Houston County is in need of a volunteer ACPA County Representative. An ACPA County Rep must live within Houston County or in an adjoining county. He or she would respond to queries and concerns about cemeteries within the county of Houston. This is a volunteer position for those interested in preserving Houston County's cemetery heritage and who enjoys interacting with people and recording cemeteries. No special knowledge or training needed. If this sounds like you, then you are an ideal candidate to be the next ACPA Representative for Houston County.

Houston County is the newest of the 67 Alabama counties and is located in the southeast bordering Georgia and Florida. It was formed from parts of Henry, Dale and Geneva counties in 1903.

Known both as the Peanut Capitol of the World and the Heart of the Wiregrass, Houston County is named for Governor George Smith Houston who served twice in Congress but was denied his Senate seat immediately after the Civil War during reconstruction. Although there are numerous Civil War graves, Houston County has only one Revolutionary War soldier, Joseph Watford, who is buried at Big Creek United Methodist Church Cemetery approximately 10 miles SSW of Dothan on County Rd. 203.

There are between 150 and 178 cemeteries within Houston County and range from the well kept to the neglected. There is one where the farmer removed the stones and planted peanuts, thus obliterating all evidence of the family plot. Another is on a single city lot. One overgrown cemetery was located by talking to EMTs working an accident scene out in the county. Others were discovered by a casual conversation with the Probate Judge who has subsequently identified numerous cemeteries throughout the county. Alabama law provides for both felony and misdemeanor fines and incarceration for those who desecrate, deface, remove or destroy any monument of the dead. Won't you help us identify, in order to preserve, our past?