Uniontown, AL
Uniontown, AL was settled in 1818 and incorporated in 1836. Uniontown boasted one of the earliest plank roads (wooden planks) connecting it to Demopolis, and to the Black Warrior river, an important waterway for commerce. Uniontown had a railroad come through in 1857, setting the stage for growth and prosperity. Uniontown fortunes waxed with Cotton Plantations, allowing for a bustling community and two department stores in the downtown. The Uniontown Cotton Oil Company was founded in 1897, manufacturing cotton seed oil and cottonseed meal- the first of its kind in AL. The future looked bright for Uniontown, until the 1920s, when the Cotton Boll Weavil arrived and destroyed the economy, which was entirely based on cotton. Not able to beat the boll weavil, or diversify, the town shrank as plantations shut down and people moved away. In present day, the town survives by having a Catfish manufacturing plant and a hazardous waste landfill. The downtown is now crumbling and falling in.
