Atmore, AL news and local guide

In 1897 the town was renamed for C. P. Atmore, a ticket and passenger agent of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, which linked the town to Mobile. According to one account, residents first meant to call it Carney, but Carney's brother had already given that name to a town nearby, so Carney chose to honor his friend Atmore, who never visited the town. Lumber and turpentine became the mainstays of the economy. Atmore was incorporated on May 9, 1907, got its first telephone company in 1908 and a water system around 1911, and in 1914 a second railroad, the Georgia, Florida and Alabama, connected it to Pensacola and the coal fields of central Alabama. By 1930 Atmore had become the largest city in Escambia County. Atmore is the headquarters of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, the only federally recognized tribe in Alabama, which opened the first of several casinos here in 1985. In 2008 the city annexed state prison land that includes Holman and Fountain correctional facilities. The Atmore Commercial Historic District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Sources Encyclopedia of Alabama: Atmore Wikipedia: Atmore, Alabama