West Point is located in northwest Cullman County in the north-central part of the state. It has a mayor/city council form of government.

History

West Point was for years an unnamed community at the juncture of two roads connecting Battle Ground and Clarkson (north-south) and Malaby and Crooked Creek (east-west). Settlers began to build homes around the crossroads as early as the late 1870s. The first telephone service in town came in 1909. A sawmill, grist mill, and cotton gin were established around 1900, and the first general store opened in 1910.

Also around 1910, residents decided upon the name West Point for the community. The first school in the town was built in 1918, replacing a school in nearby Crooked Creek. A high school was built in the early 1930s.

West Point was incorporated in October 1977.

Demographics

West Point’s population according to the 2010 Census was 586. Of that number, 95.6 percent of respondents identified themselves as white, 6.0 percent as Hispanic or Latino, 1.2 percent as two or more races, 0.7 percent as Native American, and 0.5 percent as Asian. The town’s median household income, according to 2010 estimates, was $35,326, and the per capita income was $22,236.

Employment

According to 2010 Census estimates, the work force in West Point was divided among the following industrial categories:

· Educational services, and health care and social assistance (19.2   percent)
· Retail trade (18.1 percent)
· Manufacturing (17.7 percent)
· Construction (13.2 percent)
· Transportation and warehousing and utilities (6.0 percent)
· Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, and extractive (5.7 percent)
· Wholesale trade (5.7 percent)
· Finance, insurance, and real estate, rental, and leasing (5.7 percent)
· Arts, entertainment, recreation, and accommodation and food services   (3.4 percent)
· Professional, scientific, management, and administrative and waste   management services (2.6 percent)
· Public administration (2.3 percent)
· Information (0.4 percent)

Education

Schools in West Point are part of the Cullman County school system and include in one elementary school, one intermediate school, one middle school, and one high school.

Transportation

State Highway 157 bisects West Point running roughly southeast-northwest. County Road 1141 enters town from the northwest, runs east through town, and then exits running southeast. County Road 1127 runs south from the western part of town, and County Road 1242 runs northeast from town.

This article was derived from http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-3484

Additional Resources

Cullman County Heritage Book Committee. Heritage of Cullman County, Alabama. Vols. I and II. Clanton, Ala.: Heritage Publishing Consultants, Inc., 1999.

Jones, Margaret Jean. Combing Cullman County. Cullman, Ala.: Modernistic Printers, Inc., 1972.

Advantages of being in a town/municipality

1. Taxes: Cullman County is unique in that each of the municipalities in Cullman County receive a portion of sales tax collected throughout the entire county, based on population in the municipality. Taxes and fees are also paid to the town through franchise fees, car tags and TV A in lieu of taxes revenue.
2. Police and Fire Departments: Among the public programs that an area can provide are police and fire departments. The revenues of the municipality may not be great enough to provide its own police department or fire department, but it can use funds to improve the volunteer fire department and contract with the Sheriffs Office for additional patrol services. If the proposed International Standardization Organization (ISO) are adopted, the buildings and residences in the town may have a higher ISO rating and thereby drastically reduce the cost of homeowner insurance. The new state of the art Volunteer Fire Station on Alabama Highway 157 will have a positive impact on the town’s ISO ratings.
3. Educational Resources: A town can use its money to help the local schools. This help can be very noticeable in the services the school can provide locally. The town partners with West Point schools in many areas.
4. Parks and Recreational: A large part of the services provided by the municipalities are the parks and recreational facilities. These facilities provided safe environments for the young, as well as the elderly. Increasingly, the town facilities provide a local place to meet and engage in sports as well as other activities that forms bonds in the town. We have a very robust Senior Center that is open and serves lunch to those present and also delivers nutritious meals to many homebound citizens.
5. Local Representation: Because unincorporated areas have no legal authority of their, the county makes all the decisions regarding the services those areas will receive. A town has its own local government, elected by the area’s residents, with authority to make decision for the area. This allows an area’s residents to have decision makers that are directly accountable to them only, rather than decision makers who are elected by an entire county.
6. Med-Flight: The residents are covered in Cullman County for any medical emergency pick-ups. Residents may pay an additional yearly fee to be picked up at any location in the United States. (If you are out of town on vacation.)
7. Storm Shelters: There are two storms shelters provided for the residents. One is located at the Town Hall. The second is located at the Fire Department on Highway 157.