On This Day In Alabama History: Elba Was Incorporated As A Town

By Alabama NewsCenter Staff

April 13, 1853

The town of Elba was incorporated officially. The seat of Coffee County, Elba is located where Whitewater Creek and Pea River join. Originally known as Bridgeville in the early 1830s, the name was changed to Bentonville in 1850 to honor Co. Thomas H. Benton, who fought in the Creek War of 1813-14. Citizens agreed to choose a different name the next year; suggested names were placed in a hat, and Elba, after the island to which Napoleon Bonaparte was exiled, was selected. Elba has suffered many destructive floods in its history, the worst of which, in terms of dollar cost, was March 17, 1990. The Pea River crested at 48 feet, and a broken levee on Whitewater Creek put the entire town under water for four days.

Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama.For more on Alabama’s Bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.

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