Chambers county was created in 1832, and named in honor of Hon. Henry Chambers, of Madison county. It is one of the boundary counties on the east, and is separated from Georgia by the Chattahoochee river. Area of the county 610 square miles.

Population in 1870, 17,562; population in 1880, 23,440. White, 11,364; colored, 12,076.

Tilted Land: 149,283 acres.—Area planted in cotton, 70,934 acres; in corn, 49,306 acres; in oats, 9,258 acres; in wheat, 11,520 acres; in tobacco, 39 acres; in sugar-cane, 211 acres; in sweet potatoes, 1,038 acres.

Cotton Production: 19,476 bales.

The general surface of Chambers is neither mountainous nor level, but is rolling. The northwestern portion is pine land with gray soil. All the remainder of the county, with but little exception, is mulatto soil with red clay subsoil.

Originally these lands were covered with a growth of oak, hickory, chestnut, gum, etc. Professor Tourney, late State Geologist of Alabama, remarked, on one occasion, that there were not forty acres of land in the county on which an industrious man would fail to make a competent support.

Chambers is regarded the best average county in Alabama. The subsoil is of such character that the surface can be made the most productive possible. Nearly every part of the county is susceptible of cultivation, and but little difference exists as to the capacity for productiveness. The land is red, mulatto or gray. The red is better for grain, if no fertilizers are used, and the gray is better suited to the production of cotton. The mulatto-colored lands are best suited to all crops, and mature their crops earlier. While the red lands seem better suited to the growth of grain, a considerable proportion of cotton is raised upon them. These red lands have from the first been selected by farmers, and it rarely occurs that any large areas can now be found which have not been put in cultivation. One finds the palatial mansions of the typical Southern planter of the long ago, embowered in magnificent groves of native oak, situated almost invariably in the midst of these lands.

The timbers of Chambers are mostly of oaks, and nowhere on the continent can more luxuriant groves of red, Spanish, white, and post oaks be seen than upon the red, rolling lands of this county. An occasional belt of yellow or long-leaf pine is found.

The ordinary fruits of this latitude grow in Chambers quite readily, but it seems peculiarly suited to the production of peaches. Professor Eugene A. Smith, the present State Geologist, is reported to have said that Chambers is the most reliable county for the production of peaches that can be found in the United States.

The county is watered chiefly by the Tallapoosa and Chattahoochee rivers and their tributaries.

The mineral resources of the county are, as yet, unknown. Only such specimens are found as favor the conjecture that they exist. This is true of iron ore. Corundum is found in great quantities in Chambers. In the northern part of the county is a beautiful soapstone of gray and blue, which admits of as fine polish as marble. A belt of this beautiful stone extends across the county. It is manufactured into monuments and tombstones. Granite and graphite also exist.

Large mills for grinding com and wheat are found at different points in Chambers. There are two cotton factories in the county, one near West Point, on the Chattahoochee, and the other upon thesame stream, but lower down.

Chambers is favored with three lines of railway—the Western railroad, which is the main line between Montgomery and Atlanta, and the Columbus and Western, and the East Alabama and Ciuciunati railroad, which terminates, at present, in the county.

LaFayette, the county-seat, with a population of 1,500, Bluffton, Cussetta, Fredonia, and Milltown are places of importance and have good educational and religious advantages. There is an admirable system of free schools throughout the entire county. One of the attractive points in Chambers, and one which illustrates the capability of the soils to produce fruit, is the famous Parnell Peach Farm, in the southeastern part of the county. It embraces over one thousand acres of fruit trees. The proprietor gathers much of his delicious fruit as early as the beginning of May, and sends it to remote points, such as New York and Chicago. Fresh and well-matured peaches command almost fabulous prices in these markets at so early a season. The annual income of this fruit farm is immense.

Many hundreds of acres of land are lying idle in this county awaiting the hands of the tiller. Every disposition exists on the part of the residents to induce investors to purchase farms and homes, and settle in their midst. To those thus coming the most reasonable rates will be offered. In some parts of the county, lands may be purchased for $2 per acre, while the best lands will not exceed $10 per acre. Health, climate, superior water, excellent soil, the best social advantages, and a warm welcome are among the inducements presented to immigrants and investors by the people of Chambers county. There are 160 acres of government laud in the county.

Source: Alabama As It Is by Benjamin Franklin Riley, D. D., 1887 , Transcribed by C. Anthony

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