Troy, Alabama

Troy is a city in and the county seat of Pike County, Alabama, United States. It was formally incorporated on February 4, 1843.

Between 1763 and 1783, the area where Troy sits was part of the colony of British West Florida. After 1783, the region fell under the jurisdiction of the newly created United States of America.

As of the 2020 census, its population was 17,727, down from 18,033 in 2010. The 2022 estimated population was 17,774. The City of Troy had previously been considered one of the fastest-growing cities in Alabama. Troy is home to Troy University, the fourth-largest university in total enrollment in Alabama.

For many centuries, the area around Troy was settled by different tribes of Native Americans, but became primarily known for its Muskogee Creek presence. Most Creek tribes lived along rivers or streams at that time. Near the Troy area, many Native Americans settled around the Conecuh River and the Pea River.

With the coming of European explorers and colonists, the area of present-day Alabama was claimed by Spain, France, and Great Britain, although very few Europeans settled in the inland parts. After being swapped among those three powers in the course of the 18th century, the United States acquired the region from Spain with the Treaty of Madrid (1795) and created the Mississippi Territory in 1798, including most of the present-day states of Mississippi and Alabama. In 1819, the State of Alabama was admitted to the Union and was soon organized into counties. Pike County, founded in 1821, was one of the first counties established in Alabama. It comprised a large tract of country, so large that it was called the "State of Pike", which included parts of what are now Crenshaw, Montgomery, Macon, Bullock, and Barbour Counties, and extended to the Chattahoochee River on the east.

After Pike County's borders were resized, the land that later became Troy was settled in the early 1830s. Originally known as Deer Stand Hill (an Indian hunting ground), which was first settled about 1824, it was later known as Zebulon and then Centreville before being renamed Troy in 1838. Troy became the county seat that same year after a new county courthouse was built in the city, replacing the previous county seat town of Monticello. The court met in local stores until the courthouse was built in 1839. In 1880, this structure was torn down and rebuilt as an opera house, which was also eventually torn down. A brick courthouse was erected in 1880. A hotel and taverns along with small mercantile stores were soon created, quickly making the new town the social center of the county. Unfortunately, the town of Troy completely burned down in 1901 after a devastating fire, and had to be rebuilt. The courthouse, originally in the center of the town square, was demolished because of fire damage and relocated one block away just outside of the town square.

To promote movement of settlers and to speed mail from Washington City to New Orleans, the Federal Road was laid out after 1805. In 1824, a military road was laid out from Fort Barrancas in Pensacola, Florida, and ran on top of the ridges to Fort Mitchell in Russell County, Alabama, and connected to the Federal Road. Captain Daniel E. Burch of the U.S. Army marked the route using three notches on trees for a crew under Lt. Elias Phillips to follow. The route was eventually cleared in 1824 at a cost of $1,130. It followed the ridge dividing the watersheds of the Conecuh River to the northwest, and the Yellow River and Pea River to the southeast. This road became known as the Three Notch Road and ran through Troy and Pike County. While never being highly needed as a military supply road, it became a boon to the settlers who used it to move into south-central and southeast Alabama and into northwest Florida.

During this time, tensions began to rise between the local Creek Indians and the European settlers who were moving into the area. As settlers began to force their way onto Creek lands and push the Indians out, the Creeks began to retaliate, first in small factions, then in larger ones. During this time, the Second Indian War was beginning in the Southeastern United States.