Browse / United States / Alabama / Leighton
Leighton
Alabamatown
Leighton
Total population
893
Median home value
$0
Bachelor's+
Median income
$33,894
Demographic figures from US Census Bureau · ACS 5-year estimates. Overview below cites Wikipedia and may reference a different year.
City facts
Facts from Wikidata (CC0).
Overview
Leighton is a town in Colbert County, Alabama, United States. It is part of the Florence - Muscle Shoals Metropolitan Statistical Area known as "The Shoals". At the 2020 census, the population was 665. Leighton has been hit by several tornadoes in the 2000s, including a damaging EF2 on May 8, 2008, that was caught on tape flipping over many cars and damaging buildings.
Read more on WikipediaHistory & geography
History
The first settlers in what is now Leighton arrived in the early 1810s. The community was initially known as "Crossroads" for its location at the intersection of two early stage coach roads. The name was later changed to "Leighton" for town's first postmaster, the Reverend William Leigh. The town developed as a cotton shipping center in the 1830s after the Tuscumbia, Courtland and Decatur Railroad constructed a railroad line through the area. Leighton incorporated in 1890. Leighton originally straddled the county line of Franklin and Lawrence Counties. When Colbert County was carved off in 1867, the town still remained divided between the new county and Lawrence. On the 1880 U.S. Census, it reported having 196 residents on the Colbert County side and 83 on the Lawrence County side. After the 1890 Census, Colbert County's eastern border was expanded eastward several miles to Town Creek, placing Leighton wholly within Colbert. In 1909, an African-American man named Sam Davenport was lynched by a mob of some two dozen men in Leighton. Davenport was suspected of burning a white man's barn.
Geography
Leighton is located in eastern Colbert County. The town is concentrated around the intersection of County Line Road (signed as Main Street within town limits) and County Road 22 ("Old Highway 20"), southeast of Muscle Shoals. U.S. Route 72 passes just to the south, and the Tennessee River lies a few miles to the north. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all land.
Excerpted from the corresponding Wikipedia article (CC BY-SA).
Demographics & economy
Race & ethnicity
Source: US Census Bureau — American Community Survey, 5-year estimates.
Geography
Coordinates & boundaries from the US Census TIGER/Line shapefiles.
Climate
Current forecast
Forecast for Leighton, AL from NOAA NWS API.
Air quality
Industrial & pollution facilities
Natural hazard risk
Health (adults)
Age-adjusted prevalence estimates from CDC PLACES (latest release).
Walkability
Amenities nearby
Wildlife & biodiversity
Most-observed species
- Great Blue/Cocoi HeronArdea herodias Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves3,752
- Great EgretArdea alba Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves2,919
- Double-crested CormorantPhalacrocorax auritus (Lesson, 1831) · Aves2,741
- Mourning DoveZenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves2,694
- Northern CardinalCardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves2,567
- American CrowCorvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves2,419
- KilldeerCharadrius vociferus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves2,206
- Northern MockingbirdMimus polyglottos (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves2,143
Citizen-science & research observations from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF).
Schools
Largest nearby schools
- Muscle Shoals High SchoolHigh · Muscle Shoals · 853 students · 19.8:1 ratio
- Muscle Shoals Middle SchoolMiddle · Muscle Shoals · 648 students · 17.1:1 ratio
- McBride Elementary SchoolElementary · Muscle Shoals · 614 students
- Colbert County High SchoolHigh · Leighton · 455 students · 16.3:1 ratio
- G W Trenholm Primary SchoolElementary · Tuscumbia · 420 students · 19.1:1 ratio
- Leighton Elementary SchoolElementary · Leighton · 355 students · 14.8:1 ratio
- Howell Graves PreschoolElementary · Muscle Shoals · 340 students · 18.9:1 ratio
- Hatton Elementary SchoolElementary · Leighton · 242 students · 14.2:1 ratio
Public K–12 schools within ~10 mi from Urban Institute Education Data Portal (NCES Common Core of Data, 2022).
Earthquake history
Most recent
- M 2.53 — 2026-04-2712 km NNE of Trinity, Alabama
- M 2.52 — 2022-12-245 km ENE of Booneville, Mississippi
- M 2.66 — 2022-08-136 km NW of Hazel Green, Alabama
- M 2.62 — 2020-11-0113 km SE of Triana, Alabama
- M 2.53 — 2020-02-0813 km S of Moulton, Alabama
- M 2.79 — 2018-07-060 km WSW of Muscle Shoals, Alabama
Events from the USGS Earthquake Catalog (global) (FDSN Event Web Service).
Photos
Sights & places nearby
Notable people from here
People born within ~10 km, from Wikidata (CC0). Click any name for their Wikipedia article.
Nearby places in Alabama
- Muscle Shoals7.1 mi away · pop. 16,275
- Sheffield10.7 mi away
- Courtland11.3 mi away · pop. 583
- Belgreen24.4 mi away
- Bear Creek32.1 mi away
- Haleyville32.2 mi away
- Athens33.1 mi away
- Waterloo34.3 mi away
- Mooresville36.9 mi away · pop. 47
- Vina37.6 mi away
- Falkville41.3 mi away · pop. 1,197
- Triana44.7 mi away · pop. 2,890
Geography & sun
Elevation, sunrise/sunset and daylight from Open-Meteo. Solar climatology from NASA POWER.
Nearby airports
Public attention
Pageview totals from the Wikimedia Pageviews API.
Books about Leighton
Search results from Open Library.
Recent natural events nearby
Ground air-quality sensors
Recently spotted species
Nearest stream gauge
Events
Gallery
Sources
- • Wikipedia
- • US Census Bureau (ACS 5-year estimates)
- • NOAA National Weather Service
- • Wikidata
- • USGS Earthquake Catalog (global feed)
- • NCES via Urban Institute Education Data Portal
- • GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility)
- • CDC PLACES
- • Open-Elevation
- • Open-Meteo / sunrise-sunset.org
- • Wikipedia Pageviews API
- • Open Library
- • Wikidata SPARQL (CC0) — population, area, elevation, inception, head of government, Commons image