Smuteye, Alabama Explained

Official Name:Smuteye, Alabama
Settlement Type:Unincorporated community
Pushpin Map:Alabama#USA
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:United States
Subdivision Type1:State
Subdivision Name1:Alabama
Subdivision Type2:County
Subdivision Name2:Bullock
Timezone:Central (CST)
Utc Offset:-6
Timezone Dst:CDT
Utc Offset Dst:-5
Elevation Ft:466
Coordinates:31.9781°N -85.6503°W
Postal Code Type:ZIP code
Postal Code:36005
Area Code:334
Blank Name:GNIS feature ID
Blank Info:157081

Smuteye or Smut Eye is an unincorporated community in Bullock County, Alabama, United States, located northeast of Perote.

Smuteye is located in ZIP code 36061, but residents now use a mailing address in Banks: 36005.

Smuteye Pond and Smuteye Lake are located north of Smuteye and south of Aberfoil.

Name

According to one account, the community received its name when the local men would spend all day socializing at its blacksmith shop and return home covered in soot.[1] It has frequently been noted on lists of unusual place names.[2]

Cultural References

The last three chapters of Percival Everett's novel, I Am Not Sidney Poitier are set in Smuteye.[3]

Notes and References

  1. Book: A Place Called Peculiar: Stories about Unusual American Place-Names . Courier Dover Publications . Gallant, Frank K. . 2012 . 1. 9780486483603 .
  2. Book: Alabama Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities & Other Offbeat Stuff . Globe Pequot . Duncan, Andy . 2005 . xii. 9780762730889 .
  3. Percival Everett, I Am Not Sidney Poitier: A Novel. Minneapolis: Graywolf, 2009.