Town of Eclectic

162 meters

The town of Eclectic was incorporated in 1907, and celebrated its centennial season in August 2007, though the community itself is older. The word "eclectic" is defined as being composed of elements drawn from "various sources", and tradition has it that the town was named by a local resident who had taken an "eclectic" course of study at school and so named the town because of the various surrounding geographic areas. Another theory is that the name is a corruption of "Electric", the name by which Eclectic was marked on some late 19th century maps of Alabama. Eclectic post office was established in 1879, before which the community was known as Cotton or Cotton's Store on maps (Cotton being the surname of the merchant and postmaster and not a reference to the crop). Prior to its settlement by European and/or African people, on the site of this town was the Creek Indian village called "Tumkeehatchee".