Limestone County, Alabama
county in Alabama, United States
Limestone County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 103,570. Its county seat is Athens. The county is named after Limestone Creek. Limestone County is included in the Huntsville Metropolitan Area.
History
Limestone County was established by the Alabama Territorial legislature on February 6, 1818. On November 27, 1821, the Alabama State legislature passed an Act that altered the boundary of Limestone County to include the area east of the mouth of the Elk River with the Tennessee River. At the time, that area was a part of Lauderdale County.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 607 square miles (1,570 km2), of which 560 square miles (1,500 km2) is land and 47 square miles (120 km2) (7.8%) is water. It is the third smallest county in Alabama by land area.
“Limestone County, Alabama” enters the record as county in Alabama, United States. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Limestone, County and Alabama can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Limestone County, Alabama” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Limestone, County and Alabama provides the most credible route into that argument.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q501108. VIAF identifies the subject as 159452960. The Library of Congress control number is n81020377. Authority coordinates are 34.811, -86.984. 3 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2020, 1818 and 1821.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. 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.
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Three-step research path
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Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Limestone County, 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.