Pollard, located 1½ miles south, was established in 1861 at the junction of the Alabama & Florida and Mobile & Great Northern railroads and was named for Charles T. Pollard, builder of the Alabama & Florida Railroad. During the Civil War, one of the largest military training camps of the Confederacy was located here, and it was also the site of a major Confederate stores depot. The town suffered much destruction in Federal raids in December 1864 and March 1865. It served as the first county seat of Escambia County from 1868 until 1883, when the county government moved to Brewton.