Ethelsville is a town in Pickens County, Alabama, United States. Originally it name named Yorkville. It took its current name from Ethel Burgin Hancock, the daughter of local physician J. T. Hancock. His son Thomas was the town's first postmaster. The town was incorporated in 1952 or 1956, depending on the source, and at the time was still an active railroad stop, with four freight trains and six passenger trains stopping there daily.