Wedowee is a small town and the county seat of Randolph County, in the east-central part of Alabama near the Georgia state line. It sits in the rolling Piedmont foothills, on the shores of Lake Wedowee, a reservoir on the upper Tallapoosa River. The town's name reaches back to the Creek people who inhabited this region. "Wedowee" means "old water" in the Muscogean language, and the settlement was named for a Muscogee Creek chief. Settled in the early 1830s, Wedowee became the Randolph County seat in 1834, when circuit court was first held in Chief Wedowee's hut; a log building with a dirt floor served as the county's first courthouse. The town incorporated in 1836, though its charter lapsed and was not restored until 1901. Lake Wedowee is the defining feature of modern life here. Officially the R.L. Harris Reservoir, the lake was created when R.L. Harris Dam was completed in 1983, impounding the Tallapoosa River into a 9,870-acre body of water. Its clear water and largely protected, undeveloped shoreline have made it a favorite among anglers and boaters seeking a quieter alternative to Alabama's busier reservoirs, and it draws a steady flow of second-home buyers and retirees. Wedowee remains a small, quiet county seat of roughly 750 residents. The Randolph County School System is headquartered in town, and the county courthouse, local shops, and churches anchor daily life. Its location about ninety miles from Atlanta and within reach of Birmingham and Auburn gives residents a rural pace with regional access. Wedowee suits lake lovers, retirees, and families seeking an affordable, low-key community in the Alabama Piedmont.