Prior to its incorporation, Dadeville was an Indian trading post and a center of commerce where commodities such as cotton, lumber, tin, asbestos, and livestock were traded.

The town was surveyed by John H. Broadnax in 1836,[3] granted a charter in 1837, and first incorporated in 1858.

[3] As a stagecoach stop on the Tennessee Road between Montgomery and Georgia, Dadeville was host to a stream of traders whose goods and livestock often crowded the square of the courthouse.

[3] Dadeville lost its charter during the Civil War, and was incorporated a second time in 1878.

Attempts to revive the school after the war failed, and the building burned in 1873.

[6] On April 15, 2023, four people were killed and 32 others were injured in a mass shooting at a party.

[7] According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 16.0 square miles (41 km2), all land.

Alabama State Route 49 also runs through the city from north to south, leading north 18 mi (29 km) to New Site and south 18 mi (29 km) to Reeltown.

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters.

There were 1,278 housing units at an average density of 79.9 per square mile (30.8/km2).

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 3,084 people, 1,044 households, and 677 families residing in the city.