Geneva, Alabama

Geneva, Alabama. . , The town of Geneva was established in the 1820s at the junction of the Choctawhatchee and Talakahatchee (Pea) Rivers. Henry A. Yonge, who established an Indian trading post there, named the settlement, Geneva, for his bride who was a native of Geneva, New York. At this time, Geneva was part of Dale County. It later became part of Coffee County. Old town Geneva was closely tied to the Choctawhatchee River which flows southward to the Choctawhatchee Вау. Early navigation of the river was by log barges poled up and down the river. Soon steamboats were being built in Geneva. By 1845, one of these, the Brooklyn, was on the river. When the Civil War started, steamboats were regularly plying the river southward. The peak of river transportation was in the 1880s and 1890s when thousands of bales of cotton were taken to Caryville, Florida to the railroads. The coming of the railroads to Geneva County in the early 1900s ended the era of river transportation. , In the spring of 1865, the Lincoln flood destroyed most of the old town. The decision was made to move to higher ground. The new town was built on the south end of Commerce Street When a fire in 1888 destroyed most of those buildings, new construction began north of this site. The city of Geneva was incorporated in 1871. In December 1868, Geneva County was created from part of Coffee County with the town of Geneva named as the county seat. A log cabin located on the new edition of the city cemetery served as the first courthouse. Later the county offices were moved to a brick building on this site. In 1899, a new courthouse was built here. It burned in 1911. A year later a second courthouse was built and was used until it was torn down in 1965. The Geneva City Hall now standing on this site was built in 1968.