The Carrollton Short Line Railroad, authorized by the legislature in 1897, connected the Mobile & Ohio Railroad at Reform with the Pickens County seat. John Taylor Cochrane of Tuscaloosa, working with Carrollton citizens, completed that line in 1902, then extended it southward toward the Tombigbee River with the encouragement of south Pickens County landowners. Purchasing 36 acres between the villages of Franconia and Bridgeville, Cochrane founded "Aliceville," named for his wife, Alyce Searcy. By 1903, tracks reached the new town's depot here at the south end of Broad Street and in February 1907, Aliceville was incorporated.
As Cochrane's railroad line continued on toward Mobile, it was rechristened the Alabama, Tennessee & Northern Railroad. The line operated in Pickens County until June 29, 1976, when the last train made its run.
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