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Ozark
Flag of Ozark
Flag
Official seal of Ozark
Seal
Location of Ozark in Dale County, Alabama.
Location of Ozark in Dale County, Alabama.
Country United States
State Alabama
County Dale
Settled 1822
Incorporated October 27, 1870
Government
 • Type Mayor/City Council
Area
 • Total 34.34 sq mi (88.94 km2)
 • Land 34.10 sq mi (88.33 km2)
 • Water 0.23 sq mi (0.61 km2)
Elevation
417 ft (127 m)
Population
 (2020)
 • Total 14,368
 • Density 421.30/sq mi (162.66/km2)
Time zone UTC-6 (Central (CST))
 • Summer (DST) UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP Codes
36360-36361
Area code(s) 334
FIPS code 01-57648
GNIS feature ID 0152832

Ozark is a city in and the county seat of Dale County, Alabama. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city was 14,907.

Ozark is the principal city of the Ozark Micropolitan Statistical Area, as well as a part of the Dothan-Ozark Combined Statistical Area. Ozark was originally a part of Enterprise–Ozark micropolitan area before being split, and for a longer while was part of the Dothan-Enterprise-Ozark combined statistical area but Enterprise later became its own separate primary statistical area in later censuses. Fort Novosel, the primary flight training base for Army Aviation, abuts Ozark.

History

The Ozark area was originally inhabited by the Muscogee people. It is said that Ozark received its name after a traveler visited and was reminded of the Ozark Mountains in Arkansas.

The first known European settler in Ozark was John Merrick Sr., a veteran of the Revolutionary War, in 1822. In honor of him, the town was named Merricks. It was later changed to Woodshop, which was its name when the town received its post office. The first appearance of the name Ozark was in 1855, when the citizens requested a name change.

The county seat was moved from Newton to Ozark 1870.

Ozark is home to four sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places: the Claybank Log Church, the Samuel Lawson Dowling House, the Old Train Depot, and the J. D. Holman House.

Geography

Ozark is located at 31°26′53″N 85°38′31″W / 31.44806°N 85.64194°W / 31.44806; -85.64194 (31.448169, -85.642009). It is part of the Wiregrass Region.

Major highways that run through the city include U.S. Route 231 and Alabama State Routes 27 and 249. US 231 runs northwest to southeast through the city, leading northwest 34 mi (55 km) to Troy and southeast 23 mi (37 km) to Dothan. SR 27 leads east 31 mi (50 km) to Abbeville and southwest 19 mi (31 km) to Enterprise.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 34.5 square miles (89 km2) of which 34.2 square miles (89 km2) is land and 0.2 square miles (0.52 km2) (0.70%) is water.

Climate

According to the Köppen climate classification, Ozark has a humid subtropical climate (abbreviated Cfa).

Climate data for Ozark, 1991–2020 simulated normals (400 ft elevation)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Mean daily maximum °F (°C) 59.7
(15.4)
63.7
(17.6)
70.9
(21.6)
77.4
(25.2)
84.7
(29.3)
89.2
(31.8)
90.9
(32.7)
90.3
(32.4)
86.9
(30.5)
79.0
(26.1)
69.3
(20.7)
62.1
(16.7)
77.0
(25.0)
Daily mean °F (°C) 48.9
(9.4)
52.5
(11.4)
58.8
(14.9)
65.5
(18.6)
73.4
(23.0)
79.3
(26.3)
81.1
(27.3)
80.6
(27.0)
76.8
(24.9)
67.6
(19.8)
57.4
(14.1)
51.3
(10.7)
66.1
(19.0)
Mean daily minimum °F (°C) 37.9
(3.3)
41.2
(5.1)
46.9
(8.3)
53.6
(12.0)
62.2
(16.8)
69.3
(20.7)
71.4
(21.9)
70.9
(21.6)
66.6
(19.2)
56.3
(13.5)
45.5
(7.5)
40.6
(4.8)
55.2
(12.9)
Average precipitation inches (mm) 5.05
(128.21)
4.94
(125.41)
5.19
(131.72)
4.83
(122.73)
3.40
(86.33)
5.21
(132.32)
6.23
(158.32)
5.22
(132.60)
4.32
(109.73)
3.12
(79.17)
4.05
(102.82)
5.29
(134.27)
56.85
(1,443.63)
Average dew point °F (°C) 40.3
(4.6)
43.2
(6.2)
47.3
(8.5)
54.0
(12.2)
61.5
(16.4)
68.9
(20.5)
71.6
(22.0)
71.2
(21.8)
67.3
(19.6)
57.6
(14.2)
48.2
(9.0)
43.5
(6.4)
56.2
(13.5)
Source: PRISM Climate Group

Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop.
1880 512
1890 1,195 133.4%
1900 1,570 31.4%
1910 2,229 42.0%
1920 2,518 13.0%
1930 3,103 23.2%
1940 3,601 16.0%
1950 5,238 45.5%
1960 9,534 82.0%
1970 13,555 42.2%
1980 13,188 −2.7%
1990 12,922 −2.0%
2000 15,119 17.0%
2010 14,907 −1.4%
2020 14,368 −3.6%
U.S. Decennial Census

2010 census

At the 2010 census, there were 14,907 people, 6,209 households, and 4,064 families living in the city. The population density was 440 inhabitants per square mile (170/km2). There were 6,920 housing units at an average density of 201.1 per square mile (77.6/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 64.8% White, 30.2% Black or African American, 0.7% Native American, 0.9% Asian, 0.0% Pacific Islander, 0.8% from other races, and 2.6% from two or more races. 3.2% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Of the 6,209 households 26.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.3% were married couples living together, 17.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.5% were non-families. 30.5% of households were one person and 12.0% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.91.

The age distribution was 23.1% under the age of 18, 8.4% from 18 to 24, 23.1% from 25 to 44, 28.2% from 45 to 64, and 17.2% 65 or older. The median age was 41.2 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.6 males.

The median household income was $41,079 and the median family income was $52,061. Males had a median income of $41,513 versus $28,227 for females. The per capita income for the city was $22,103. About 13.6% of families and 18.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 27.2% of those under age 18 and 14.4% of those age 65 or over.

2020 census

Ozark racial composition
Race Num. Perc.
White (non-Hispanic) 8,147 56.7%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 4,760 33.13%
Native American 65 0.45%
Asian 151 1.05%
Pacific Islander 8 0.06%
Other/Mixed 671 4.67%
Hispanic or Latino 566 3.94%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 14,368 people, 5,946 households, and 3,651 families residing in the city.

Education

Ozark is served by the Ozark City Schools. Schools located in the city are Carroll High School (grades 9 through 12), Carroll Career Center (grades 9 through 12), D.A. Smith Middle School (grades 6 through 8), Harry N. Mixon Intermediate School (grades 3 through 5), and Joseph W. Lisenby Primary School (grades k through 2.)

Dale County School District is headquartered in Ozark, but does not include Ozark.

There is one private school in Ozark, Harvest Christian School for K-12.

Post-secondary education is available at Enterprise State Community College's Alabama Aviation Center at Ozark. Programs are offered in aviation maintenance technology.

Media

Radio stations

  • WDBT 103.9 FM (News/Talk)
  • WOAB 104.9 FM (Adult standards)
  • WOZK 900 AM (MOR)

Newspaper

  • The Southern Star- weekly

Notable people

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Ozark (Alabama) para niños

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