In 1818, a census was authorized by the government of the Alabama Territory for its twenty-nine counties in 1820. The federal census of 1820 for Alabama was completely destroyed by fire, but the returns for eight of the twenty-nine counties are on file in the Alabama State Archives. This publication, then, which is based on the information found in the Archives, sets forth the only extant record of the 1820 Census. It contains the returns for the counties of Baldwin, Conecuh, Dallas, Franklin, Limestone, St. Clair, Shelby, and Wilcox. Altogether about 4,000 heads of families are listed by county. Included with each entry is a tabular form indicating the number of persons in each family, their sex, approximate age, and color.