The Calhoun County Alabama map is most useful when the county is read as several connected zones rather than one continuous urban area: the Anniston–Oxford core, the Jacksonville–Piedmont corridor to the north and northeast, and the Coosa River communities around Glencoe, Southside, and Ohatchee to the west. Those relationships explain why roads, terrain, and waterways matter as much as the county boundary itself.
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Download the Calhoun County map
Save the JPG used in this article for county-location work, document layouts, or printing outside the browser.
- Map file: Calhoun County reference map
- File format: JPG
- Coverage: County boundary and selected labeled places
Quick Facts
| State | Alabama |
|---|---|
| County | Calhoun County |
| County seat | Anniston |
| 2025 population estimate | 115,834 |
| 2020 land area | 605.89 sq mi |
| Main corridors | I-20, U.S. 431, U.S. 78, AL 21, AL 202 |
| File format | JPG |
The U.S. Census Bureau estimates 115,834 residents as of July 1, 2025, down about 0.5 percent from the 2020 estimates base. The county has 605.89 square miles of land and recorded 192.2 people per square mile in 2020. That density is high enough to produce a substantial central urban cluster while still leaving large mountain, forest, and river-edge areas around the county’s margins.
What the Map Shows
Anniston is the county seat and the main central reference point. Oxford sits immediately to the south along Interstate 20, U.S. 78, and Alabama 21, so the two cities form the county’s strongest continuous urban corridor. The map becomes easier to read once that pair is treated as one orientation zone rather than two isolated labels.
Jacksonville lies north of Anniston on Alabama 21 and has a distinct university-centered role through Jacksonville State University. Piedmont is farther northeast toward the Cherokee and Cleburne county sides and sits on the Chief Ladiga Trail corridor. Together, Jacksonville and Piedmont show how settlement extends from the urban core into the Appalachian foothills.
Glencoe, Southside, and Ohatchee occupy a different setting toward the Coosa River side of the county. ALDOT’s April 2026 county map places the Coosa River along the western edge and shows these communities in relation to river crossings and regional roads. This western belt should therefore be read through both transportation and water geography.
East of the central cities, White Plains, Choccolocco, DeArmanville, and Rabbittown lead toward the Cleburne County line and the Talladega National Forest side of the county. Built-up land gives way quickly to wooded ridges and stream valleys, producing a different pattern from the flatter Coosa-side communities to the west.
County Layout and Location
Calhoun County borders Etowah County to the north, Cherokee County to the northeast, Cleburne County to the east, Talladega County to the south, and St. Clair County to the west. Its location on I-20 also places it directly on the Birmingham–Atlanta interstate corridor, a regional connection that gives the Anniston–Oxford area a different transportation role from many inland Alabama counties.
I-20 crosses the southern part of the Anniston–Oxford area from east to west. U.S. 431 supplies a major north-south spine, U.S. 78 links Anniston, Oxford, and Eastaboga, and Alabama 21 continues north from Anniston through Jacksonville toward Piedmont. Alabama 202 extends west from Anniston through an industrial and logistics corridor. These routes divide the county into several travel patterns rather than a single hub-and-spoke system.
The county government’s commission-district descriptions reinforce those geographic differences. Central areas include West Anniston, Hobson City, McClellan, and nearby communities; the southeast includes Oxford, White Plains, Choccolocco, and DeArmanville; and the northeast includes Jacksonville, Piedmont, Knightens Crossroads, Ballplay, and other foothill communities. The political districts are not a substitute for a road map, but they help show how locals group places into recognizable subregions.
Local Context
Calhoun County’s official history notes that the county was first known as Benton County before receiving its present name in 1858. Jacksonville served as the county seat before the seat moved to Anniston in 1899, a shift associated with Anniston’s rise as a railroad and industrial center. The old and new county-seat locations explain why both cities continue to hold regional importance.
McClellan, on the east side of Anniston, is another distinctive part of the map. ALDOT identifies the closed Fort McClellan military reservation and Pelham Range, while county materials continue to use McClellan as a major local-area reference. The large former military footprint means the landscape east of Anniston developed differently from an ordinary suburban expansion zone.
Physical geography adds another layer. Calhoun County describes itself as resting in the foothills of the Appalachian chain. USGS monitoring on Choccolocco Creek near Boiling Spring identifies a drainage area of about 191 square miles, and historical USGS work traces the creek from the mountainous Calhoun–Cleburne area southwest past Anniston and Oxford toward the Coosa River system.
The county therefore contains several contrasting landscapes: the Coosa River margin in the west, Choccolocco Creek and wooded uplands in the east, the Talladega National Forest along the eastern and southeastern side, and the Dugger Mountain area toward the northeast. The Chief Ladiga Trail follows this broader foothill corridor, adding a linear geographic feature that connects communities rather than staying inside one city.
Ways to Use This Map
For orientation, begin with Anniston and Oxford as the central pair. Move north toward Jacksonville and Piedmont, west toward Glencoe, Southside, and Ohatchee, and east toward White Plains and Choccolocco. That sequence turns the labeled places into a set of geographic zones and makes the irregular county boundary easier to interpret.
A transportation project can compare I-20, U.S. 431, U.S. 78, and Alabama 21. A physical-geography project can add the Coosa River, Choccolocco Creek, and the forested eastern ridges. For local history, compare Jacksonville’s former county-seat role, Anniston’s industrial growth, and the former Fort McClellan site. The same county outline supports all three approaches without relying on generic map-use descriptions.
- Compare the Anniston–Oxford core with the county’s northern and western communities.
- Trace I-20, U.S. 431, U.S. 78, and AL 21 as different movement corridors.
- Use the Coosa River and Choccolocco Creek to distinguish western and eastern terrain.
- Relate Jacksonville, Piedmont, McClellan, and the Chief Ladiga Trail to the foothill landscape.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the map show every city and community?
No. The label set is intentionally selective. ALDOT’s 2026 map identifies many additional places, including Alexandria, Bynum, Eastaboga, Saks, Weaver, Hobson City, DeArmanville, and Rabbittown. Use that road map or a GIS layer when an exact smaller-community location is required.
Can the map be printed?
The JPG can be printed with ordinary image or document software. For a large paper size, compare the source pixel dimensions with the intended print dimensions first so that smaller labels and the county outline remain sharp enough to read.
What does the download include?
The download opens one JPG copy of the Calhoun County graphic used in the article. Saving the file directly keeps browser controls and page margins out of the image, which is preferable for document placement or offline reference.
Related Alabama County Maps
- Chambers County Map Along the Alabama–Georgia Border
- Cherokee County Map | Weiss Lake, Little River Canyon, and the Georgia Line
- Chilton County Map | I-65 Growth, Peach Country, and Five Community Labels
- Choctaw County Map | Mississippi Border Communities and the Tombigbee River
Sources
- Official Calhoun County profile
- Calhoun County community links
- U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts
- ALDOT 2026 Calhoun County functional-classification map
- USGS Choccolocco Creek monitoring location
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