Welcome to Linden
About Us
The Alabama Territorial Legislature established Marengo County in 1818. The "Town of Marengo" was then surveyed near the center of the county to serve as
county seat. In 1824 lots were sold, and early French immigrants named the town Hohenlinden for Napoleon’s victory in Bavaria in 1800. Everyday usage shortened
the name to Linden.
Lodging houses, stores, homes and churches surrounded a two-story log courthouse built
in 1827. While courts were in session, the town became so rowdy that it earned the unofficial name of "Screamersville." During the 1840’s Linden had 160 residents, a wooden jail, two small stores and a barbershop. In 1848 the log courthouse burned, and the
brick, federal style courthouse was built on the main thoroughfare of Cahaba Avenue. A stagecoach regularly passed through town en route from Mobile to Huntsville.
"The Linden Jeffersonian" newspaper began publication
in 1853; "The Democrat Reporter" weekly newspaper has served the surrounding area since 1879. The City of Linden, incorporated March 1, 1870, remained the
county seat except for a few months during Reconstruction. Citizens witnessed a gun fight between Deputy Sheriff Jeff "Dixie" Carter and notorious train
robber Rube Burrows in front of the courthouse in 1890.-->
The Louisville and Nashville Railroad track, nine-tenths of a mile south of "old town," was completed in 1902. A "new town" grew near the depot as businesses
relocated to serve railroad customers.
Linden’s "middle town" grew near a Gothic style courthouse constructed in 1903 at the corner of Main Street and Coats Avenue. That courthouse with its chiming clock tower was destroyed by fire and replaced in 1968 by a new structure built on the same
site. This area continues to be the Linden Downtown Business District, and center for county government services into the twenty-first century.
"The History of Linden"
~Provided by the Linden Historical Society
Notable Natives
* Ralph Abernathy, civil rights leader
* Roy Rogers, professional basketball player and coach
* Lucy Hannah, fourth oldest person, oldest American
at her death, second oldest American, and oldest verified
African American
*William J. Alston, United States Representative to the Thirty-first Congress
Notable Non-natives
*Rube Burrow
Main Source for names: Wikipedia
