Early settlers from Virginia, the Carolinas, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia moved into the deep forests of southern Butler County. In 1855, the Rev. Pitt S. Milner established a homestead and post office 16 miles south of Greenville and named the place Georgiana in honor of his home state and his daughter Anna. The Louisville and Nashville Railroad arrived on July 4, 1859. After the Civil War, cotton, corn, oats, and sweet potatoes were grown for market, and Georgiana flourished as a railroad hub, logging town, and trade center in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Hank Williams, whose father was a logger, lived here from age 7 to 11. While watching Westerns at a Georgiana picture show on Saturdays in 1931-34, young Hiram Williams developed a fondness for cowboy nicknames and clothing, and after his family moved to Montgomery in 1936, he began calling himself Hank. Fred McClendon opened the GA~ANA Theatre on Jan. 31, 1939, and eight months later 16-year-old Hank performed there with his band, The Drifting Cowboys. The movie theatre closed in 1959 and was later used for storage and a cabinet shop. When demolition was threatened in 1996, J.C. Sims purchased the theatre, and it was renovated for movies and live performances and reopened in 1999.