By Sarah Mahan

The Selma Times-Journal

 

Do Dallas County residents live in the Black Belt or the Blackbelt?

Selma is considered the Queen City of the Black Belt, according to the city’s website, but all the business listed in the phone book use Blackbelt as one word in their titles, leaving the question: Which one is correct?

“It’s a mix up because some people use it as two [words] and some people use it as one [word],” said Sheryl Smedley, executive director of the Selma and Dallas County Chamber of Commerce. “I’ve never given it any thought.”

Local businesses have given some thought to using the one-word or two-word version of the name.

Wayne Green, with Selma-based BlackBelt Technologies, said using BlackBlack in their name was an effort to connect with local clients.

“We wanted it to be unique. It’s just an icon,” he said.

Vickie Smith, co-owner of Blackbelt Sewer and Drain Service, also said using Blackbelt as one word was a way for the company to stand out.

“We wanted something that would jump out in the Yellow Pages,” she said, noting 75 percent of their business comes from the Black Belt region. “The more we thought about it; that is the area we were wanting to service so it kinda just fit.”

Black Belt is listed as one word in Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary 11th Edition, which states 1870 as the term’s date of origin.

This coincides with an advertisement from the 1800s Smedley said the Chamber of Commerce has kept and framed, which uses the name “Blackland Belt” for the area the chamber served.

The term Black Belt references the dark, fertile soil found in central Alabama and northeastern Mississippi. The area was once known as one of the South’s most vital agricultural areas, according to Encyclopedia Britannica Online.

Despite what the dictionary may say, both spellings of the name still persist — at least in business. Smedley, Green and Smith agreed no confusion has resulted from using the one word name in business titles.