Guin, Alabama
city in Marion County, Alabama, United States
Guin is a city in Marion County, Alabama, United States. It incorporated in December 1889. At the 2020 census, the population was 2,195.
History
Guin takes its name from a young country doctor, Dr. Jeremiah ("Jerry") Guin from Tuscaloosa County, who purchased the farm known then as Haley's Trading Post (where is now situate the town of Guin) from a certain John T. Meador in 1870, and who, in turn, had bought the property from a certain Alan Haley, a newcomer to the State, who had built there a country store on the most used road stretching from north to south, in order to accommodate cattle drovers taking their cattle to market in Columbus and Aberdeen, Mississippi. Jeremiah Guin, while looking for a place to make his home, moved the center of interest about a mile east of Haley's Trading Post (now 12th Street N. and 11 Ave. in present-day Guin).
In the early years of its settlement, a saw mill was built and operated in the town, known originally as Kenney Lumber Company (and later known as Brown Lumber Co.), supplying cut timber to the local community.
On April 3, 1974, Guin was devastated by a fast moving F5 tornado during the 1974 Super Outbreak, the second-largest tornado outbreak on record. That storm took twenty-three lives.
The public source identifies “Guin, Alabama” as city in Marion County, Alabama, United States. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Guin, Alabama and city.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Guin, Alabama”, the useful work is to connect “city in Marion County, Alabama, United States” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 30, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q79684. Authority coordinates are 33.973, -87.917. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1889, 2020, 1870 and 1974.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Guin, Alabama”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Guin, Alabama primary sources, Guin, Alabama archive and Guin research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Guin, Alabama”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Guin, Alabama” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.