Monroe County’s two downtowns are quietly coming back. In Monroeville — famous worldwide as the setting of Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” — new businesses are popping up along Main Street, fueled by private investment that is boosting expansion across the historic courthouse square district.
The revival isn’t limited to the county seat. Frisco City, down the road in southern Monroe County, is seeing its own resurgence, with an uptick in small boutiques and shops opening downtown. Like Monroeville, Frisco City leans on a rich local history that continues to interest residents and visitors alike.
Preparing for the Next Storm
Like many South Alabama communities, Monroe County knows heavy rain as well as it knows literary fame. Monroe County EMA director Chuck Downing has detailed how the county prepares for flooding when severe weather moves through — planning that becomes especially important as more people and businesses settle into revitalized downtown blocks.
Rodeo Country
A few miles away in Frisco City, the Monroe County Rodeo remains one of the area’s signature events. Rodeo announcer Clint Allemand has walked crowds through the action — from barrel racing, where horse-and-rider teams carve quick cloverleaf-shaped turns around barrels, to crowd favorites like Muttin’ Bustin’ for young riders.
Together, the storefronts filling in on two main streets and the crowds still turning out for courthouse-square traditions tell the same story: rural Monroe County is holding onto its past while building something new around it.