Choccolocco, Alabama
Choccolocco is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Calhoun County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population was 2,804. It was founded in 1832.
Choccolocco, Alabama | |
|---|---|
Census-designated place & Unincorporated community | |
Location of Choccolocco in Calhoun County, Alabama. | |
Choccolocco Choccolocco | |
| Coordinates: 33°39′33″N 85°42′13″W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Alabama |
| County | Calhoun |
| Area | |
| • Total | 11.78 sq mi (30.52 km2) |
| • Land | 11.65 sq mi (30.16 km2) |
| • Water | 0.14 sq mi (0.35 km2) |
| Elevation | 679 ft (207 m) |
| Population (2020) | |
| • Total | 2,838 |
| • Density | 243.69/sq mi (94.09/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (Central (CST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
| ZIP code | 36207 |
| Area code(s) | 256 & 938 |
| GNIS feature ID | 159400 |
The name Choccolocco is an anglicization of the Creek words "chahko lago" ("big shoals") or "choko rakko" ("big house"); sources vary.
The community gained brief notoriety in 2001 when The Daily Show aired a piece on the "Choccolocco Monster", a part of local folklore concerning sightings of a mysterious creature in the area in the late 1960s. An October 2001 article in the Anniston Star newspaper revealed that the creature was, in fact, local resident Neal Williamson. As a teenager, Williamson would don his costume (consisting of a cow skull and a sheet) and gain the attention of passing cars by jumping out of the woods onto the roadside, often startling motorists.