The City of Dadeville was first surveyed by John H. Broadnax in 1836, about three years after Tallapoosa County was formed. Dadeville was named for Major Francis Langhorne Dade, a Virginian, who was a hero in the Seminole War in Florida. Dade and his command left Tampa, FL, in late December 1835 to go to the relief and reinforcement of Fort King, near present-day Ocala, FL. On December 28, 1835, Dade and his men were ambushed in open daylight by Indians under the leadership of Osceola. One man survived and managed to get to Fort King, where he reported the ambush. Dade and his men are buried in the Federal Cemetery at the barracks in St. Augustine, FL.
The Town was granted a charter in 1837 during a called session of the Alabama Legislature. The Legislature passed an act of Incorporation in 1858, providing for an intendant, or mayor, and five councilmen.
The charter was amended during the Civil War, and the town made application for a new one in 1871. “The Dadeville Democrat” announced the re-incorporation of the town on Dec. 4, 1878. The charter was amended by a bill presented to the Legislature in 1891.
Dadeville has won lasting fame as the home of the famous “Simon Suggs,” a character immortalized by Johnson J. Hooper in his book “Adventures of Simon Suggs and the Tallapoosa Volunteers and Other Stories.” Hooper lived in the United States Hotel while serving as circuit solicitor in the courts in Dadeville, and here he made many of his notes for his stories.