The area which now composes Covington County, Alabama, was originally inhabited by the Creek Indians. There are Indian mounds, arrowheads and other relics to be found here. The county is located in South Alabama.

Ponce de Leon came into Covington County in his quest for the Fountain of Youth. DeSoto explored Covington County in the course of conquest and the Spanish established a little settlement on the Conecuh River which came to be known as Montezuma.

After the War of 1812, Andrew Jackson, legend has it, came from South Carolina and traveled through this area in route to New Orleans. He cut three notches on trees as he passed through this wilderness to enable him to find his way back. Andalusia has an East Three Notch Street and a South Three Notch Street. Troy has a North Three Notch Street and a South Three Notch Street. These streets are supposed to lie on the famous “Three Notch Trail.”

The State of Alabama was admitted to the Union in 1819. Covington was made a county by the Legislature in 1821. It was created from Henry County. This new county was named in honor of Brigadier General Leonard Wailes Covington who was killed in the War of 1812. He was a native of Maryland. At that time, Covington embraced several other counties, but through the years has been reduced to its present size by the carving out of Dale and Geneva Counties.

White settlers came to what is now Covington County in the year 1816. An early settlement was near Green Bay. The settlers came from Georgia on ox wagons. Another settlement was near Rose Hill, settled by the people from North and South Carolina. The earliest church was established near Rose Hill in 1823 and was called the Macedonia Church. The earliest settlement was on the Conecuh River, four miles west of what is now Andalusia. This community was the first county seat and a post office called Montezuma was established in 1829. There was river traffic from Pensacola to Montezuma in those days.

Immigrants flocked in from Georgia and the Carolinas after a federal law in 1836 ordered the Indians to be moved west of the Mississippi. The first land sold by the U.S. Government in this county was near the present community of Heath and was sold through Sparta Land Office in Conecuh County. Later, this land office was moved to Elba.

In the year 1841, the lowlands around Montezuma were flooded. A yellow fever epidemic occurred. This brought much disaster and disease to the lowlands. The settlers were forced to flee to higher grounds. They selected the highest point in the vicinity, a place of safety on the watershed. It is the present City Square of Andalusia. This was called “New Site” until 1846 when a post office was established and the town designated as Andalusia.

No one knows where the name Andalusia originated. However, since Ponce de Leon and DeSoto were early explorers of this area; it is felt that they were responsible for the Spanish influence. It is assumed that since Spain has an Andalusia Province, that this City was named Andalusia because of this influence.

The word, Andalusia, is a combination of two Spanish words. Ande, meaning “to walk”, and Lutier, which means “easy.” So Andalusia means “to walk easy” or a place where being is most comfortable and easy. It was easier walking to and from Andalusia than it had been to Montezuma. Andalusia was located on the ridge. This ridge path had been used by the Indians in their quest south for salt. Being up on the highest point it was a more comfortable place. Breezes could be enjoyed and it was safe from the always flooding lowlands. Thus, a comfortable place to be.

In 1868, State Representative Mancil passed a bill in the Legislature of Alabama to change the name of Covington County to Jones County. His purpose was to please the Judge of Probate, Josiah Jones, who had helped Mancil be elected. Communication was not good in those days and the first that Jones knew that the County had been named after him was when he met Mancil on the street after his return home. Upon hearing that the name of Covington County was changed, Jones was so angry that he threatened Mancil to change the name back to Covington County. Mancil then had the county name changed back to Covington. Thus, Covington County was Jones County for only the short period of four months in 1869.

There have been five courthouses in Covington County. The first was a log structure in Montezuma. The second a log structure in Andalusia, which burned in 1865 and destroyed all records. The third, a clapboard building was destroyed by fire in 1878. It was located east of the town square in Andalusia and had one grave in the courtyard. The fourth, a brick building, occupied the center of town square in Andalusia and until the present courthouse was erected in about 1916.

Covington County did not begin its real growth until the year 1899 when the Central of Georgia Railroad established its line to Andalusia from Searight, and the Louisville and Nashville Railroad ran a line from Georgiana through Andalusia and Opp to Graceville, Florida, and then on into Florala, at a later date. The railroads helped open up the area and provided new frontiers in forest products, manufacturing and trading. Until the arrival of the railroad, Covington County had an agricultural and timber economy only.

The total population of Andalusia in 1900 was only 551, however, considering that most of the people lived on scattered farms at that time, Andalusia was a fair sized town. Through the years, Andalusia has grown continuously. The corporate boundary has been enlarged several times to accommodate new subdivisions and currently contains land areas of approximately 18 square miles. Andalusia, Alabama is the County Seat of Covington County and is situated about 85 miles south of Montgomery, 125 miles northeast of Mobile and about 80 miles west of Dothan. It has a population of 8,897. It is the largest city in the County.