Cherokee County, Alabama is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2010 census, the population was 25,989. Its county seat is Centre,. The county is named for the Cherokee tribe.HistoryThe area included in today's Cherokee County for centuries had belonged to the Cherokee Nation of Native Americans. On December 29, 1835, however, Cherokee leaders signed the controversial Treaty of New Echota, agreeing to surrender their lands in return for new lands west of the Mississippi River. This treaty contributed to the apparent theft of land from the Native Americans by the U.S. government. To this day, there are few Native Americans in Cherokee County.On January 9, 1836, the Alabama legislature created Cherokee County with its present boundaries. Two years later, the United States government removed by force all Cherokees who had refused to leave on what would become known as the Trail of Tears.Cherokee County was in the news again on Palm Sunday, March 27, 1994, when it was hit by a Force 4 tornado. Goshen United Methodist Church was destroyed only twelve minutes after the National Weather Service at Birmingham had issued a warning for northern Calhoun, southeastern Etowah, and southern Cherokee counties.
