Belgreen, Alabama
| Belgreen, Alabama | |
|---|---|
| Census-designated place | |
 Belgreen
|
|
| Coordinates: 34°28′29″N 87°51′59″W / 34.47472°N 87.86639°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Alabama |
| County | Franklin |
| Area | |
| • Total | 1.234 sq mi (3.20 km2) |
| • Land | 1.228 sq mi (3.18 km2) |
| • Water | 0.006 sq mi (0.02 km2) |
| Elevation | 807 ft (246 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 129 |
| • Density | 100/sq mi (40/km2) |
| Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| ZIP code | 35653 |
| Area code(s) | 256 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0154979 |
Belgreen is a census-designated place and unincorporated community in Franklin County, Alabama, United States, located west of Russellville and around east of Red Bay on Alabama Highway 24. As of the 2010 census, its population was 129. Belgreen is a small district, composed of a condensed area of residency, the school, a small gas station, and a recently added car wash.
Belgreen was listed on the 1880 U.S. Census at the time it served as Franklin County Seat. It did not appear again until 2010 when it was listed as a Census Designated Place or CDP.
Belgreen was the county seat of Franklin County between 1878 and 1891. A post office was established in 1879, but it was later closed. The Franklin County Career Technical Center is now located on the site where the county courthouse and jail once stood. Due to this, the road between the Career Technical Center and the Science Hall of Belgreen High School is named Jail Springs Road. The courthouse and jail existed on this site after the county seat was moved from Frankfort, which is approximately ten miles north of Belgreen. The courthouse complex existed on the current grounds of the Career Technical Center until it burned and was eventually moved to Russellville.
Another interesting note is that the building that now exists as part of the After-School program at Belgreen High School was once a canning plant, one of the many businesses that once existed in Belgreen. Other business also included a second gas station and country store at the beginning of Highway 49, as well as a barber shop at the four way intersection.
Any description of Belgreen would be incomplete without a given history of Belgreen High School, which has existed just south of Alabama Highway 24 for over sixty years.
The story of the naming of Belgreen tells of a young lawyer (who would later become a Franklin County Probate Judge) named Richard S. Watkins. Watkins named the town of Belgreen for a young lady named Belle, whom he was courting at the time. Other sources suggest the name was a purely subjective description of the local geography, constructed from the French word "bel", an adjective meaning "beautiful", and "green". At first, the name was spelled "Bellegreen." The spelling was changed over the years to Bellgreen and later to Belgreen as it is today. Another story recounts that a man named Abner Judd named the town for the beautiful woods and green hillsides in the area.
...
Wikipedia