County of town hall: Etowah County
Location of town hall: Gadsden Blountsville Rd. & Murphree Valley Rd., Walnut Grove
Phone: (205) 589-2553
'Walnut Grove is a town in Etowah County, Alabama, United States. It is part of the Gadsden Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the 2000 census the population was 710.
"Walnut Grove was located in Blount County before it was included in Baines County (now Etowah) in 1866. Walnut Grove was settled by the Murphree family (namesake of the entire Murphree Valley where the town is located) in 1813, the Morton family, and the Carnes family (namesake of the Carnes Chapel area near the ghost town of Bennettsville off of US 278) in 1823. Around 1825, the town was known as Thomas Crossroads, named after landowner Jordan D. Thomas. In 1848, the town was named Cornelius, after postmaster Harvey Cornelius. In 1849, it was renamed Walnut Grove.[1] Walnut Grove was burned during the Civil War. The first college preparatory school for males and females in northeast Alabama was established by act of Legislature in 1884. The Walnut Grove College ran for 15 years, and during the college's peak, the town had grown to have 13 stores, including a drug store with a soda fountain. The Walnut Grove College closed in 1899 as high schools were being established in Etowah County. The town was incorporated in 1886, with Colonel W.T Murphree as the first mayor. In 1917, the finest grade of magnesium was discovered near Silver Gap at Red Mountain. The magnesium was mined and refined by Bessemer Mills in Birmingham, and Eastman Corporation in Kingsport, Tennessee in the 1930s and 1940s." ~ Wikipedia