Pinson, one of Alabama’s oldest communities, was settled by General Andrew Jackson’s soldiers in the early 1800s after victory at Horseshoe Bend during the War of 1812. Originally known as Hagood’s Crossroads for settler Zachariah Hagood and his family, it was later renamed Mount Pinson, presumably after Pinson, Tennessee, and then called Pinson. Its first post office was established in 1837. Andrew Jackson Beard, a black American who became a renowned inventor and the first millionaire of Jefferson County, was born near Pinson in 1849. Pinson is home to one of Alabama’s oldest caves, dating to the Hamilton Period circa 900; three endangered fish species, including the Watercress Darter, Rush Darter, and Vermilion Darter, found only in Pinson’s Turkey Creek; and four historical cemeteries that predate the Civil War: Red Hill, Cole-Johnson, Marvin’s Chapel, and Baird-Tatum, where several Civil War veterans are interred. In 1861, residents volunteered for the Jefferson Warriors and fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War. Turkey Creek Nature Preserve includes the home site and mill of David Hanby, one of Alabama’s early industrialists and a pioneer in the development of Alabama’s coal industry. Known as the Mount Pinson Ironworks, a small forge and foundry were built in 1863 and supplied horseshoes for Confederate troops during the Civil War. In the 1880s, Alabama By-Products opened Bradford Mines north of Mount Pinson. During the Great Depression, the federal government created the Palmerdale Homesteads north of Pinson as part of the Farm Resettlement Act. On March 30, 2004, residents of Pinson, Palmerdale, and several surrounding communities voted to become the City of Pinson. The first mayor was Hoyt Sanders, and the first council members were Dawn Tanner, Joe Cochran, Shane Shelnutt, John Churchwell Jr., and Barbara Clifton. Descendants of Pinson’s founding families continue to reside in Pinson and play a major role in the development of Jefferson County.