Midland City

James P. Kaetz, Auburn University
Midland City is located in southeast Dale County in the southeast corner of the state. It has a mayor/council form of government.
History
City Hall in Midland City
The area began to be settled during the late 1840s. An early settler, Shep Kennedy, having grown tired of traveling to buy supplies, opened a store there in 1859. The settlement had enough population by 1860 to send 16 men to serve in the Civil War. When the Midland Railroad Corporation built a line through the area in 1889, the company laid out a planned town along the tracks and began selling lots. The town incorporated in 1890 and was probably named after the railroad, although another theory is that it was named for its location approximately midway on the line between Thomasville, Georgia, and Montgomery, Montgomery County.
Demographics
According to 2016 Census estimates, Midland City recorded a population of 2,041. Of that number, 67.1 percent of respondents identified themselves as white, 29.1 percent as African American, 3.8 percent as two or more races, and 1.5 percent as Hispanic. The town's median household income was $26,269, and the per capita income was $20,058.
Employment
According to 2016 Census estimates, the workforce in Midland City was divided among the following industrial categories:
  • Educational services and health care and social assistance (24.9 percent)
  • Retail trade (15.5 percent)
  • Manufacturing (10.3 percent)
  • Arts, entertainment, and recreation, and accommodation and food services (10.2 percent)
  • Professional, scientific, and management, and administrative and waste management services (7.2 percent)
  • Transportation and warehousing, and utilities (7.0 percent)
  • Public administration (6.4 percent)
  • Construction (5.0 percent)
  • Wholesale trade (4.6 percent)
  • Finance and insurance, and real estate and rental and leasing (3.1 percent)
  • Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, and extraction (2.6 percent)
  • Other services, except public administration (2.6 percent)
  • Information (0.8 percent)
Education
Schools in Midland City are part of the Dale County School system; the town has one elementary school and one high school. The George C. Wallace Community College Dothan is located about two miles from Midland City.
Transportation
State Highway 134 runs east-west through the city, and U.S. Highway 231 runs northwest-southeast. The Dothan Regional Airport is located about 2 miles east of the city.
Events and Places of Interest
Dale County maintains a baseball/softball facility in Midland City, and the town also has an outdoor basketball court facility.

Additional Resources

Dale County Heritage Book Committee. The Heritage of Dale County, Alabama. Clanton, Ala.: Heritage Publishing Consultants, 2001.
Published:  September 5, 2012   |   Last updated:  September 30, 2020