In Morgan County, the family of "Malry" appeared in early tax records for the Harris Militia District as early as the 1840s, and by the turn of the twentieth century the community of Mallory existed on land owned by that family. By 1897, Mallory had a church, Mallory Chapel, and a school, Mallory School. By 1911, a second school, Longs Academy, served the Harris District. The community also had a general store and a post office, and an 1890 application filed with the postmaster general said the post office would serve approximately 2,000 people and stood in the midst of an intelligent, densely populated community. Near the center of Mallory, the Gibbs family operated a grist mill on Big Sandy Creek, and two cotton gins stood nearby, one about two miles south at the intersection of present-day Bostwick Highway and Sandy Creek Roads and the other about two miles north at the intersection of present-day Bostwick Highway and Nolan Store Road, in a community later identified as Drexel. Mallory is recognized as a significant part of Morgan County history.