Originally home to Creek and Choctaw Indians, Whatley was first settled by pioneers about 1808. Some of Clarke County’s most famous events happened in or near Whatley, including a Creek War battle in 1812 at Fort Sinquefield, an early fort built by settlers for protection against the Creeks, who were British allies during the War of 1812. Nearby, the Old Line Road (Co. Rd. 35) follows near the surveyed Indian Boundary Line that separated the Creek from the Choctaw. Clarke County historian the Rev. T. H. Ball is buried in Whatley. One of the area’s earliest churches was Horeb Baptist Church, founded on September 9, 1825, and the town was first called Horeb in its honor. It was later named Whatley in honor of Franklin Benjamin Whatley, born October 1, 1826, the grandson of Elder Willis Whatley, an early Baptist minister of Clarke County. When the Mobile and Birmingham Railroad came through the county in 1886-87, F. B. Whatley deeded the land for the depot to the railroad, which named the depot for him. The post office officially changed its name from Horeb to Whatley on August 20, 1890. After the railroad arrived and in the early 20th century, Whatley became the trading and shipping center for a large, prosperous farming community, with several mercantile businesses around the depot, and Mrs. Nancy Whatley and later her daughter, Mrs. David Coleman, operated a hotel in the business area.