| The area now known as Livingston, Alabama belongs to the nation of Choctaw Indians
until the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek in 1830. At that time settlers from the
Carolinas, Georgia, Tennessee, and Virginia established the first community about two
blocks from the current Courthouse Square, near the corner of Madison and Spring Streets. In 1833, a commission was formed to organized Sumter County. Livingston was named after a well-known statesman and jurist of the day, Edward Livingston. Livingston was chosen as the county seat. Soon followed the first newspaper, The Voice of Sumter, four schools (including Livingston Female academy, now The University of West Alabama), the courthouse, and the Bored Well. The first courthouse was built of logs. It was replaced by a frame courthouse in 1839, which burned in 1901. The Probate Judge's office, built at the same time, survived the fire. It now houses the county commission office. In the latter part of the nineteenth century, Livingston became widely known as a health spa because of the water from its unique Bored Well. This well was bored by an old blind mule which pulled an auger around and around until an artesian well was hit in 1857. A Chinese pagoda was erected over the wall. In 1924 it was replaced by the present pavilion. During the early part of the twentieth century, Livingston continued to be well known as a health resort town, and as the home of Alabama Normal School. The name of the college was later changed to the State Teachers College, then to Livingston State College, Livingston University and finally to The University of West Alabama. Livingston remained the sleepy county seat of a mainly rural county, with a declining population, until the early 1960's when effort were made to revitalize the town. Results were amazing--the population nearly doubled in ten years, and corresponding increase in industry and business were registered. Recent projects of the city include expanded industrial projects and additions to the water and sewer system. In 1972 Livingston was named a finalist in the All American Cities Competition, sponsored by The Saturday Evening Post. This is a growing city--a city with a future. With all its progress, however, Livingston has managed to retain much of the quality which drew the following comments in a Family Weekly article by Alistair Cooke, renowned for his writing and his television series, "Cooke's America," and the earlier "Omnibus": "Livingston, Ala., was another jewel I well remember from an automobile trip in 1937. It was as far in time and character from Eureka, Nev., as Athens is from Las Vegas. Livingston in 1930's was a serene and beautiful small town where an Englishman to whom I was showing the county decided he would wish to live and die. (He didn't. He chose instead the exquisite colonial town of Newfane,VT...) "Livingston had a charm and serenity that belied its violent past....It retained a character unlike that of any small town in Michigan or New York..."
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