Youngtown, earlier known as Egypt, took its later name after 1915 to recognize the Young family. By 1857, Reason Young owned land and slaves in this area, and newspapers in 1891 referred to Joseph Young and in 1915 to Arthur Young living "in the very heart of Egypt." In 1893, the Egypt Post Office was established with Theophilus Jones as postmaster. The Young family prospered and operated several cotton gin in 1914, along with mills for sugar cane, corn, and timber. The pre-Civil War Owen plantation was located here, and both Franklin Owen (1817-1857) and his brother Isaac (1803-1888) were slave owners. Evidence suggests that two noted descendants of Isaac's slaves were Jesse Owens, four-time Olympic gold medalist, and blues legend Bessie Smith. The Owen plantation also had one of the earliest and largest Reconstruction-era black schools in the country. On 13 Jun 1937, a shoot-out at Owen Chapel Church wounded many community members and killed Deputy Sheriff Andrew Dutton and Bertha Perry. In a 1940 Decatur Daily article, Joe Young, son of Reason, recounted Union raiders stealing stock during the Civil War, and portions of the Owen plantation remain in family ownership.