Geneva, Alabama
Posted by: 
hoteltwo
N 31° 01.998 W 085° 51.814
16R E 608456 N 3433846
Erected as one of the "Year of Alabama Small Towns & Downtowns recognition program, this marker notes the history of the small town of Geneva and its many rebirths.
Waymark Code: WM1244D
Location: Alabama, United States
Date Posted: 02/22/2020
Views: 5
Marker text:
Side 1
The town of Geneva was established in the 1820s at the junction of
the Choctawhatchee and Talakahatchee (Pea) Rivers. Henry A. Yonge,
who established an Indian trading post there, named the settlement,
Geneva, for his bride who was a native of Geneva, New York. At
this time, Geneva was part of Dale County. It later became part of
Coffee County. Old town Geneva was closely tied to the
Choctawhatchee River which flows southward to the Choctawhatchee
???. Early navigation of the river was by log barges poled up and
down the river. Soon steamboats were being built in Geneva. By
1845, one of these, the Brooklyn, was on the river. When the Civil
War started, steamboats were regularly plying the river southward.
The peak of river transportation was in the 1880s and 1890s
when thousands of bales of cotton were taken to Caryville, Florida
to the railroads. The coming of the railroads to Geneva County
in the early 1900s ended the era of river transportation.
(Continued on other side)
Side 2
(Continued from other side)
In the spring of 1865, the Lincoln flood destroyed most of the
old town. The decision was made to move to higher ground. The
new town was built on the south end of Commerce Street When a
fire in 1888 destroyed most of those buildings, new construction
began north of this site. The city of Geneva was incorporated in
1871. In December 1868, Geneva County was created from part of
Coffee County with the town of Geneva named as the county
seat. A log cabin located on the new edition of the city cemetery
served as the first courthouse. Later the county offices were
moved to a brick building on this site. In 1899, a new courthouse
was built here. It burned in 1911. A year later a second courthouse
was built and was used until it was torn down in 1965. The
Geneva City Hall now standing on this site was built in 1968.