Hale County Alabama map | County Boundary and Places

The Hale County Alabama map is most informative when Greensboro is treated as the central service point, Moundville as the Tuscaloosa-facing north, Akron as the northwest rural side, and Newbern as a small but unusually important community in the southeastern Black Belt. The Black Warrior River and its managed pools add another layer by shaping the county’s western and northern margins.

Quick Facts

The U.S. Census Bureau estimates 15,194 residents as of July 1, 2025, 2.8 percent above the 2020 estimates base of 14,785. The 2020 census also counted 14,785 residents. The total remains small, but the recent estimate points upward rather than downward and the northern part of the county increasingly shares travel patterns with nearby Tuscaloosa.

Hale County contains 643.99 square miles of land and had a 2020 density of 23.0 people per square mile. The low density creates long rural gaps between the four incorporated municipalities, so highways, river crossings, and the direction of nearby service centers matter more than a dense street network.

What the Map Shows

Greensboro is the county seat and the principal administrative and commercial center. Alabama 69 and Alabama 14 organize much of the travel around town, while local rural roads converge on Greensboro from surrounding farming communities. It is the best central anchor for reading the rest of Hale County.

Moundville lies in the north and is far more closely tied to Tuscaloosa than the other Hale County municipalities. Alabama 69 continues through the town toward the Tuscaloosa area, and Moundville Archaeological Park sits nearby along the Black Warrior River. The northern county therefore combines commuter access, river geography, and one of the Southeast’s major archaeological landscapes.

Akron marks the northwestern side. It developed along a railroad corridor in the nineteenth century and today serves as a small rural reference point toward the Greene County side. The landscape around Akron is more dispersed than the Greensboro and Moundville corridors.

Newbern lies southeast of Greensboro along Alabama 61. Its population is very small, but its geographic significance is much larger because Auburn University’s Rural Studio is based there. The town has become an internationally recognized setting for hands-on rural architecture and community design.

The four primary map labels—Greensboro, Moundville, Akron, and Newbern—work unusually well as directional markers. Greensboro covers the center, Moundville the Tuscaloosa-facing north, Akron the northwest, and Newbern the southeastern Black Belt interior.

Other communities such as Sawyerville, Gallion, Havana, and Stewart fill the broad spaces between those municipalities. They are important to the county’s actual settlement pattern even when they are not emphasized on the simplified map, especially along local roads and the Black Warrior floodplain.

County Layout and Location

Hale County lies in west-central Alabama’s Black Belt and borders Tuscaloosa, Bibb, Perry, Marengo, and Greene counties. Moundville sits directly south of the Tuscaloosa urban area, while Greensboro and Newbern occupy much more rural settings farther south.

Alabama 69 is the strongest north-south highway framework. It links Moundville with Greensboro and continues through the Black Belt. ALDOT’s current annual reporting also places the U.S. 43/Alabama 69 corridor within the larger West Alabama Highway program, emphasizing the regional importance of this north-south connection.

U.S. 43 is another major regional route associated with Greensboro and west-central Hale County, connecting north toward Tuscaloosa and south toward Marengo County and Demopolis. Alabama 14 provides an east-west connection through the Greensboro area and gives the county seat access to communities beyond the main north-south corridor.

Alabama 61 is particularly important for Newbern and the southeastern county. Rural Studio’s main office is on Alabama Highway 61, making the route an everyday link between a very small town and a network of educational, civic, and community projects.

The Black Warrior River and its impounded reaches shape much of the western and northern edge. Bends, backwaters, and floodplain terrain reduce the number of direct crossings and make some county-to-county trips depend on a limited set of bridges and connecting roads.

ALDOT’s Survey Mapping index provides county and municipal mapping for Hale County, including separate sheets for Akron, Greensboro, Moundville, and Newbern. The Moundville sheet is dated November 2017, while the countywide and other municipal sheets listed there are older, so their dates matter when comparing road detail.

Local Context

Hale County was established on January 30, 1867, and was named for Stephen F. Hale. Greensboro became the county seat and remains the center of county government and many local services.

The county is part of Alabama’s Black Belt, a region whose fertile soils supported a cotton-centered plantation economy in the nineteenth century. The modern landscape is far less concentrated economically, but the historic pattern still helps explain broad agricultural tracts, dispersed settlement, and the small size of most towns.

Moundville Archaeological Park is one of Hale County’s most important geographic and historical anchors. The University of Alabama Museums describes the site as a 326-acre complex on the Black Warrior River about 13 miles south of Tuscaloosa, where Mississippian people built 29 large flat-topped mounds around a central plaza.

About 800 years ago, Moundville was a major regional population and ceremonial center. Its river location mattered because the Black Warrior provided a transportation and resource corridor. Modern Moundville continues to occupy that same northern river-oriented setting, linking present-day travel with a much older settlement geography.

The Black Warrior–Tombigbee system also affects Hale County farther west and south. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers lists Warrior Lake at about 7,800 acres and 77 miles long, with the Armistead I. Selden Lock and Dam completed in 1962. The pool broadens the river corridor between Hale and Greene counties.

Farther downstream, Demopolis Lake extends 48 miles up the Black Warrior and 53 miles up the Tombigbee. Its upper reaches help explain the large water indentations and irregular river boundary in southwestern Hale County rather than a simple straight county line.

Newbern gives Hale County a very different modern identity. Auburn University Rural Studio has been rooted in the county since 1993 and has completed more than 200 projects across the Black Belt. Its headquarters are in Newbern, where students live and work in the community.

Rural Studio projects in Newbern include the Town Hall, Firehouse, Library, housing, and other civic facilities. The program also has projects in Greensboro. That distribution creates a contemporary design-and-community connection between two small Hale County towns that would otherwise appear isolated on a conventional road map.

Ways to Use This Map

Start with Greensboro, then use Alabama 69 as the north-south axis and Alabama 14 as the cross-county line. Place Moundville toward Tuscaloosa, Akron in the northwest, and Newbern along Alabama 61 in the southeast. That structure turns four labels into distinct geographic zones.

For water geography, trace the Black Warrior River from the Moundville side toward the western county and the Warrior/Demopolis pool system. The river is not simply a scenic edge; it affects county boundaries, bridge access, floodplain terrain, and the location of historic settlement.

For cultural geography, compare Moundville Archaeological Park and Newbern’s Rural Studio. They represent two very different periods—Mississippian urban life and modern rural design—but both show how a small Alabama county can contain places with significance far beyond its population size.

• Treat Greensboro as the county-government and Alabama 69/14 service center.
• Read Moundville as both a Tuscaloosa-facing community and a Black Warrior archaeological landscape.
• Use Akron to orient the northwestern rural and historic railroad side.
• Place Newbern along Alabama 61 as the Rural Studio and southeastern Black Belt reference point.
• Follow the Black Warrior and reservoir pools to interpret western boundary shape and limited crossings.

FAQ

Why is Moundville unusually important on a Hale County map?

Moundville combines two major geographic roles. It sits on the Alabama 69 corridor close to Tuscaloosa, and the nearby Moundville Archaeological Park preserves a 326-acre Mississippian center beside the Black Warrior River. Modern transportation and an ancient river-based settlement therefore overlap in the same part of the county.

Why does Newbern receive so much attention despite its small population?

Newbern is the home base of Auburn University’s Rural Studio, which has worked in Hale County since 1993 on housing, civic buildings, and rural community projects. Its Town Hall, Library, Firehouse, and campus make the town a major reference point for contemporary rural architecture even though it remains very small.

Related Alabama County Maps

• Henry County Map | Headland Growth, Peanuts, and Five Places
• Houston County Map | Dothan, Peanuts, U.S. 231, and 12 Places
• Jackson County Map | Scottsboro, Russell Cave, and 13 Places
• Jefferson County Map | Birmingham, Bessemer, and 49 Places

Sources

• U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts
• Encyclopedia of Alabama: Hale County
• University of Alabama: Moundville Archaeological Park
• ALDOT Survey Mapping
• U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: Black Warrior–Tombigbee Lakes
• Auburn University Rural Studio
• Rural Studio: Newbern and Greensboro projects