Aroney, Alabama Explained

Official Name:Aroney, Alabama
Settlement Type:Unincorporated community
Pushpin Map:USA Alabama
Pushpin Label:Aroney
Pushpin Label Position:bottom
Pushpin Mapsize:250
Pushpin Map Caption:Location within Alabama
Coordinates:34.2217°N -86.0819°W
Coordinates Footnotes: 
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:United States
Subdivision Type1:State
Subdivision Name1:Alabama
Subdivision Type2:County
Subdivision Name2:DeKalb
Elevation Ft:1099
Elevation M:335
Timezone:Central (CST)
Utc Offset:-6
Timezone Dst:CDT
Utc Offset Dst:-5
Postal Code Type:ZIP code
Postal Code:35957
Area Code:256
Blank1 Name:GNIS ID

Aroney is an unincorporated community located on Sand Mountain in far southwestern DeKalb County, Alabama, United States, approximately five miles east of the city of Boaz.

History

The Aroney post office was established in 1890. It has been since been discontinued. The community's name was incorrectly spelled "Arona" on the 1966 USGS Base Maps.[1] Ever since, the misspelling has been duplicated on many other maps and geographical databases. The spelling continues to be used by the USGS, which lists "Aroney" as a variant spelling. Conversely, "Aroney" is the name of the post office in the USGS database.[2]

People

The people of Aroney, Alabama are historically farmers. They grew cotton during the 1950s and 1960s, but like many others when the cost of growing cotton outweighed the value of the cotton once it was picked, Aroney farmers shifted to growing soybeans and corn. Many of the farmers, at the urging of the state agricultural department, fenced in their fields and started raising cattle. The town never got big enough to require even a single stop light. For some period of time, there was a flashing light that was then downgraded to a 4-way stop intersection and finally to a through fare.

Until the last 20 years, the people of Aroney were related in some way. The area never grew large enough to justify a school system, but until the early 1970's, there was a small school called Center Point Junior High School. When built, the school housed classrooms for grades 1–9, but as time went on it was downgraded to grades 1-6 and eventually closed in 1976. All that is left of the school is the front doorsteps and the lunchroom.

Geography

Aroney is located at 34.2217°N -86.0819°W. Its average elevation is 1099feet above sea level.

Notes and References

  1. Foscue, Virginia. Place Names in Alabama. University: U of Alabama Press, 1989.
  2. off.