The county was created in 1815 by proclamation of the Governor of Mississippi Territory from lands ceded by Creek Indians in the 1814 Treaty of Ft. Jackson. It was named for President James Monroe, the fifth President of U.S.. from 1817 to 1825, who purchased Florida from Spain and proclaimed the Monroe Doctrine. Its first county seat was at Ft. Claiborne from 1815 to 1832, where Gen. F. L. Claiborne had built a fort in 1813 as a base of operations against Creek Indians. In 1832 the county seat moved to Monroeville, earlier called Walker's Mill for the first white settler. Before that, during colonial times, the area was claimed as part of Florida by Spain from 1519 to 1700, as Louisiana by France from 1700 to 1763, as West Florida by England from 1763 to 1780, and again as West Florida by Spain from 1780 to 1795. Spain ceded the area to U.S. in 1795, after which it became part of Mississippi Territory from 1798 to 1817, Alabama Territory from 1817 to 1819, and the State of Alabama from 1819 onward.