Dutton

Dutton is located in southeast Jackson County in the extreme northeast corner of the state. It has a mayor/city council form of government.

History

Sand Mountain Institute The first non-Indian settlers arrived in the Dutton area in the early-nineteenth century, but the region remained sparsely populated up to the turn of the twentieth century. The first documented purchase of land in the area occurred in 1851. The town itself was founded in 1888 and underwent several name changes, including Press, Barnes, Callahan, and Fern Hill. In 1896, the U.S. Postal Service ruled that the town had to choose a permanent name, and so it was named for M. M. Dutton, the local businessman who had been instrumental in initiating the establishment of the local post office. The Dutton family owned six stores and a cotton gin, and the post office was located in one of the Dutton stores. The first school in the town, the Briar Patch School, was built in 1886, and a boarding school, the Sand Mountain Institute, opened soon thereafter. The structure burned in 1925, at about the time that a new two-story public high school was being built. Dutton was incorporated in 1963, primarily so that it would be eligible for federal grants and loans for constructing a water system.

Demographics

According to 2020 Census estimates, Dutton recorded a population of 506. Of that number, 99.0 percent of respondents identified themselves as white, 0.8 percent as Hispanic or Latino, and 1.0 percent as two or more races. The town’s per capita income was $17,426.

Employment

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

  • Retail trade (46.6 percent)
  • Educational services, and health care and social assistance (14.1 percent)
  • Transportation and warehousing and utilities (13.6 percent)
  • Manufacturing (12.1 percent)
  • Arts, entertainment, recreation, and accommodation and food services (2.9 percent)
  • Construction (2.9 percent)
  • Other services, except public administration (2.9 percent)
  • Public administration (2.4 percent)
  • Finance and insurance, and real estate and rental and leasing (1.5 percent)
  • Professional, scientific, management, and administrative and waste management services (1.0 percent)

Education

Schools in Dutton are part of the Jackson County school system; the town has one multiyear school (grades K-8).

Transportation

State Highway 71 runs through town traveling northeast-southwest.

Events and Places of Interest

Dutton is located about two miles east of Lake Guntersville and the Tennessee River.

Additional Resources

Jackson County Heritage Book Committee. The Heritage of Jackson County, Alabama. Clanton, Ala.: Heritage Publishing Consultants, 1998.

Kennamer, John Robert Sr. History of Jackson County, Alabama. 1935. Reprint, Scottsboro, Ala.: Jackson County Historical Society, 1993.

Smalley, Jewell D. Tigue. Town of Dutton. Columbus, Ga.: Brentwood Academic, 1998.

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