Sand Mountain (Alabama)

Sand Mountain
Plateau
Sand Mountain in Alabama
Country	United States
Regions	Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee
Part of	Appalachian Mountains
Geology	Sandstone

Sand Mountain is a sandstone plateau in northeastern Alabama and (to a far lesser extent) northwestern Georgia. It is part of the southern tip of the Appalachian mountain chain and it is the largest plateau in the chain. Geologically a continuation of Walden Ridge, Sand Mountain is part of the Cumberland Plateau, separated from the main portion of the plateau by the Tennessee River and Sequatchie Valley. The average elevation on Sand Mountain is around 1,500 feet (460 m) above sea level, compared to about 650 feet (200 m) in the surrounding area. This elevation leads to its having the coolest climate in the state of Alabama. The largest city on Sand Mountain is Albertville, in Marshall County. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city was 21,160.

Sand Mountain runs in a diagonal northeast-southwest direction from the northeastern corner of Alabama, and includes parts of Jackson, DeKalb, Marshall, Etowah and Blount counties in Alabama, as well as part of Dade County, Georgia.

Sand Mountain, especially the northern end, i.e. eastern Jackson County and northern DeKalb County, is mostly a rural, agricultural area, with a mix of chicken, cow, and potato farms, as well as other assorted farms, and large expanses of both rolling pastures and forests. It contains many small towns (less than 1,000 people) and unincorporated communities.

The Sand Mountain area has been inhabited for at least 9,000 years, as evidenced by archaeological finds at nearby Russell Cave National Monument, near Bridgeport, Alabama. In historical times, Cherokee and Creek villages were located in the Tennessee Valley to the west of Sand Mountain, and in Wills Valley to the east. Sequoyah, creator of the Cherokee syllabary, lived in the Cherokee village of Wills Town, near present-day Fort Payne in Wills Valley.