Rutledge was the first county seat of Crenshaw County, serving from March 1867 to May 1893. Originally called Barber’s Cross Roads, it was briefly named Crenshaw, but on June 10, 1867, it was renamed for Captain Henry Rutledge of Company H, 59th Alabama Infantry, C.S.A. The first elected county officials were George W. Thagard, probate judge; James M. Lawrence, tax collector; W.T. Massey, tax assessor; John R. Snow, sheriff; F.M. Cody, circuit clerk; John P. Cook, D.A. Rutledge, Hugh Cameron, and John Jones, county commissioners. Elizabeth Pittman donated the land for the two-story courthouse. Rutledge was for many years a thriving community, but the Alabama Midland Railroad from Montgomery to Luverne bypassed the town in 1888. A spur track built from Julian to Rutledge in 1891 failed to stop the loss of population and business to Luverne, and in 1893 a special election moved the county seat there.