The Dallas County Alabama map is best read through Selma’s U.S. 80/Alabama 22 crossroads, Valley Grande to the north, Orrville and Old Cahawba to the southwest, and Selmont across the Alabama River. The confluence of the Cahaba and Alabama rivers, Selma’s high riverbank setting, and the east-west U.S. 80 corridor give the county a geographic structure that is much more specific than a simple list of place names.
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Download the Dallas County map
Open the JPG separately when comparing Selma with surrounding communities, U.S. 80 and Alabama 22, or the Alabama and Cahaba river corridors.
- Map file: Dallas County map
- File format: JPG
- Coverage: County boundary and selected labeled places
Quick Facts
| State | Alabama |
|---|---|
| County | Dallas County |
| County seat | Selma |
| 2025 population estimate | 35,140 |
| 2020 census population | 38,462 |
| Main highways | U.S. 80, AL 22 and connecting county roads |
| Major waters | Alabama River, Cahaba River and tributaries |
| Incorporated municipalities | Selma, Valley Grande, Orrville |
| File format | JPG |
The U.S. Census Bureau estimates 35,140 residents as of July 1, 2025, compared with 38,462 people counted in 2020. The recent decline reinforces the county’s highly centralized pattern: Selma remains the dominant population and service center while smaller municipalities and unincorporated Black Belt communities are spread across a broad rural area.
What the Map Shows
Selma is the county seat and largest urban center, positioned on high ground along the north bank of the Alabama River. City information identifies Selma as the seat of Dallas County and emphasizes its river location. U.S. 80 crosses the city and the Edmund Pettus Bridge before continuing east toward Montgomery, making the road-river junction the county’s strongest orientation point.
Valley Grande lies north of Selma along the Alabama 22 corridor. Dallas County’s official municipality page lists Selma, Valley Grande, and Orrville as the county’s incorporated municipalities. Valley Grande is therefore useful for marking the transition from Selma’s urban edge into the more dispersed northern countryside.
Orrville is the principal southwestern town and a practical gateway to Old Cahawba. Alabama Historical Commission directions send travelers west from downtown Selma on Alabama 22, across the Cahaba River, and then south on county roads toward the archaeological park. That route gives Orrville a clear role in the map: it anchors access to the river confluence and the former state capital.
Selmont and West Selmont lie across the Alabama River from the main Selma side. Although the straight-line separation is short, actual travel depends on bridges and U.S. 80. The river therefore functions as a stronger local boundary than distance alone would suggest.
County commission district pages add East Selma, Tyler, Sardis, Minter, Pleasant Hill, Carlowville, Brooklane, and other rural references. Those names reveal that the blank spaces between the major labels are populated by a dense network of small communities and county roads.
County Layout and Location
Dallas County lies in Alabama’s central Black Belt and is organized around Selma, the Alabama River, and east-west transportation. U.S. 80 is the best-known corridor toward Montgomery, while Alabama 22 connects Selma with Valley Grande to the north and the Cahaba River–Old Cahawba side to the west. Their convergence in Selma explains why the city dominates internal movement.
ALDOT currently lists a November 2021 functional-classification map for Dallas County. That county sheet is the appropriate companion when a project requires road hierarchy, municipal limits, streams, and smaller road connections beyond the article graphic. Outside Selma, the network behaves more like a rural system of long connectors and bridge-dependent crossings than an urban street grid.
The Alabama River defines the southern side of Selma and separates the main city from Selmont-area communities. Bridges concentrate movement into a small number of crossing points, so two nearby places on opposite banks may require a longer road trip than their apparent map distance suggests.
The Cahaba River reaches its mouth in southwestern Dallas County, where it joins the Alabama River at Old Cahawba. That confluence created an early transportation advantage but also exposed the former capital to lowland flooding. Orrville, the Cahaba crossing on Alabama 22, and Old Cahawba should therefore be read as one connected southwestern river zone.
Local Context
Dallas County’s civic history begins not only with Selma but also with Cahawba. The Alabama Historical Commission identifies Old Cahawba as Alabama’s first state capital from 1819 to 1826 and places it directly at the confluence of the Cahaba and Alabama rivers. It remained an important river town after the capital moved before population and buildings gradually disappeared.
Selma then became the county’s dominant center. The city incorporated in 1820 and expanded through Alabama River shipping and Black Belt cotton trade. Cahaba remained the county seat until 1866, after which Selma inherited the governmental role that still defines the modern map.
The Black Belt context matters because it shaped settlement and transportation. Plantation agriculture and cotton production concentrated activity on fertile soils, while the Alabama River gave Selma a shipping outlet. The dispersed pattern of rural communities across the county is part of that agricultural landscape rather than evidence of empty territory.
U.S. 80 and the Edmund Pettus Bridge also carry national historical significance. The National Park Service records that about 600 voting-rights marchers left Selma on March 7, 1965, crossed the bridge, and were violently confronted on what became known as Bloody Sunday. A protected march began again on March 21 and continued toward Montgomery.
That history is explicitly geographic. The march moved from Selma toward the Edmund Pettus Bridge and then east on U.S. 80. Reading downtown Selma, the Alabama River crossing, the bridge, and U.S. 80 together turns the 1965 events from an abstract historical reference into a traceable route on the county map.
Old Cahawba provides a second place where history and physical geography overlap. The Alabama Historical Commission manages the archaeological site at the river confluence and offers river overlooks, canoe access, and nature trails alongside the historic remains. Southwestern Dallas County therefore combines early state government, river transportation, archaeology, and floodplain geography in one location.
Ways to Use This Map
Begin with Selma, then place Valley Grande to the north, Orrville and Old Cahawba to the southwest, and Selmont across the river. Add U.S. 80 as the east-west spine and Alabama 22 as the north-and-west connector. With those anchors in place, the county’s central urban zone and surrounding Black Belt countryside become much easier to separate.
For river geography, follow the Alabama River through Selma and then identify the Cahaba confluence at Old Cahawba. For civil-rights geography, connect central Selma, the Edmund Pettus Bridge, and U.S. 80. For finer local work, add Tyler, Sardis, Minter, Pleasant Hill, Carlowville, and other commission-district communities to subdivide the rural interior.
- Compare Selma and Valley Grande as the county’s central and northern municipal centers.
- Separate U.S. 80 and Alabama 22 into east-west and northwestern travel corridors.
- Read Selma and Selmont as communities on opposite sides of the Alabama River.
- Place Orrville and Old Cahawba within the Cahaba–Alabama river confluence zone.
- Trace the Edmund Pettus Bridge and U.S. 80 as part of the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery route.
FAQ
Why is Old Cahawba important on a Dallas County map?
Old Cahawba sits where the Cahaba River enters the Alabama River and served as Alabama’s first state capital from 1819 to 1826. Today it is an archaeological site managed by the Alabama Historical Commission. Its location combines early state government, river transportation, and floodplain geography in one place.
Why does U.S. 80 matter so much in Dallas County?
U.S. 80 is Selma’s main east-west regional corridor and also the route used by the 1965 voting-rights marchers heading toward Montgomery after crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Transportation history and civil-rights history therefore overlap on the same physical road.
Related Alabama County Maps
Sources
- Dallas County official municipalities information
- U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts
- ALDOT Highway Functional Classification Maps
- City of Selma official history and geography
- Alabama Historical Commission: Old Cahawba
- National Park Service: Edmund Pettus Bridge
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