Harpersville

Harpersville is located in east-central Shelby County in the central part of the state. It has a mayor/city council form of government. Henry B. Walthall, stage and silent screen star, was born in Harpersville, as was William Joseph Simmons, who had a leading role in reviving the Ku Klux Klan in 1915.

History

Klein-Wallace Home The Harpersville area was first settled in the mid-1810s and was one of the earliest towns in what is now Shelby County. At the time, the community often was referred to as Big Springs after a local Baptist church. The town was soon renamed Harpersville after one of its early families. The town expanded to include a blacksmith shop, several stores, a tan yard, and a steam-powered cotton gin, and it became a stagecoach stop.

U.S. Highway 280 came through town in 1925, connecting the town to Birmingham to its north. Harpersville was incorporated in 1945. In 1953, the old Harpersville school building was renovated to become the town hall and in 1961 a new post office was built.

Demographics

According to 2020 Census estimates, Harpersville recorded a population of 1,706. Of that number, 83.2 percent of respondents identified themselves as white, 14.9 percent as African American, and 1.9 percent as two or more races. The town’s median household income was $61,118, and the per capita income was $26,736.

Employment

According to 2020 Census estimates, the workforce in Harpersville was divided among the following industrial categories:

  • Educational services, and health care and social assistance (34.1 percent)
  • Retail trade (14.3 percent)
  • Manufacturing (11.0 percent)
  • Construction (8.9 percent)
  • Other services, except public administration (5.9 percent)
  • Arts, entertainment, recreation, and accommodation and food services (5.0 percent)
  • Professional, scientific, management, and administrative and waste management services (5.0 percent)
  • Wholesale trade (3.7 percent)
  • Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, and extractive (3.5 percent)
  • Transportation and warehousing and utilities (2.9 percent)
  • Information (2.4 percent)
  • Finance, insurance, and real estate, rental, and leasing (2.2 percent)
  • Public administration (1.0 percent)

Education

Students in Harpersville attend Shelby County schools; no public schools lie within the town limits.

Transportation

U.S. Highway 280 runs southeast-northwest through Harpersville, and State Highway 25 runs roughly north-south through town. U.S. Highway 231 splits from U.S. Highway 280 in the northcentral part of the town and runs northeast. State Highway 76 runs west-east through the southern part of town.

The Shelby County Airport is located about 20 miles southwest of Harpersville; the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport is about 23 miles northwest of town.

Events and Places of Interest

Old Rock House The Harpersville Heritage Area, the Klein-Wallace Home, the Rock House, the Chancellor House, and the Scott-Bradford Home are all listed on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage. The Chancellor House and the Rock House also are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Harpersville’s southern town limits are defined by the Coosa River, and the town is approximately five miles north of Lay Lake, both of which offer water sports such as fishing, boating, water skiing, sailing, and swimming.

Additional Resources

Shelby County Heritage Book Committee. The Heritage of Shelby County, Alabama. Clanton, Ala.: Heritage Publishing Consultants, 1999.

External Links

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