s city (demo: people and polis: city), thus the origin of the term “City of the People”.
Today, Demopolis is the largest city in Marengo County – population 7540 according to the 2000 census. Demopolis has something to offer everybody. It is located on beautiful Demopolis Lake which is the largest lake in the Black Warrior-Tombigbee system. The lake extends 48 miles upriver on the Black Warrior, 53 miles up the Tombigbee and covers 10,000 acres. There is a beautiful U. S. Army Corp of Engineers’ campground and a large, full service yacht marina located in Demopolis on the lake. The Demopolis area has many historic homes, churches and businesses. There are antebellum mansions available for touring that provide a snapshot of life in earlier times. Additionally, Demopolis’s historic downtown district has a beautiful one square block park that is one of the oldest parks in Alabama.
Below are details about some of the sites that you will find in Demopolis:
Ashe Cottage at Demopolis, AL (built ca. 1832 & remodeled 1858; listed on the NRHP and ARLH)
Ashe Cottage, also known as the Ely House, is a historic Carpenter Gothic house in Demopolis. It was built circa 1832 and expanded and remodeled in the Gothic Revival style in 1858 by William Cincinnatus Ashe, a physician from North Carolina. The cotta …
learn moreBluff Hall at Demopolis, AL (built 1832 & modified 1840s; recorded in HABS; listed on the NRHP)
Bluff Hall is located atop a limestone cliff overlooking the Tombigbee River in Demopolis. The house was built in 1832 by Allen Glover for his daughter, Sarah Serena Glover, and her husband, Francis Strother Lyon. The Lyons used Bluff Hall as a townhou …
learn moreCurtis House at Demopolis, AL (ca. 1840; listed on the NRHP)
The Curtis House, also known as the Howze-Culpepper House, was built circa 1840 by Samuel Curtis, a Revolutionary War veteran who was born in Queen Anne’s County, Maryland in 1751 and died in Marengo County, Alabama in 1846. The house was built in the …
learn moreDemopolis, AL Yacht Basin
The Demopolis Yacht Basin is a full service marina at Demopolis, AL on the Tennessee-Tombigbee waterway. It has in-water and dry storage for boats and an on-site restaurant and motel. The Demopolis Yacht Basin is located beside Highway 43 on the nort …
learn moreDemopolis, Alabama 36732 Post Office (building completed 1912, listed on the NRHP)
The first official post office to serve the present city of Demopolis was designated Aigleville (literally translated as Eagle Town), the village of French emigrants. It was located on the southeastern edge of Demopolis. This post office was short live …
learn moreFirst Presbyterian Church at Demopolis, AL (established 1839; built first church building in 1843 – Rooster Hall on the Public Square; built present church in 1869)
The First Presbyterian Church in Demopolis was organized by the Tuscaloosa Presbytery on November 1, 1839 with nine members. The congregation erected a brick church building on the northeast corner of the Demopolis Public Square in 1843. This building …
learn moreFirst United Methodist Church at Demopolis, AL (built 1895-1897)
The exact date of the founding of the Demopolis Methodist Church is not known. However, the circuit riders of the Marengo Circuit (1826-1840) were active in the area, often preaching in the old log assembly building that stood then in the Public Squar …
learn moreFoscue Creek Park at Demopolis, AL (a beautiful park managed by the U. S. Army Corp of Engineers)
Foscue Creek Park is located at Demopolis, AL on the forested lake shore of Demopolis Lake, the largest lake on the Black Warrior-Tombigbee Waterway. This beautiful park is managed by the U. S. Army Corp of Engineers. The facility has both a day-use ar …
learn moreFoscue House at Demopolis, AL (built 1840; listed on the NRHP; building now serves as a restaurant)
This house was built in 1840 for Augustus Foscue, a North Carolina native who owned more than 3,000 acres and 137 slaves in Marengo County by 1850. The original construction date is worked into orange-hued brick on south side chimney. The brown-hued br …
learn moreGaineswood at Demopolis, AL (constructed 1843-1861; recorded in HABS; listed on the NRHP)
Constructed over an 18 year period (1843-1861), Gaineswood evolved from a two-room “dogtrot” cabin into a Greek Revival style mansion. General Nathan Bryan Whitfield, the builder, was his own architect, though he had no formal training. The labor was …
learn moreGlover Mausoleum at Demopolis, AL (built 1841-1845, recorded in HABS & listed on the NRHP, contains 30 burial vaults)
The Greek Revival mausoleum was built between 1841 and 1845 on a chalk bluff overlooking the Tombigbee River, southwest of Demopolis. It was built by Mary Anne Glover, second wife of Allen Glover. Allen Glover died in 1840 and was initially buried else …
learn moreJohn C. Webb Home at Demopolis, AL (built pre-1878; listed on the NRHP)
In 1878, John C. Webb purchased this block of land and house, believed to have been built after 1869. An early photograph shows an Italianate style house. Over the years, this home has been remodeled several times. Today, the house is a mixture of Quee …
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