On This Day In Alabama History: Dale County Was Established

By Alabama NewsCenter Staff

Dale County, in southeastern Alabama, is home to the largest section of Fort Rucker, the primary U.S. Army flight-training base. Dale County was established by an act of the Alabama Legislature on Dec. 22, 1824. The county was named for Samuel Dale, an early pioneer who led a group of settlers to Alabama. The county seat was originally Daleville but was moved to Newton and finally to Ozark in 1870. The Farm Security Administration bought land in 1936 on the western border of Dale County to create a wilderness reservation. In 1942, that land was transferred to the War Department to use as a training facility for soldiers during World War II and was called Camp Rucker for Confederate Col. Edmund Rucker. Renamed Fort Rucker in 1955, the facility became home to the U.S. Army’s aviation programs. Flight training was consolidated at the base in 1973. The Air Force has also trained its helicopter pilots at the base since 1971. Dale County consists of eight incorporated communities and, according to the 2016 Census, has a population of 49,607.

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