Alabama is an interesting state when it comes to county histories. The vast majority in this list one would expect to be under copyright protection, but they can be accessed on FamilySearch. Very few of Alabama’s county histories can be found on Internet Archive or Hathitrust.

FAQ

1. While every county in the state is listed, links are only provided for titles that no longer fall under U.S. copyright laws. All (almost) links connect to free websites.
2. There are a few instances when a book has been digitized, but is only found on a paid site. In that case, no link is inserted, but a note as to the website where it has been found is given.
3. When a state history has also been found in digital format, it is listed in the STATE section that precedes the county list. I have limited STATE entries to those with county histories/biographical volumes in them.
4. There are a number of counties that DO have histories written, BUT they remain copyrighted material. Therefore, if a county has NONE after its name, it doesn’t mean there is no county history, just that none has been digitized. It’s also possible that the only digitized county history is included in one of the state volumes, so be sure to check those entries.
5. If the book is on FamilySearch, you will need a free account to access it. This list does NOT include town histories.
6. When all fifty states have been completed, I will post a PDF of them all.
7. One last note – it is very possible that a book is digitally available on more than one website. I’ve only included links to one site per book.

ALABAMA

 STATE – 1862 Alabama, salt list: Autauga, Butler, Choctaw, Conecuh, Coosa, Monroe, Montgomery, Tallapoosa, Sherry Harris, Oldbuck Press, Inc., Conway, Arkansas, n.d.
STATE – Early settlers of Alabama, James Edmonds Saunders, L. Graham, New Orleans, 1899.
STATE – History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography, Volume 1, Thomas McAdory Owen & Marie Bankhead Owen, S.J.Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois, 1921.
STATE – History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography, Volume 2, Thomas McAdory Owen & Marie Bankhead Owen, S.J.Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois, 1921.
STATE – History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography, Volume 3, Thomas McAdory Owen & Marie Bankhead Owen, S.J.Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois, 1921.
STATE – History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography, Volume 4, Thomas McAdory Owen & Marie Bankhead Owen, S.J.Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois, 1921.
STATE – Makers and romance of Alabama history: embracing sketches of the men who have been largely instrumental in shaping the policies and in molding the conditions in rapid growth of Alabama, together with the thrilling and romantic scenes with which our history is resplendent, Benjamin Franklin Riley, 1914.
STATE – Memorial record of Alabama: a concise account of the state’s political, military, professional and industrial progress, together with the personal memoirs of many of its people, Brant & Fuller, Madison, Wisconsin, 1893.
STATE – Northern Alabama, historical and biographical, Smith & De Land, Birmingham, Alabama, 1888.
STATE – Studies in southern and Alabama history: papers, Alabama Historical Society, Montgomery, Alabama, 1905.

AUTAUGA – NONE
BALDWIN – Baldwin County, Alabama: observations of a former Minnesota man, who lived 22 years in the Northwest States–seeing the wonderful possibilities from a Northerner’s viewpoint, P.W. Sharp, c1922.
BALDWIN – A brief history of Baldwin County, Lydia Jane Newcomb Comings & Martha M. Albers, Baldwin County Historical Society, Fairhope, Alabama, 1928.
BARBOUR – Backtracking in Barbour County: a narrative of the last Alabama frontier, Anna Kendrick Walker, Dietz Press, Richmond, Virginia, 1941. Reprint in 1967.
BARBOUR – History of Barbour County, Alabama, Mattie Crocker Thomas Thompson, Eufaula, Alabama, 1939 [FamilySearch Film 845132, Item 3]
BIBB – NONE
BLOUNT – Bicentennial edition of the heritage of Blount County, Blount County Historical Society, Blountsville, Alabama, 1977.
BLOUNT – Glimpses of the past: Blount County, Junior Blount County Historical Society, 1965.
BULLOCK – History of Bullock County: to which has been added “Mt. Hilliard and the Old Ridge Road” and “a tribute,” Elizabeth Griswold Black, 1965.
BUTLER – The history of Butler County, Alabama, from 1815 to 1885: with sketches of some of her most distinguished citizens and glances at her rich and varied resources, John Buckner Little, Elm Street Printing Company, Cincinnati, 1885.
CALHOUN – NONE
CHAMBERS – Reminiscences of the early days in Chambers County, Evan Goodin Richards, Court of County Commissioners of Chambers County, 1942.
CHEROKEE – History and heritage: articles on Cherokee County, Alabama, Cherokee County Historical Museum n.d.
CHILTON – NONE
CHOCTAW – Alokoli: the Choctaw County bicentennial book, Choctaw County Bicentennial Commission, Butler, Alabama, 1976.
CLARKE – A glance into the great South-east: or, Clarke County, Alabama, and its surroundings, from 1540 to 1877, Timothy Horton Ball, Grove Hill, Alabama, 1882.
CLARKE – History of Clarke County, John Simpson Graham, Birmingham Printing Company, Birmingham, Alabama, 1923.
CLAY – NONE
CLEBURNE – NONE
COFFEE – I remember when, Edward Lee Gibson, Gladys Manning Moates 198_.
COLBERT – Two hundred years at Muscle Shoals: being an authentic history of Colbert county, 1700-1900, with special emphasis on the stirring events of the early times, Nina Leftwich, Press of Multigraphic Adveritising Company, Birmingham, Alabama, 1935. [FamilySearch Film 1731975]
CONECUH – History of Conecuh County, Alabama, Benjamin Franklin Riley, T. Gilbert, Columbus, Georgia, 1881.
CONECUH – People and places of Conecuh County, Alabama 1816-1860, Conecuh County Historical Society, 1969.
COOSA – NONE
COVINGTON – NONE
CRENSHAW – An Early history of Crenshaw County, Alabama, Joe R. Sport, 1957.
CULLMAN – Official Cullman centennial booklet: a compilation of historical facts; family, church and business histories, pictures and advertisements, 1873-1973, Odalene Little Ponder & Bettina Blanche Pearson Higdon Burns & Lorene Scott, Cullman Centennial Committee, 1977. [Familysearch Film 1026262, Items 1-2]
DALE – Dale County, Alabama, early history and cemetery records, Willo Institute of Genealogy, Pass Christian, Mississippi, 1960. Reprint.
DALLAS – NONE
DEKALB – NONE
ELMORE – NONE
ESCAMBIA – NONE
ETOWAH – NONE
FAYETTE – 150 yesteryears, Fayette County, Alabama, Edith Jackson Hankins, Fayette County Historical Society, Fayette, Alabama, 1971.
FAYETTE – Looking back, Fayette County, Alabama, 1824-1974, Fayette County Historical Society, 1974.
FAYETTE – Index to Looking Back, Fayette County, Alabama, 1824-1974, Edith Jackson Hankins, Fayette County Historical Society, 1974.
FAYETTE – Sesquicentennial Fayette County Broadcaster, Volume 1, Broadcaster, Fayette, Alabama, 1969-1971.
FRANKLIN – Facts and fables of Franklin County, Johnny Hester, n.d.
GENEVA – NONE
GREENE – NONE
HALE – NONE
HENRY – Henry, the Mother County, 1816-1903, Hoyt M. Warren, Henry County Historical Society, Abbeville, Alabama, 1981.
HENRY – History of Henry County, Alabama. Mrs. Marvin Scott, Grant R. Parkhurst, Pensacola, Florida, 1961.
HENRY – Official program, Henry County centennial for the commemoration of the Civil War, April 20-26, 1961, Henry County, Alabama, 1961.
HOUSTON – Facts relative to Houston County, Journal Job Rooms, Bessemer, Alabama, 1892. [FamilySearch Film 1731975]
JACKSON – NONE
JEFFERSON – Historical collections of Jefferson County, Alabama, Library Project 3529, Works Progress Administration, Birmingham, Alabama, 1937.
JEFFERSON – A history of Birmingham and its environs: a narrative account of their historical progress, their people, and their principal interests, Volume 1, George M. Cruikshank, Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, 1920.
JEFFERSON – A history of Birmingham and its environs: a narrative account of their historical progress, their people, and their principal interests, Volume 2, George M. Cruikshank, Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, 1920.
JEFFERSON – Jefferson County and Birmingham Alabama, historical and biographical, John Witherspoon DuBose, Teeple & Smith, Birmingham Alabama, 1887.
JEFFERSON – Index to Jefferson County and Birmingham, Alabama, historical and biographical, n.p., n.d.
LAMAR – Index to a History of Lamar County, Alabama, revised edition and third edition, Joe G. Acee & Barbara Hankins Martin, n.d.
LAUDERDALE – A history and description of the Bailey Springs, Lauderdale County, Ala.,: with an account of several remarkable cures of dropsy, dyspepsia, scrofula, and female diseases, with certificates of and reference to men of undoubted veracity all over the country, W.M. Hutton & Company, Memphis, 1860.
LAUDERDALE – “To arms in the valley,” Colbert-Lauderdale Civil War Centennial Commemoration Committee, Tennessee Valley Historical Society, Tuscumbia, Alabama, 1961.
LAWRENCE – Character sketches: how things have changed, C.G. Lynch, Moulton, Alabama, 1912.
LAWRENCE – Life and legend of Lawrence County, Alabama, Dorothy Gentry, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, 1962.
LEE – NONE
LIMESTONE – Early history of Limestone County, R.A. McClellan, 1927.
LOWNDES – NONE
MACON – NONE
MADISON – Valley Leaves: a special edition of the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the state of Alabama, Richard H. Gilliam, Tennessee Valley Genealogical Society, Huntsville, Alabama, 1969.
MARENGO – Marengo county, Alabama: some early families, Mary Tucker Walker, Henington Publishing Company, Wolfe City, Texas, 1993.
MARION – History of Marion County, Alabama, 1959. [FamilySearch Film 1731973]
MARSHALL – Marshall county one hundred years ago, Oliver Day Street, Guntersville Democrat Printing, Guntersville, Alabama, 1903. [FamilySearch Film 179104]
MOBILE – Along the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay, Alabama, David Holt, Commercial Printing Company & Publishers, Mobile, Alabama, 1900-1910.
MONROE – NONE
MONTGOMERY – Recollections of the early settlers of Montgomery County and their families, W.G. Robertson, Society of Pioneers of Montgomery, Montgomery, Alabama, 1961. Reprint from 1892.
MORGAN – Surname index to A History of Morgan County, Alabama by John Knox, Mrs. B.E. Breedlove, 1968.
PERRY – NONE
PICKENS – History of Pickens County, Alabama from its first settlement in eighteen hundred and seventeen to eighteen hundred and fifty-six, Nelson Foot Smith, Pickens Republic Office, Carrollton, 1856.
PICKENS – Records of Pickens County, Alabama, Mrs. C.P. McGuire, Willo Publishing Company, Tuscaloosa, 1900.
PIKE – History of Pike County, Alabama, Margaret Pace Farmer, Troy, Alabama, 1953.
PIKE – Pioneer and modern history of Pike County: business directory 1927, Ella Revill Hattaway, 1937.
RANDOLPH – Randolph County, Alabama, sixty-two years ago: the red man’s home, the white man’s Eden, J.M.K. Guinn, Works Progress Administration, Birmingham, Alabama, 1937.
RUSSELL – Russell County in retrospect: an epic of the far southesast, Anne Kendrick Walker, Dietz Press, Richmond, 1950.
SAINT CLAIR – NONE
SHELBY – NONE
SUMTER – NONE
TALLADEGA – Sketches of Talladega County, Alabama: a collection, Library Project 3529, Works Progress Administration, Birmingham, Alabama, 1938.
TALLAPOOSA – A history of Tallapoosa County, William Pressley Ingram, Birmingham, Alabama, 1951. [FamilySearch Film 1731753]
TUSCALOOSA – Reminiscences of a long life: historical, political, personal and literary, Volume 1, William Russell Smith, Washington, DC, 1889.
WALKER – History of Walker county: its towns and its people, John Martin Dombhart, Cayce Publishing Company, Thornton, Arkansas, 1937.
WASHINGTON – NONE
WILCOX – NONE
WINSTON – NONE