
History
After the forced removal of the Creek Indians from their territory in 1836, white settlers began to come to the area. The first post office was opened in 1855, and the community was named Childersburgh (the ‘H' was later dropped) after one of the prominent early families in town.
The earliest industry in the area was a sawmill built in 1868, and timber and timber products became one of the area's sustaining industries. The charcoal business also thrived, making use of the scrap wood discarded by the sawmills to create fuel for the coke ovens of the burgeoning steel industry to the north. The Alabama and Tennessee River Railroad came through the Childersburg area in 1868, allowing businesses to bring their products to market; this line eventually became the Southern Railway.

The town's population remained at about 500 individuals until 1941, when a munitions plant was constructed there in the lead-up to World War II. The population quickly surged to around 6,000 and remained at that level until the plant closed after the war; the bulk of those workers left soon thereafter.
Important industries in the area now include a pulp and paper plant and a rayon manufacturer.
Demographics
According to 2020 Census estimates, Childersburg recorded a population of 4,872. Of that number, 56.8 percent of respondents identified themselves as white, 37.2 percent as African American, 3.4 percent as Hispanic, 1.4 percent as American Indian, 0.7 percent as two or more races, and 0.5 percent as Asian. The town's median household income was $39,636, and the per capita income was $22,309.
Employment
According to 2020 Census estimates, the workforce in Childersburg was divided among the following industrial categories:
- Manufacturing (20.4 percent)
- Retail trade (19.0 percent)
- Educational services, and health care and social assistance (13.3 percent)
- Arts, entertainment, recreation, and accommodation and food services (12.2 percent)
- Transportation, warehousing, and utilities (7.5 percent)
- Professional, scientific, and administrative and waste management services (6.5 percent)
- Construction (5.8 percent)
- Other services, except public administration (4.5 percent)
- Public administration (4.3 percent)
- Finance and insurance, real estate, and rental and leasing (3.1 percent)
- Wholesale trade (1.9 percent)
- Information (0.8 percent)
- Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, and extractive (0.6 percent)
Education
Childersburg schools are part of the Talladega County School System. The town has two elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school.
Transportation
Childersburg is served by U.S. Highways 280/231, which run north-south through the town, and State Highway 76, which runs east. Merkel Field-Sylacauga Municipal Airport is located eight miles to the south.
Events and Places of Interest

Additional Resources
History of Childersburg: Coosa—Oldest City in America. Childersburg, Ala.: Tallaseehatchee Historical Society, 1978.
Mathis-Downs, J. Leigh. Images of America: Childersburg. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2005.
Talladega County Heritage Book Committee. The Heritage of Talladega County. Clanton, Ala.: Heritage Publishing Consultants, 2000.