History

The City of Aliceville was founded in 1902 when John T. Cochrane extended his Carrollton Short Line Railroad into the rich farmland in southern Pickens County.  Before it, the large cotton growers shipped their cotton crops to market on Tombigbee River steamboats.  Aliceville grew where the railroad line ended.  Soon there were several businesses, a bank, two cotton gins and several mercantile stores.  Churches and families living in outlying areas moved into the new town.

In the 1930’s, cotton took on a new importance to the community’s economy when a cotton mill was begun in Aliceville.  The mill served as Aliceville’s largest employer for over seven decades.

In the 1940’s, when World War II called many local men into military service, the cotton gin brought an economic boost.  The U.S. War Department selected Aliceville as a site for a prisoner of war camp with the intent of using POW’s to supplement the labor force that had been called into military service.  Between 1942 and 1945, more than 6,100 German POW’s were interned in Camp Aliceville, with more than 1,200 Army and civilian support personnel. 

Today, Aliceville’s economy remains dependent on farming and the forest products industry.  The City of Aliceville has a population of 2,900 and is the largest city in Pickens County.