{{Use American English|date=September 2024}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2024}} {{Infobox settlement |official_name = Orion, Alabama |settlement_type = Unincorporated community |nickname = |motto =
<!-- Images --> |image_skyline = |imagesize = |image_caption = |image_flag = |image_seal =
<!-- Maps --> |image_map = |mapsize = |map_caption = |image_map1 = |mapsize1 = |map_caption1 = |pushpin_map=Alabama#USA
<!-- Location --> |subdivision_type = Country |subdivision_name = United States |subdivision_type1 = State |subdivision_name1 = Alabama |subdivision_type2 = County |subdivision_name2 = Pike
<!-- Government --> |government_footnotes = |government_type = |leader_title = |leader_name = |leader_title1 = |leader_name1 = |established_title = |established_date =
<!-- Area --> |unit_pref = |area_footnotes = |area_magnitude = |area_total_km2 = |area_land_km2 = |area_water_km2 = |area_total_sq_mi = |area_land_sq_mi = |area_water_sq_mi =
<!-- Population --> |population_as_of = |population_footnotes = |population_total = |population_density_km2 = |population_density_sq_mi =
<!-- General information --> |timezone = Central (CST) |utc_offset = -6 |timezone_DST = CDT |utc_offset_DST = -5 |elevation_footnotes = |elevation_m = |elevation_ft = 561 |coordinates = {{coord|31|57|32|N|86|00|20|W|region:US-AL|display=inline,title}}
<!-- Area/postal codes & others --> |postal_code_type = |postal_code = |area_code = 334 |blank_name = GNIS feature ID |blank_info = 152820<ref>{{cite gnis|152820|Orion}}</ref> |blank1_name = |blank1_info = |website = |footnotes = }} '''Orion''', also known as '''Prospect Ridge''', is an unincorporated community in Pike County, Alabama, United States, located {{convert|12.9|mi|km}} north of Troy.
==History== Originally called Prospect Ridge, the name was changed to Orion in honor of the constellation.<ref>{{cite book |last=Foscue |first=Virginia |date=1989 |title=Place Names in Alabama |location=Tuscaloosa |publisher=The University of Alabama Press |page=105 |isbn=0-8173-0410-X }}</ref> Orion was incorporated on February 4, 1850, and the charter was repealed by the Alabama Legislature on February 26, 1881.<ref name="Alabama1881">{{cite book|author=Alabama|title=Acts of the General Assembly of the State of Alabama|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NJU3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA529|year=1881|publisher=J. Boardman|pages=435}}</ref> A post office operated under the name Prospect Ridge from 1838 to 1848 and under the name Orion from 1848 to 1903.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.postalhistory.com/postoffices.asp?task=display&state=AL&county=Pike | title=Pike County | publisher=Jim Forte Postal History | access-date=January 19, 2015}}</ref>
Orion was home to the Orion Institute, one of the earliest schools in Pike County.<ref name="onProject1941">{{cite book|author1=Best Books on|author2=Federal Writers' Project|title=Alabama; a Guide to the Deep South|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FqoikVyYs4wC&pg=PA378|year=1941|publisher=Best Books on|isbn=978-1-62376-001-4|pages=378}}</ref>
Jim Capers, the first African-American Revolutionary War soldier known to be buried in Alabama, is buried at Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church in Orion.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.alssar.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/JimCapersDedicationDrivingDirections.pdf |title=Jim Capers |publisher=The Alabama Society Sons of the American Revolution |format=PDF |access-date=January 19, 2015 }}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
Multiple structures in Orion were documented in the Historic American Buildings Survey. ==Notable people== *C. S. Yarbrough - American politician
==Gallery==
<gallery> File:Historic American Buildings Survey W. N. Manning, Photographer, June 14, 1935 FRONT AND SIDE VIEW, N. W. - Baptist Church, U.S. Highway 231, Orion, Pike County, AL HABS ALA,55-ORIO,1-1.tif|Baptist Church File:Historic American Buildings Survey W. N. Manning, Photographer, June 14, 1935 CLOSE UP OF N. W. FRONT DOOR - Baptist Church, U.S. Highway 231, Orion, Pike County, AL HABS ALA,55-ORIO,1-5.tif|Front door of Baptist Church File:Historic American Buildings Survey W. N. Manning, Photographer, June 14, 1935 CLOSE- UP OF FRONT PORCH - Solomon Siler House, U.S. Highway 231, Orion, Pike County, AL HABS ALA,55-ORIO,5-13.tif|Solomon Siler House front porch File:Historic American Buildings Survey W. N. Manning, Photographer, June 14, 1935 FIREPLACE IN S. E. BED ROOM - Solomon Siler House, U.S. Highway 231, Orion, Pike County, AL HABS ALA,55-ORIO,5-8.tif|Solomon Siler House bedroom File:Historic American Buildings Survey W. N. Manning, Photographer, June 14, 1935 FRONT HALL DOOR TREATMENT, FACING E. - Solomon Siler House, U.S. Highway 231, Orion, Pike County, AL HABS ALA,55-ORIO,5-5.tif|Solomon Siler House foyer File:Historic American Buildings Survey W. N. Manning, Photographer, June 14, 1935 STAIRWAY AND REAR HALL DOOR - Solomon Siler House, U.S. Highway 231, Orion, Pike County, AL HABS ALA,55-ORIO,5-6.tif|Solomon Siler House stairway File:Historic American Buildings Survey W. N. Manning, Photographer, June 14, 1935 VIEW IN BALCONY, SHOWING COLUMN CAP AND BANISTERS - Solomon Siler House, U.S. Highway 231, Orion, HABS ALA,55-ORIO,5-3.tif|Solomon Siler House columns File:Historic American Buildings Survey W. N. Manning, Photographer, June 14, 1935 FRONT AND SIDE VIEW N.E. - Solomon Siler House, U.S. Highway 231, Orion, Pike County, AL HABS ALA,55-ORIO,5-1.tif|Solomon Siler House File:Historic American Buildings Survey W. N. Manning, Photographer, June 14, 1935 REAR AND SIDE VIEW S.W. - Solomon Siler House, U.S. Highway 231, Orion, Pike County, AL HABS ALA,55-ORIO,5-2.tif|Solomon Siler House File:Historic American Buildings Survey W. N. Manning, Photographer, June 14, 1935 FRONT VIEW (WEST) NORTH SIDE - McCullough-Henderson House, U.S. Highway 231, Orion, Pike County, AL HABS ALA,55-ORIO,4-1.tif|McCullough-Henderson House File:Historic American Buildings Survey W. N. Manning, Photographer, June 14, 1935 FIREPLACE IN BED ROOM, (S.W. ROOM) - McCullough-Henderson House, U.S. Highway 231, Orion, Pike HABS ALA,55-ORIO,4-3.tif|McCullough-Henderson House fireplace File:Historic American Buildings Survey W. N. Manning, Photographer, June 14, 1935 STAIRWAY IN DINING ROOM - McCullough-Henderson House, U.S. Highway 231, Orion, Pike County, AL HABS ALA,55-ORIO,4-2.tif|McCullough-Henderson House stairway File:Historic American Buildings Survey W. N. Manning, Photographer, June 15, 1935 FRONT VIEW (WEST) - Hanchey-Pennington House, U.S. Highway 231, Orion, Pike County, AL HABS ALA,55-ORIO,2-1.tif|Hanchey-Pennington House File:Historic American Buildings Survey W. N. Manning, Photographer, June 15, 1935 REAR AND SIDE VIEW, S. E. - Hanchey-Pennington House, U.S. Highway 231, Orion, Pike County, AL HABS ALA,55-ORIO,2-2.tif|Hanchey-Pennington House rear File:Historic American Buildings Survey W. N. Manning, Photographer, June 15, 1935 FIREPLACE IN N. W. FRONT ROOM - Hanchey-Pennington House, U.S. Highway 231, Orion, Pike County, AL HABS ALA,55-ORIO,2-3.tif|Hanchey-Pennington House fireplace File:Historic American Buildings Survey W. N. Manning, Photographer, June 15, 1935 FRONT AND SIDE VIEW, N. E. - Orion Male and Female Institute, U.S. Highway 231, Orion, Pike County, HABS ALA,55-ORIO,3-1.tif|Orion Male and Female Institute File:Historic American Buildings Survey W. N. Manning, Photographer, June 15, 1935 FRONT DOOR TREATMENT (EAST) - Orion Male and Female Institute, U.S. Highway 231, Orion, Pike County, HABS ALA,55-ORIO,3-2.tif|Orion Male and Female Institute front door </gallery>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Pike County, Alabama}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Unincorporated communities in Pike County, Alabama Category:Unincorporated communities in Alabama