About Centre, Alabama

Cherokee was one of three counties formed after the Cherokees ceded most of their territory in the 1835 Treaty of New Echota. The original county seat was located in 1836 at a town called Jefferson (changed to Cedar Bluff in 1842 to avoid duplicating the name of another Alabama town) on the north shore of the Coosa River. A small log building was constructed there for a courthouse. Originally the location of a Cherokee settlement known as Turkey Town or Turkeytown, Centre became the county seat in 1844 when county residents voted to move the seat to a more central location. Several sources cite 1884 as the year when Centre became the county seat, but the most detailed sources available state that it occurred in 1844. A brick courthouse was constructed in 1849. Centre has several buildings on the Alabama Register of Historic Places, including the Bradford-West House, Jordans Old Place, Pratt Park, and the Savage-Campbell House. The Cherokee County Historical Museum displays Native American artefacts, military memorabilia from the Civil War to the present, and farming implements, and has an art collection. Ethel Morrison Memorial Park provides outdoor space. Centre’s proximity to Weiss Lake on the Coosa River, approximately five miles north, provides numerous outdoor activities. The lake is known for its crappie fishing, but it also supports numerous species of bass, catfish, sunfish, bluegill, and drum.