Lowndes County, Alabama

Lowndes County is a of the  of. Its name is in honor of William Lowndes, a member of the from. As of the population was 13,473. Its is.

History
Lowndes County, Alabama was established on,.

The county is the site of a rare criminal case. In 1928, Two individuals,, were convicted of murdering a person who was later found alive.

Civil Rights Era
The county was referred to as "Bloody Lowndes," the rusty buckle of Alabama's black belt. In 1965, a full century after the, things hadn't changed much: 86 white families owned 90 percent of the land in the county and controlled the government. Only 70 black residents were registered to vote.

The success of the, though, encouraged leaders to believe they could fight racism even in Bloody Lowndes. "The Lowndes County Freedom Organization" was founded in the county as a new, independent political party designed to help blacks stand up to murder and intimidation.

Organized by the young, dynamic civil rights leader of the  (SNCC), Lowndes residents launched an intensive effort to register blacks to vote in County.

SNCC's plan was simple: get enough people to vote so blacks might control the local government and redirect services to black residents -- 80 percent of whom lived below the poverty line. Carmichael and others organized registration drives, demonstrations, and political education classes in support of the black residents. In 1966, the Lowndes County Freedom Organization -- having adopted the emblem of the in opposition to the white-dominated Alabama Democratic party's   -- entered several local residents as candidates in the county races.

Whites in Lowndes County reacted strongly to the LCFO. In retaliation for civil rights work, white landowners would evict black sharecroppers, leaving many blacks homeless and unemployed. The SNCC and Lowndes County leaders worked to help these families stay together and remain in the county. They bought tents, cots, heaters, food, and water and helped several families build a temporary "tent city". Despite harassment — including shots regularly fired into the encampment — residents persevered for nearly two years as organizers helped them find new jobs and look for permanent housing. Whites also refused to serve known LCFO members in stores and restaurants, while several small riots broke out over the issue. However, the LCFO pushed forward and continued to organize and register voters.

But it wasn't enough. The black candidates were defeated. While their attempt was unsuccessful, the LCFO continued to fight and their goal of democratic, community control of politics spread into the wider civil rights movement.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,878 (725 ). 1,859 km² (718 sq mi) of it is land and 18 km² (7 sq mi) of it (0.98%) is water.

Major Highways

 * [[Image:I-65.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:US 31.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:US 80.svg|20px]]
 * [[image:Alabama 21.svg|20px]]
 * [[image:Alabama 97.svg|20px]]

Adjacent Counties

 * (north)
 * (east)
 * (southeast)
 * (south)
 * (southwest)
 * (west)

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 13,473 people, 4,909 households, and 3,588 families residing in the county. The was 7/km² (19/sq mi). There were 5,801 housing units at an average density of 3/km² (8/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 25.86%, 73.37% or , 0.11% , 0.12% , 0.02% , 0.12% from , and 0.40% from two or more races. 0.63% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 4,909 households out of which 35.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.90% were living together, 25.70% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.90% were non-families. 24.60% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.73 and the average family size was 3.28.

In the county the population was spread out with 30.20% under the age of 18, 9.10% from 18 to 24, 27.10% from 25 to 44, 21.40% from 45 to 64, and 12.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 87.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.90 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $23,050, and the median income for a family was $28,935. Males had a median income of $27,694 versus $20,137 for females. The for the county was $12,457. About 26.60% of families and 31.40% of the population were below the, including 41.70% of those under age 18 and 26.60% of those age 65 or over.