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Huntsville, Alabama

Huntsville is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Alabama. It is the county seat of Madison County with portions extending into Limestone County and Morgan County. It is located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama south of the state of Tennessee.

Huntsville was founded within the Mississippi Territory in 1805 and became an incorporated town in 1811. When Alabama was admitted as a state in 1819, Huntsville was designated for a year as the first capital, before the state capitol was moved to more central settlements. The city developed across nearby hills north of the Tennessee River, adding textile mills in the late nineteenth century.

Major growth in Huntsville took place in the decades following World War II. During the war, the U.S Army established Redstone Arsenal in the vicinity, with a chemical weapons plant and related facilities. After the war, additional research was conducted at Redstone Arsenal on rockets, followed by adaptations for space exploration. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, the United States Army Aviation and Missile Command, and most recently the FBI's operational support headquarters, all came to be located at Redstone Arsenal.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation included Huntsville in its "America's Dozen Distinctive Destinations for 2010" list. The population was 215,006 at the 2020 census, and was estimated to be 221,933 in 2022. The Huntsville metropolitan area's population was 514,465 in 2022, making it the second most populous metropolitan area in the state after the Birmingham metropolitan area.

History
The City of Huntsville was incorporated on November 25, 1811

Early history
Due to settlement pressures after the United States gained independence, this area had become largely empty of indigenous peoples by the turn of the 19th century. An Indian trader and boatman named Ditto established himself at a landing on the river prior to American settlement. Revolutionary War veteran John Hunt was a pioneer in 1805 on land around the Big Spring. The US negotiated an 1805 treaty with the Chickasaw and an 1806 treaty with the Cherokee who ceded their claims to land to the federal government.

The area was subsequently purchased by LeRoy Pope, who named it Twickenham after the home village of his distant kinsman Alexander Pope. Thomas Freeman and Pharoah Roach started government surveys in 1805. Twickenham was carefully planned, with streets laid out in a northeast to southwest direction based on the flow of Big Spring. Given anti-British sentiment during this period after the Revolution and with tensions leading to the War of 1812, in 1811 the town name was changed to "Huntsville" to honor pioneer John Hunt.

Both John Hunt and LeRoy Pope were Freemasons and charter members of Helion Lodge #1, the oldest lodge in Alabama.

In 1811, Huntsville became the first incorporated town in what is now Alabama. However, the recognized "founding" year of the city is 1805, the year of John Hunt's arrival. David Wade settled in Huntsville in 1817. He built the David Wade House on the north side of what is now Bob Wade Lane (Robert B. Wade was David's grandson), just east of Mt. Lebanon Road.

Emerging industries
Huntsville's initial growth was based on wealth generated by the sale of cotton from plantations, for which there was international demand, and trade associated with railroad industries. Many wealthy planters moved into the area from Virginia, Georgia, and the Carolinas to develop new cotton plantations. The invention of the cotton gin in the late eighteenth century meant that uplands areas could be profitably cultivated with short-staple cotton, which could be grown in a much larger area than the long-staple cotton of the Sea Islands and Low Country. The increased use of cotton meant an increased use of slave labor throughout the South as well.

Like the rest of Alabama, Huntsville was involved in the slave trade. Slaves worked in factories and on cotton plantations. Many cotton mills in the area relied on slave labor, most notably the Bell Factory, where slaves ran textile machinery. The factory was known throughout Alabama for its high levels of production. Cotton mills grew Huntsville and the South's economies greatly, becoming 60% of all U.S. exports and connecting Huntsville to major cotton markets in Nashville, Memphis, and New Orleans. An 1822 census showed that out of the 1,300 inhabitants of Huntsville, 448 were slaves, making up 36% of the city's population.

In 1819, Huntsville hosted a constitutional convention in Walker Allen's large cabinet-making shop. The 44 delegates wrote a constitution for the new state of Alabama. In accordance with the new state constitution, Huntsville became Alabama's first capital when the state was admitted to the Union. This was a temporary designation for one legislative session only. The capital was moved to more central cities in the state; to Cahaba, then to Tuscaloosa, and finally to Montgomery.

In 1855, the Memphis and Charleston Railroad was constructed through Huntsville, becoming the first railway to link the Atlantic seacoast with the lower Mississippi River.

Civil War

Huntsville initially opposed secession from the Union in 1861, but provided many men for the Confederacy's efforts. The 4th Alabama Infantry Regiment, led by Col. Egbert J. Jones of Huntsville, distinguished itself at the Battle of Manassas/Bull Run, the first major encounter of the American Civil War. The regiment, which contained two Huntsville companies, were the first Alabama troops to fight in the war. They were also present when General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House in April 1865. Nine generals of the war were born in or near Huntsville; five fought for the Confederacy and four for the Union. Other Huntsville residents joined the Union Army and helped establish the Union Army's 1st Alabama Cavalry Regiment.

On the morning of April 11, 1862, Union troops led by General Ormsby M. Mitchel seized Huntsville in order to sever the Confederacy's rail communications and gain access to the Memphis & Charleston Railroad. Huntsville was the headquarters for the Eastern Division of the Memphis & Charleston.

During the first occupation, Union officers took over many of the larger homes in the city while the enlisted soldiers camped in tents mainly on the outskirts. Union troops searched for Confederate troops hiding in the town and weapons. There was not much resistance, and they treated Huntsville residents in a relatively civil manner. However, residents of nearby towns reported harsher treatment. Union troops were forced to retreat a few months later. In the fall of 1863, they returned to Huntsville, using it as a base of operations for the war in the South until the last months of 1864. According to the journal of a nearby resident, Union troops burned many homes and villages in the surrounding countryside in retaliation for the active guerrilla warfare in the area. Many houses and buildings were burned, although most of Huntsville was kept intact as it housed both Union officers and troops.

After the Civil War

During the Reconstruction era, three delegates from Huntsville attended the 1867 Constitutional Convention including Andrew J. Applegate, originally from Ohio, who went on to serve as Alabama's first Lieutenant Governor. Councill Training School, which eventually became William Hooper Councill High School, was established as the first public school for African American students. It was named for educator and school founder William Hooper Councill.

Huntsville became a center for cotton textile mills, such as Lincoln, Dallas, and Merrimack. Each mill company constructed worker housing outside the city, creating communities that eventually included schools, churches, grocery stores, theaters, and hardware stores, all within walking distance of the mill. In many such company towns, workers were required to buy goods at the company stores, which sometimes overcharged them. The mill owners also established rules for behavior and could throw out workers from housing if they violated these policies. As was common for the time, work was highly segregated with only whites being allowed to work inside the mills and Blacks relegated to working outside as laborers and groundskeepers.

During the 1930s, industry declined in Huntsville due to the Great Depression. Huntsville became known as the Watercress Capital of the World because of its abundant harvest in the area. Madison County led Alabama in cotton production during this time.

Military and NASA involvement
By 1940, Huntsville was still relatively small, with a population of about 13,000 inhabitants. This quickly changed in early 1941 when the U.S. Army selected 35000 acre of land adjoining the southwest area of the city for building three chemical munitions facilities: the Huntsville Arsenal, the Redstone Ordnance Plant (soon redesignated Redstone Arsenal), and the Gulf Chemical Warfare Depot. These operated throughout World War II, with combined personnel approaching 20,000. Resources in the area were strained as new workers flocked to the area, and the construction of housing could not keep up.

At the end of the war in 1945, the munitions facilities were no longer needed. They were combined with the designation Redstone Arsenal (RSA), and a considerable political and business effort was made in attempts to attract new tenants. One significant start involved manufacturing the Keller automobile, but this closed after 18 vehicles were built. With the encouragement of US Senator John Sparkman (D-AL), the U.S. Army Air Force considered this for a major testing facility, but selected another site. Redstone Arsenal was prepared for disposal, but Sparkman used his considerable Southern Democratic influence (the Solid South controlled numerous powerful chairmanships of congressional committees) to persuade the Army to choose it as a site for rocket and missile development.

As the Korean War started, the Ordnance Guided Missile Center (OGMC) was given the mission to develop what eventually became the Redstone Rocket. This rocket set the stage for the United States' space program, as well as major Army missile programs, to be centered in Huntsville. Brigadier General Holger Toftoy commanded OGMC and the overall Redstone Arsenal. In early 1956, the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) under Major General John Medaris was formed.

In 1950, about 1,000 personnel were transferred from Fort Bliss, Texas, to Redstone Arsenal to form the Ordnance Guided Missile Center (OGMC). Central to this was a group of about 200 German scientists and engineers, led by Wernher von Braun; they had been brought from Nazi Germany to the United States by Colonel Holger Toftoy under Operation Paperclip following World War II. Assigned to the center at Huntsville, they settled and raised families.

The city is nicknamed "The Rocket City" for its close association with U.S. space missions. On January 31, 1958, ABMA placed America's first satellite, Explorer 1, into orbit using a Jupiter-C launch vehicle, a descendant of the Redstone. This brought national attention to Redstone Arsenal and Huntsville, with widespread recognition of this being a major center for high technology.

On July 1, 1960, 4,670 civilian employees, associated buildings and equipment, and 1840 acre of land were transferred from ABMA to form NASA's George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). Wernher von Braun was MSFC's initial director. On September 8, President Dwight D. Eisenhower formally dedicated the MSFC.

During the 1960s, the major mission of MSFC was in developing the Saturn boosters used by NASA in the Apollo Lunar Landing Program. For this, MSFC greatly increased its employees, and many new companies joined the Huntsville industrial community. The Cummings Research Park was developed just north of Redstone Arsenal to partially accommodate this industrial growth, and has now become the second-largest research park of this type in America.

Huntsville was selected as the permanent home of the United States Space Operations Command in 2020, but in 2023 the Pentagon announced that the temporary headquarters would be expanded and remain in Colorado.

Civil Rights Movement to modern day
Huntsville was a key location in the Civil Rights Movement. In 1962, students from Alabama A&M University held the city's first lunch counter sit-in. After the mayor refused to address the protests, the Community Service Committee (CSC) was formed to help organize sit-ins and protests, as well as bail out arrested protestors. In April 1962, a committee was formed by the city to "address the concerns of the African American community," and eight lunch counters, as well as a number of other public spaces, were desegregated. On May 11, 1962, Huntsville became the first city in Alabama to be racially integrated.

In June 1963, the admission of two Black students to the University of Alabama in Huntsville was challenged by Governor George Wallace. Wallace pushed back the registration dates for multiple state universities (presumably to allow more time for state troopers to move into the area) but instead moved them to Tuscaloosa. The students were admitted without issues. Around the same time, the color barrier was broken further when the first white person enrolled at Alabama A&M University. In August 1963, a court ruling determined that Huntsville must desegregate their schools. Wallace used state troopers to stop four students from entering the first desegregated school. On September 6, the troopers announced that the desegregated schools were closed for three more days, but the Board of Education issued a statement denying the closure. When the schools opened on September 9, Wallace was served a restraining order against further interference with the desegregation of Huntsville schools. Huntsville became the first city in Alabama to desegregate its schools as well.

Alabama's opposition to desegregation at this time caused concern from the NASA Administrator James E. Webb, who investigated equal employment opportunities for Black people in Huntsville. After failing to attract high-level staff to Huntsville, Webb said that "some research work would have to be switched from Huntsville to New Orleans". This investigation into employment caused MSFC to open their engineering education programs to Black students at Alabama A&M and Oakwood College, as well as for local contractors to "work for progress in race relations".

The emergence of the Space Shuttle, the International Space Station, and a wide variety of advanced research in space sciences led to a resurgence in NASA-related activities that has continued into the 21st century. In addition, new Army organizations have emerged at Redstone Arsenal, particularly in the ever-expanding field of missile defense.

Geography
This city is located at 32.5175°N, -87.83639°W (34.6934098, -86.5607619).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 225.17 sqmi, of which 223.63 sqmi is land and 1.54 sqmi, is water as of 2023.

According to the City of Huntsville Statistics, the city has a total area of 226.62 sqmi, of which 225.09 sqmi is land and 1.54 sqmi, is water as of 2024.

Huntsville has grown through recent annexations west into Limestone County by 21.5 mi2 (13885 acres) in the early 2000s, and south into Morgan County with 1.03 square miles (2.67 km2) (659.1 acres, 266.73 ha) in 2018. Huntsville borders Marshall County across the Tennessee River near Hobbs Island.

Huntsville has the 29th largest land area in the United States, for cities with a population over 100,000.

Huntsville has borders surrounding both the cities of Madison and Triana. Huntsville also borders the cities of Decatur, Athens, Owens Cross Roads, the town of Mooresville as well as the census-designated places of Moores Mill, Meridianville, Laceys Spring, and Redstone Arsenal.

Situated in the Tennessee River valley, Huntsville is partially surrounded by several plateaus and large hills. These plateaus are associated with the Cumberland Plateau, and are locally called "mountains". Monte Sano Mountain (Spanish for "Mountain of Health") is the most notable and is east of the city, along with Round Top (Burritt), Chapman, Huntsville, and Green mountains. Others are Wade Mountain to the north, Rainbow Mountain to the west, and Weeden and Madkin mountains on the Redstone Arsenal property in the south. Brindley Mountain is visible in the south across the Tennessee River.

As with other areas along the Cumberland Plateau, the land around Huntsville is karst in nature. The city was founded around the Big Spring, which is a typical karst spring. Many caves perforate the limestone bedrock underneath the surface, as is common in karst areas. The National Speleological Society is headquartered in Huntsville.

Climate
Huntsville has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa). It experiences hot, humid summers and generally mild winters, with average high temperatures ranging from near 90 °F in the summer to 49 °F during winter.

Huntsville is near the center of a large area of the U.S. mid-South that has maximum precipitation in the winter and spring, not summer. The average yearly precipitation is more than 54 inches. On average, the wettest single month is December, but Huntsville has a prolonged wetter season from November to May with, on average, nearly or over 5 or more inches of precipitation most of those months. On average, August to October represent slightly drier months (see climate chart, showing less than 3.6 inches of precipitation these months). Droughts can occur, primarily August through October, but usually there is enough rainfall to keep soils moist and vegetation lush. Much of Huntsville's precipitation is delivered by thunderstorms. Thunderstorms are most frequent during the spring, and the most severe storms occur during the spring and late fall. These storms can deliver large hail, damaging straight-line winds, and tornadoes. Huntsville lies in a region colloquially known as Dixie Alley, an area more prone to violent, long-track tornadoes than most other parts of the US.

On April 27, 2011, the largest tornado outbreak on record, the 2011 Super Outbreak, affected northern Alabama. During this event, an EF5 tornado that tracked near the Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant destroyed many transmission towers and caused a multi-day power outage for the majority of North Alabama. That same tornado also resulted in considerable damage to the Anderson Hills subdivision and in Harvest, Alabama. In total, nine people were killed in Madison County, and many others were injured. Other significant tornado events include the Super Outbreak in April 1974, the November 1989 tornado that killed 21 and injured over 460, and the 1995 Anderson Hills tornado that killed one person and caused extensive damage. On January 21, 2010, an EF2 tornado struck Huntsville, resulting in moderate damage. Because it was not rain-wrapped and was easily photographed, it received extensive media coverage.

While most winters have some measurable snow, heavy snow is rare in Huntsville. However, there have been some unusually heavy snowstorms, like the New Year's Eve 1963 snowstorm, when 17 in fell within 24 hours. Likewise, the Blizzard of 1993 and the Groundhog Day snowstorm in February 1996 were substantial winter events for Huntsville. On Christmas Day 2010, Huntsville recorded over 4 in of snow, and on January 9–10, 2011 it received 8.9 in at the airport and up to 10 in in the suburbs.

2020 census
As of the 2020 census, there were 215,006 people, 92,074 households, and 52,924 families residing in the city. The population density was 985.7 PD/sqmi There were 100,391 housing units. The racial makeup of the city was 55.17% White, 29.0% Black or African American, 0.40% Native American, 2.51% Asian, 0.12% Pacific Islander, and 4.63% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 7.75% of the population.

Economy
Huntsville's main economic influence is derived from aerospace and military technology. Redstone Arsenal, Cummings Research Park (CRP), Jetplex Industrial Park, and NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center comprise the main hubs for the area's technology-driven economy. CRP is the second largest research park in the United States and the fourth largest in the world. The University of Alabama in Huntsville is a center for technology and engineering research in the area. There are commercial technology companies such as the network access company ADTRAN, computer graphics company Intergraph and designer and manufacturer of IT infrastructure Avocent. Cinram manufactures and distributes 20th Century Fox DVDs and Blu-ray discs out of their Huntsville plant. Sanmina-SCI has a presence in the area. A number of Fortune 500 companies have operations in Huntsville.

There are several strip malls and shopping malls throughout the city. Huntsville has one enclosed mall, Parkway Place, built in 2002 on the site of the former Parkway City Mall. A larger mall built in 1984, Madison Square Mall, was closed in 2017 and the site is being redeveloped into the Mid City lifestyle center. An additional lifestyle center, Bridge Street Town Centre, was completed in 2007, in Cummings Research Park.

Huntsville is a key city in rocket-propulsion research for NASA and various organizations run by the Army. The Marshall Space Flight Center has been designated to develop NASA's Space Launch System (SLS), and the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM) is responsible for developing a variety of rocket-based tactical weapons.

Toyota Motor Manufacturing Alabama was constructed in 2003 and is located in North Huntsville Industrial Park. The plant has 1,800 employees as of 2022. The plant manufactures engines for Toyota vehicles. Navistar Huntsville Powertrain Manufacturing Plant was opened in 2008 and provides powertrain components to Navistar's vehicle assembly plants in Springfield, Ohio and Escobedo, Mexico. The plant is located north of Huntsville International Airport. The Mazda Toyota Manufacturing USA was constructed in 2021 with a plan to hire 4,000 employees. The facility produces Toyota and Mazda SUVs and pickup trucks. The majority of the plant is located in Huntsville; however, the southern third is located in the unincorporated community of Greenbrier.

More than 25 biotechnology firms have developed in Huntsville due to the Huntsville Biotech Initiative. The HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology is part of the 4,000 acre Cummings Research Park. The non-profit HudsonAlpha Institute has contributed genomics and genetics work to the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE). For-profit business ventures within the Biotech Campus focus on subjects such as diagnosing disease, immune responses to cancer, protein crystallization, lab-on-a-chip technologies, and agricultural technologies. The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) created a doctoral program in biotechnology to help develop scientists to support HudsonAlpha in addition to the emerging biotechnology economy in Huntsville.

In 2018, Meta broke ground on a $1.5 billion data center in North Huntsville Industrial Park, and was opened in 2021. In June 2022, they announced they would be expanding the facility to seven buildings across a 3.5 million square foot area, but paused construction in December. The company advertised that the facility runs on 100% renewable energy and provides 300+ jobs to the community.

Historic districts and museums
Twickenham Historic District was chosen as the name of the first of three of the city's historic districts. It features homes in the Federal and Greek Revival architectural styles introduced to the city by Virginia-born architect George Steele about 1818. The 1819 Weeden House Museum was home to female artist and poet Howard Weeden, whose watercolors include portraits of African Americans. Old Town Historic District contains a variety of styles, with homes dating from the late 1820s through the early 1900s. Lowe Mill Village and Lincoln Mill and Mill Village Historic District were established during the textile boom of the 1890s and were recognized for their historical importance in 2011, along with Dallas Mill Village.

EarlyWorks Family of Museums runs multiple museums in Huntsville. EarlyWorks Children's Museum is an interactive history museum. Alabama Constitution Village features eight reconstructed Federal style buildings, with living-museum displays downtown. The Huntsville Depot, completed in 1860, is the oldest extant railroad depot in Alabama and one of the oldest extant depots in the United States.

Burritt on the Mountain, located on Monte Sano Mountain, is a regional history museum and event venue featuring a 1950s mansion, interpretive historic park, nature trails, and scenic overlooks. Harrison Brothers Hardware Store, established in 1879, is the oldest operating hardware store in Alabama. Now owned by the Historic Huntsville Foundation, it is still a working store and museum. Huntsville Museum of Art in Big Spring International Park offers permanent displays, traveling exhibitions, and educational programs. North Alabama Railroad Museum features locomotives, coach cars, and other train cars.

The United States Space & Rocket Center features the United States Space Camp, Aviation Challenge, and the only Saturn V rocket designated a National Historic Landmark. The U.S. Veterans Memorial Museum displays more than 30 military vehicles from World War I to the present, including the world's oldest jeep, artifacts, and small arms dating back to the Revolutionary War.

Libraries
Branches of the Huntsville-Madison County Public Library include: South Huntsville Public Library, North Huntsville Public Library, Downtown Huntsville Public Library, Cavalry Hill Public Library, Gurley Public Library, Madison Public Library, Monrovia Public Library, New Hope Public Library, Tillman D. Hill Public Library of Hazel Green, and Triana Public Library. The Huntsville-Madison County Public Library has Alabama's highest materials circulation rate, and features a historical resource archive.

Visual arts and festivals
Arts Huntsville (TAC) includes over 100 local arts organizations and advocates, and promotes visual arts with two galleries: art@TAC, and JavaGalleria. TAC supports Create Huntsville, a county initiative to expand arts and cultural opportunities.

The Huntsville Museum of Art opened in 1970. It purchased the largest privately owned, permanent collection of art by American women in the U.S., featuring Anna Elizabeth Klumpke, among others. The Huntsville Photographic Society started in 1956, dedicated to furthering the art and science of photography in North Alabama. The Huntsville Art League started in 1957, adopting the name "The Huntsville Art League and Museum Association" (HALMA). In addition to their Visiting Artists and "Limelight Artists" series, which highlight both nonresident and member artists at the home office, HALMA features its members' works at galleries located in the Jane Grote Roberts Auditorium of the Huntsville-Madison County Public Library Main Branch, the Heritage Club, and the halls of the Huntsville Times.

Panoply Arts Festival occurs every spring, and includes demonstrations, performances, competitions, workshops, and fireworks. The Cigar Box Guitar Festival occurs each June, and is the world's longest running Cigar Box Guitar festival, featuring live music using home made instruments. The Galaxy of Lights is a holiday-themed light showcase hosted by the Huntsville Botanical Garden each winter. The Botanical Garden hosts a fun-run through the event.

Performing arts
The Huntsville Community Chorus Association (HCCA) is one of Alabama's oldest performing arts organizations, with its first performance dating to December 1946. HCCA produces chorale concerts and musical theater productions. The Huntsville Symphony Orchestra (HSO) is Alabama's oldest continuously operating professional symphony orchestra, featuring performances of classical, pops and family concerts, and music education programs in public schools. The Huntsville Youth Orchestra was founded by Russell Gerhart, founding conductor of the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra, in 1961. Huntsville Chamber Music Guild was organized in 1952 to promote and present chamber music programs; the group seeks to present recitals in which artists are presented in works of the classical masters.

Broadway Theatre League was founded in 1959. BTL presents a season of national touring Broadway productions each year, a family-fun show, and additional season specials. Shows are presented in the Von Braun Center's Mark C. Smith Concert Hall.

Fantasy Playhouse Children's Theatre, Huntsville's oldest children's theater, was founded in 1961. Fantasy Playhouse Theater Academy, the organization's dance, music, and art school, teaches children and adults each year. Fantasy Playhouse regularly produces three plays a year with an additional play, A Christmas Carol, produced early each December. Independent Musical Productions (IMP), was founded in 1993 and stages musical productions performed by volunteers from the community. Three musicals are presented throughout the year, as well as several Cabaret performances at smaller local venues to round out each season. IMP is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and offers technical and performance workshops for the community.

The Von Braun Center, which originally opened in 1975 as the Von Braun Civic Center, includes 10,000-seat capacity arena, a 2,000-seat concert hall, a 500-seat playhouse (330 seats with proscenium staging), and 150000 sqft of convention space. Both the arena and concert hall have undergone major renovations; as a result, they have been rechristened the Propst Arena and the Mark C. Smith Concert Hall, respectively.

Breweries
A number of local breweries are located in Huntsville. Straight to Ale Brewery opened in 2010 in North Huntsville, later relocated to South Huntsville, and then moved to Campus 805 in West Huntsville. Yellowhammer Brewing opened in 2010 in West Huntsville. It later moved to a new facility at Campus 805 in West Huntsville. Salty Nut Brewery opened in 2013 in North Huntsville and moved to West Huntsville on brewery row. Green Bus Brewing in downtown Huntsville opened in late 2015.

Sports
Huntsville is home to a number of adult sports teams and leagues. The Huntsville Havoc are a professional ice hockey team with the SPHL that play home games at the Von Braun Center. Huntsville City FC, a reserve team for Nashville SC of Major League Soccer, began playing in 2023 in MLS Next Pro, the third level of soccer in the US. The Huntsville Adult Soccer League, based at Merrimack Sports Complex, is an amateur adult soccer league with seven teams, including four men's divisions, a premier team, a women's team, and a master's team. The Rocket City Roller Derby is part of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) and plays at the NSS Conference Center. The Alabama–Huntsville Chargers (University of Alabama in Huntsville) Men's and Women's Basketball teams are part of NCAA D-II and play at Spragins Hall. The Alabama A&M Bulldogs (Alabama A&M University) Men's Football team is part of NCAA D-I FCS.

Huntsville has numerous sports venues. The Von Braun Center has a maximum seating capacity of 9,000. Toyota Field is a baseball park with a capacity of about 7,500, in nearby Madison that is home to the AA-minor league Rocket City Trash Pandas team. A former baseball park, Joe Davis Stadium, was converted into a 6,000-seat soccer-specific stadium in 2023 for Huntsville City FC. The soccer field was named the Wicks Family Field to honor and recognize the Wicks family's contributions. A number of smaller stadiums are used by universities or public schools, including Louis Crews Stadium with a capacity of 21,000, and Milton Frank Stadium with a capacity of 12,000. The Merrimack Soccer Complex has 14 soccer fields used by youth soccer organizations. The Huntsville Speedway is a quarter mile oval race track used for race days and other events.

Huntsville has had many professional sports teams in its past, most of which were discontinued due to lack of funding or being transferred to a different city. Huntsville's first sports team was the Huntsville Rockets football team, launched in 1962 and folded in 1967 due to lack of funding. The Alabama Hawks were a football team founded in 1963 and were discontinued in 1969 due to lack of funding. The Huntsville Stars were a Minor League Baseball team founded in 1985, originally as the Nashville Sounds in Nashville, Tennessee, but were transferred to Huntsville soon after. In 2014, they were transferred to Biloxi, Mississippi and renamed the Biloxi Shuckers. The Huntsville Blast were a minor league ice hockey team, originally founded in 1981 as the Roanoke Valley Rampage in Vinton, Virginia, and were relocated to Huntsville in 1993. The following season, the team was relocated to Tallahassee, Florida as the Tallahassee Tiger Sharks. The Huntsville Fire were an indoor soccer team founded in 1997 and dissolved in 1998 due to lack of funding. The Huntsville Channel Cats were an ice hockey team founded in 1995 and renamed the Huntsville Havoc in 2004. The Huntsville Flight were a basketball team founded in 2001 and were moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico in 2005. Today, they are the Cleveland Charge. The Tennessee Valley Raptors were an indoor football team established in 2000 and relocated to Rockford, Illinois in 2005. The Alabama Hammers, which played at the Von Braun Center, were an indoor football team established in 2010 and folded in 2016 due to the collapse of the league.

Parks and recreation

There are more than 60 parks within the city limits of Huntsville. In 2013, for the fifth time in seven years, Huntsville was named a 'Playful City USA' by KaBOOM! for their efforts to provide a variety of play opportunities for children that included after school programs and parks within walking distance of home.

Centered on the natural Big Spring in downtown Huntsville is Big Spring International Park, containing the Huntsville Museum of Art. Fish and ducks live in the spring and in surrounding water bodies. There is a waterfall and a constantly lit gas torch. John Hunt Park is the city's largest park, with 428 acres of open space, tennis courts, soccer fields, and walking trails, as well as facilities near the sports fields.

Burritt on the Mountain atop Monte Sano Mountain features a mid-century mansion and museum, a historic park depicting rural life in the 19th century, nature trails, and functions as a venue for regional events throughout the year. The Huntsville Botanical Garden's 112 acre site features educational programs, woodland paths, grassy meadows, and vast floral collections.

Land Trust of North Alabama is a member supported, non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of the natural heritage of the area. They work to preserve open space, wildflower areas, wetlands, and working farms in North Alabama, including some of the Monte Sano Nature Preserve (Monte Sano Mountain). Monte Sano State Park has over 2000 acre and features hiking and bicycling trails, rentable cabins, campsites, full RV hookups, and a lodge. Other state parks nearby include Cathedral Caverns in Woodville, Lake Guntersville State Park in Guntersville, and Joe Wheeler State Park in Rogersville.

There are six main golf courses in Huntsville. Hampton Cove is one of the eleven courses making up the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, featuring two championship 18-hole courses, one par-three course, and a driving range. Sunset Landing Golf Course is an 18-hole golf course next to Huntsville International Airport. The Links on Redstone Arsenal is available for Military, NASA, and others that have base access. The Links has four separate 9-hole courses (two of which can be used for footgolf) and a driving range. The Ledges is an exclusive 18-hole championship golf course, also offering a banquet hall, grand hall, and a number of meeting rooms at their clubhouse.

Government

The current mayor of Huntsville is Tommy Battle, who was first elected in 2008 and then re-elected in 2012, 2016, and 2020. The City Administrator is John Hamilton, who replaced Rex Reynolds on January 1, 2014, when Reynolds retired.

The city has a five-member (1 per district) City Council. Council elections are staggered, meaning that Districts 2, 3, and 4 had elections in August 2018, while Districts 1 and 5 had elections simultaneously with mayoral elections in 2020. The city has boards and commissions which control most public services and development projects. In 2020, the city announced that they would build a new $80 million city hall, planned to centralize all boards and committees in one building.

In July 2007, then Senator Barack Obama held the first fundraiser in Alabama for his presidential campaign in Huntsville. In 2022, former Rep. Mo Brooks (R-5th Congressional District, AL) announced his retirement from the U.S. House of Representatives to run for the Senate. In November, Dale Strong won the election to replace Mo Brooks.

K–12 education
K–12 public education in Huntsville is provided by Huntsville City Schools. In the 2022–2023 school year 23,939 students attended Huntsville City Schools. According to U.S. News & World Report, "49% of high school students tested at or above the proficient level for reading, and 45% tested at or above that level for math". They also stated that high schoolers have a 92% graduation rate.

Of the 46 schools in the Huntsville City Schools system in 2020–2021, there were:
 * 26 Preschools (Pre-K)
 * 28 Elementary schools (K–5)
 * 14 Middle schools (grades 6–8)
 * 6 high Schools (grades 9–12)
 * 3 special centers (two Schools of Choice and one Program of Choice)

Huntsville City Schools also offers six magnet programs at existing schools: three programs for grades 9–12, two for 6–8, and one for both.

The section in Morgan County is within the Morgan County School District. A few parcels of Huntsville in Madison County are in the Madison County School District, and a few parcels in Limestone County are in the Limestone County School District.

Several private, parochial, and religious schools serve grades pre-K–12. The city has several private Christian schools, including Saint John Paul II Catholic High School, Oakwood Adventist Academy, Whitesburg Christian Academy, Grace Lutheran School, and Westminster Christian Academy. Randolph School is Huntsville's only independent, private K-12 school.

Higher education
Huntsville has four main higher education institutions. The University of Alabama in Huntsville is the largest university serving the greater Huntsville area, with 9,636 undergraduate students in 2022–2023. About half of its graduates earn a degree in engineering or science, making it one of the larger producers of engineers and physical scientists in Alabama. The Carnegie Foundation ranks the school very highly as a research institution, placing it among the top 75 public research universities in the nation. Alabama A&M University is the oldest university in the Huntsville area, dating to 1875. With over 5,000 students, it is home to the AAMU Historic District with 28 buildings and four structures listed in the United States National Register of Historic Places. Oakwood University, founded in 1896, is a Seventh-day Adventist university with over 1,300 students and a member institution of the United Negro College Fund. J.F. Drake State Community and Technical College, founded in 1961, is a public technical college with 872 students as of 2022.

Various colleges and universities have satellite locations or extensions in Huntsville. Calhoun Community College's Cummings Research Park location offers in-person technical and medical programs. Columbia College's Redstone Arsenal location and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's Redstone Arsenal location offer higher education programs in-person and online to military individuals and their families. Faulkner University's Research Park location and Strayer University's Research Park offers in-person and online learning. Georgia Institute of Technology's Redstone Arsenal research institute is the "Development and technology home for Army Air Defense Systems, Missile Defense Systems, Rotary Wing Aviation Technology and more..." and offers professional training in those areas.

Several medical centers and universities with medical programs offer education in medicine. University of Alabama at Birmingham's Huntsville Regional Medical Campus offers a number of on-site programs, including the Family Medicine Residency, Internal Medicine Residency, Obstetrics and Women's Health Fellowship. The campus also serves as a physician practice for the public. Ross Medical Education Center in Research Park offer 36-week experience programs in medicine, dentistry, and veterinary medicine fields. Huntsville Hospital has an accredited school of radiology.

Newspapers and magazines
The Huntsville Times has been Huntsville's only daily newspaper since 1996, when the Huntsville News closed. Before then, the News was the morning paper, and the Times was the afternoon paper until 2004. The Times has a weekday circulation of 60,000, which rises to 80,000 on Sundays. Both papers were owned by the Newhouse chain.

In May 2012, Advance Publications, owner of the Times, announced that the Times would become part of a new company called the Alabama Media Group, along with the other three newspapers and two websites owned by Advance. As part of the change, the newspapers moved to a three-day publication schedule, with print editions available only on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. The Huntsville Times and its sister papers publish news and information seven days a week on AL.com. As of 2023, print editions have stopped production.

A few alternative newspapers are available in Huntsville. The Redstone Rocket is a newspaper distributed throughout Redstone Arsenal's housing area covering activities on Redstone. Speakin' Out News is a weekly newspaper focused on African Americans. Huntsville Magazine is a quarterly lifestyle magazine, which, "Serves as a guide to the best of the city with insightful reads on culture, people, entertainment, and businesses catalyzing the city's transformation."

Radio, television, and film
Station KIH20 broadcasts the National Weather Service's forecasts and warnings for the Huntsville area. The Huntsville DMA serves Madison, Limestone, and Morgan counties. Major stations include WHNT 19 (CBS, with The CW via Florence-licensed WHDF on DT2), WHIQ 25 (PBS/Alabama Public Television), WAAY 31 (ABC), WAFF 48 (NBC), and WZDX 54 (FOX, with MyNetworkTV on DT2).

A few feature films have been shot in Huntsville, including SpaceCamp, 20 Years After (2008, originally released as Like Moles, Like Rats) and Constellation (2005). Columbia Pictures filmed Ravagers (1979) in The Land Trust's Historic Three Caves Quarry, at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, and at an antebellum home. Dark Entities (2022) takes place in Huntsville and was filmed throughout North Alabama.

Huntsville's legacy in the space program continues to draw film producers looking for background material for space-themed films. During the pre-production of Apollo 13 (1995), the cast and crew spent time at Space Camp and Marshall Space Flight Center preparing for their roles.

Transportation

Huntsville is served by several major highways including US 72, US 72 Alt., US 231, US 431 and Interstate 565 (with a connection to I-65 in Decatur). Alabama Highway 53 also connects the city with I-65 in Ardmore, Tennessee. Other major roadways include University Drive, Governors Drive, Airport Road, Memorial Parkway and Research Park Boulevard (SR 255).

Public transit in Huntsville is run by the city's Department of Parking and Public Transit. The Huntsville Orbit runs 11 fixed routes throughout the city, mainly around downtown and major shopping areas like Memorial Parkway and University Drive and has recently expanded some of the buses to include bike racks on the front for a trial program. The city runs Access, a demand-response transit system for the handicapped, and CommuteSmart, a county-wide carpooling program.

There are several bicycle routes in the city. There are bike paths for exercise available. Huntsville's government is working to improve bicycle network within the city limits. In 2020, Huntsville released a master plan for a 70-mile bicycling and walking trail, named Singing River Trail of North Alabama, to connect downtown Huntsville to the cities of Madison, Decatur, and Athens.

Huntsville has two active commercial rail lines. The mainline is run by Norfolk Southern, which runs from Memphis to Chattanooga, Tennessee. The original depot for this rail line, the Huntsville Depot, still exists as a railroad museum, though it no longer offers passenger service.

Another rail line, formerly part of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad (L&N), successor to the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway (NC&StL), is being operated by the Huntsville and Madison County Railroad Authority (HMCRA). The line connects to the Norfolk Southern line downtown and runs 13 mi south, passing near Ditto Landing on the Tennessee River, and terminating at Norton Switch, near Hobbs Island. This service, in continuous operation since 1894, presently hauls freight and provides transloading facilities at its downtown depot location. Until the mid-1950s, the L&N provided freight and passenger service to Guntersville. The rail cars were loaded onto barges at Hobbs Island. The barge tows were taken upstream through the Guntersville Dam & Locks and discharged at Port Guntersville. Remnants of the track supporting piers still remain in the river just upstream from Hobbs Island. The service ran twice daily. L&N abandoned the line in 1984, at which time it was acquired by the newly created HMCRA, a state agency.

A third line, the Mercury and Chase Railroad, runs 10 mi weekend tourist rides on part of another former NC&StL and L&N line from the North Alabama Railroad Museum's Chase Depot, located in the community of Chase, Alabama. Their collection includes one of the oldest diesel locomotives in existence (1926). The rail line originally connected Huntsville to NC&StL's Nashville-to-Chattanooga mainline in Decherd, Tennessee. The depot was once the smallest union station in the United States when it served the NC&StL and Memphis and Charleston Railroad, the predecessor to the Norfolk Southern.

Ports
The inland Port of Huntsville combines the Huntsville International Airport, International Intermodal Center, and Jetplex Industrial Park for truck, train and air transport. The intermodal terminal transfers truck and train cargo to aircraft. The port has on-site U.S. Customs and USDA inspectors. The port is Foreign Trade Zone No. 83.

Huntsville International Airport is served by several regional and national carriers, including Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Breeze Airways, Silver Airways and American Airlines. Delivery companies have hubs in Huntsville, making flights to Europe, Asia, and Mexico. The airport was reported to have the highest fares in the United States in 2014.

Huntsville is also served by the Meridianville–located Madison County Executive Airport, sometimes denoted as Huntsville Executive Airport due to its proximity to the city. The airport is a general aviation airport and does not have any regularly-scheduled commercial services.

Utilities
Electricity, water, and natural gas are all provided in Huntsville by Huntsville Utilities (HU). HU purchases and resells power from the Tennessee Valley Authority. TVA has two plants that provide electricity to the Huntsville area: Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant in Limestone County and Guntersville Dam in Marshall County. A third, Bellefonte Nuclear Power Plant in Jackson County, was built in the 1980s but was never activated. TVA attempted to sell the plant in 2016, but withdrew from the deal, stating they could not sell the plant under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954.

Telephone service in Huntsville is provided by AT&T, EarthLink, WOW!, and Comcast. Comcast and WOW! are the two cable providers in the Huntsville city limits. Mediacom operates in rural outlying areas. AT&T announced the start of its DSL U-verse service in the Huntsville-Decatur metro area in November 2010. AT&T and Google offer fiber Internet service across the city.

Public safety
The Huntsville Fire and Rescue provides fire protection for the city. On a daily basis the department staffs and coordinates twenty-one engine companies, five ladder trucks, four rescue trucks, along with a Special Operations Division that includes Hazardous Materials Units, Technical Rescue Units, and several specialized support units. Huntsville Fire & Rescue also has Fire Investigations, emergency response dispatch, logistics, and training divisions.

Huntsville has two volunteer public safety organizations in their city. The Huntsville-Madison County Rescue Squad is the county-wide volunteer rescue organization with tasks ranging from vehicle extrication to water rescues. The other is the Huntsville Cave Rescue Unit which is the region's only all-volunteer cave rescue organization. It is tasked with cave, cliff and high angle rope rescues. These organizations are located in Huntsville but operate both in the city and outside with HCRU, responding to many cave rescue calls coming from caves well outside the city limits.

Huntsville Hospital in the downtown area is the largest hospital and trauma center. In 2021, Huntsville Hospital opened the Orthopedic & Spine Tower, a seven-story building with 24 surgical orthopedic suites, which brings the total bed count to 881 for Huntsville Hospital. Located further south, Crestwood Medical Center is a smaller, 180-bed teaching hospital that is ranked nationally in two specialties. Huntsville Emergency Medical Services, Inc. (HEMSI) provides emergency medical services to Huntsville and surrounding Madison county. HEMSI operates from 12 stations with a fleet of 36 ambulances.

The Huntsville Police Department has three precincts and one downtown headquarters, over 500 sworn officers, 200 civilian personnel, and patrols an area of approximately 220 square miles. The department also boasts its own academy, which has been in operation since 1965.

Huntsville spent $1.2 million in 2015 to buy body cameras to be used by the Huntsville Police Department. Mayor Tommy Battle pushed for the purchase of the body cameras, saying: "We can provide a trust situation with police and our general public." The mayor also said: "Having that body cam there, having the police video there record what actually happens, and when people come in with complaints against Huntsville police officers, they get to see the action that actually happened."

Following the conviction of a former Huntsville police officer for murder, after he was originally cleared of any wrongdoing by the Police department, the City of Huntsville voted to change the way police shootings are reviewed. Beginning in August 2021, all shootings that result in death that occur by Huntsville Police are to be investigated by the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency instead. The first investigation following the policy change started in January 2022 after an off-duty Huntsville police officer allegedly killed his girlfriend. The officer had initially reported the death as a suicide; however, it was later investigated as a homicide. An advisory council created by the city described actions by Huntsville Police department (HPD) as being "in a manner that was, at a minimum, unprofessional and on multiple occasions in violation of HPD policy."

Notable people
Notable people from Huntsville include Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales, professional wrestler Bobby Eaton, film composer and musician Mervyn Warren, early-20th century actress Tallulah Bankhead, and horror actor David Howard Thornton (Terrifier and Terrifier 2).

Sister cities
Huntsville has 2 sister cities:
 * 🇹🇼 Tainan, Taiwan
 * 🇫🇷 Issy-les-Moulineaux, France, a suburb of Paris

title: Huntsville, Alabama


text:
Lester, Alabama

Lester is a town in Limestone County, Alabama, United States, and is included in the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. As of the 2010 census, the population of the town is 111, up from 107 in 2000.

Geography
Lester is located at 34.98722°N, -87.13472°W.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 1.8 sqmi, all land.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 107 people, 42 households, and 33 families residing in the town. The population density was 58.4 PD/sqmi. There were 46 housing units at an average density of 25.1 per square mile (9.7/km$2$). The racial makeup of the town was 100.00% White.

There were 42 households, out of which 33.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 69.0% were married couples living together, 7.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.4% were non-families. 16.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 2.85.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 24.3% under the age of 18, 5.6% from 18 to 24, 31.8% from 25 to 44, 28.0% from 45 to 64, and 10.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.6 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $37,083, and the median income for a family was $44,688. Males had a median income of $31,250 versus $14,643 for females. The per capita income for the town was $16,073. There were no families and 7.0% of the population living below the poverty line, including no under eighteens and 22.2% of those over 64.

Education
It is in the Limestone County School District.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Lester, Alabama


text:
Madison, Alabama

Madison is a city located primarily in Madison County, near the northern border of the U.S. state of Alabama. Madison extends west into neighboring Limestone County. The city is included in the Huntsville Metropolitan Area, the second-largest in the state, and is also included in the merged Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. The population was 56,933 at the 2020 census. Madison is bordered by Huntsville on nearly all sides with some small unincorporated lands within Madison in Madison and Limestone counties.

Madison was mostly a small city for many years, with its population being around 400-500 for much of its history until the Redstone Arsenal was established to the southeast, which attracted many people to the area for jobs. This rapidly increased the city's population and stimulated economic growth. Many of Madison's residents work in Research Park or the Redstone Arsenal. Madison has been one of the fastest-growing cities in Alabama, as well as one of the wealthiest in the state. In 2022 census estimates, Madison was the 9th largest city in Alabama and the second largest city in North Alabama trailing only nearby Huntsville.

History

The area was occupied historically by the Koasati (also known as Coushatta), a Muskogean-speaking people. Before them were thousands of years of indigenous cultures.

Madison's first European-American resident was John Cartwright, who settled in the area in 1818. The city was originally known as "Madison Station", as it developed in the 1850s around a stop of the Memphis & Charleston Railroad. Textile mills were built in the area in the late 19th century for processing and manufacture of cotton products.

Madison was the site of a battle in the American Civil War. On May 17, 1864, Col. Josiah Patterson's 5th Alabama Cavalry, supported by Col. James H. Stuart's cavalry battalion and a section of horse artillery, drove Col. Adam G. Gorgas's 13th Illinois Infantry Regiment from the city. Patterson's men captured the 13th Illinois Regiment's wagon train, taking 66 prisoners. They also burned Union supplies and tore up the railroad tracks before retreating. Portions of the 5th Ohio Cavalry, the 59th Indiana Infantry, and the 5th Iowa Infantry were sent in pursuit from Huntsville. They skirmished with Patterson's rear guard that evening at Fletcher's Ferry on the Tennessee River south of Madison.

The town was incorporated on December 2, 1869. From 1880 to 1950, rural Madison had a population of some 400-500 residents.

In the World War II and postwar period, military and NASA operations were moved to Huntsville, stimulating an increase in population in the region. Subsidized highways stimulated suburbanization, attracting residents to outlying areas where new homes were built. By 1980, Madison's population was 4,057. In the late 20th century, Madison's population increased rapidly as it developed as a suburb of Huntsville. In 1986, Madison voters overwhelmingly voted to remain independent by not merging with Huntsville. By 2010 its population had grown to 42,938, and over the following ten years it grew to a population of 56,933.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 30.694 sqmi, of which 30.563 sqmi is land and 0.131 sqmi, is water.

Madison is located at 34.715°N, -86.73972°W (34.711236, -86.731024), primarily within Madison County, while extending west into Limestone County. Downtown Huntsville is 11 mi east of the center of Madison, although Huntsville also borders Madison to the south and west. Athens is 17 mi to the northwest, and Decatur is 16 mi to the southwest, across the Tennessee River.

2020 census
As of the 2020 census, there were 56,933 people, 20,787 households, and 15,540 families residing in the city. The population density was 1875.1 PD/sqmi There were 21,980 housing units.

2010 census
As of the 2010 census, there were 42,938 people, 16,111 households and 11,770 families residing in the city. The population density was 1450.9 PD/sqmi. There were 17,203 housing units. The average household size was 2.65, while the average family size was 3.16. 30.8% of the population was age 19 or younger, 61.0% was 20–64, and 8.2% was 65 or older. The median age was 37.0 years. The population was 49.3% male and 50.7% female.

The racial makeup of the city was 74.0% White, 14.6% Black or African American, 0.5% Native American, 7.0% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 1.3% from other races, and 2.6% from two or more races. 4.6% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

According to the Madison Chamber of Commerce, Madison was the fastest-growing city in Alabama as of 2010.

Personal income
The median income for a household in the city was $92,136, and the median income for a family was $111,217. The per capita income for the city was $41,490. About 3.9% of families and 4.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.9% of those under age 18 and 3.4% of those age 65 or over.

Industry
Madison's largest employer is Intergraph, a computer software company. It is a subsidiary of Hexagon, a Swedish software company that bought Intergraph in 2008 and invested in the city and area to improve it. Currently, they are working on a streetlight maintenance program for Madison. Thousands of Madison residents commute to jobs at Cummings Research Park and Redstone Arsenal in nearby Huntsville, about 12 miles away. The high-tech and academic positions in the area have attracted numerous highly educated, professional residents.

Education
The Madison City School System, formed in 1998, serves over 10,000 students from the city of Madison and town of Triana. It has consistently been rated as one of the best school systems in the state. The current superintendent is Dr. Ed Nichols. Nationally, it ranks in the top 5 best school systems.

The school system currently has seven elementary schools serving grades K-5 (Columbia Elementary School, Heritage Elementary School, Horizon Elementary School, Madison Elementary School, Mill Creek Elementary School, Rainbow Elementary School, and Midtown Elementary School), three middle schools serving grades 6-8 (Discovery Middle School, Journey Middle School, and Liberty Middle School), and two high schools serving grades 9-12 (Bob Jones High School and James Clemens High School). There was formerly an additional elementary school, West Madison Elementary; however, it is permanently closed and planned to be adapted as a pre-K center. Madison Elementary, built about 1936, is the oldest school in the system while Journey is the newest, opening in 2023.

In 2019, Madison residents approved a voluntary property tax increase in order to fund school growth and expansion. These funds were used to build Midtown Elementary School (completed in 2020) and were also used to construct Journey Middle School, opening for the 2023–2024 school year.

Media
The Madison Record and the Madison County Record have been newspapers for the city since 1967. The Madison Weekly News was another local newspaper.

Roads
Madison is served by Interstate 565, US 72 (University Drive), and Madison Boulevard (Alabama State Route 20, and Alt. US 72) and Gillespie Road, as main routes for east–west traffic. Slaughter Road, Hughes Road, Wall Triana Highway, and County Line Road serve as main north–south roads in the city.

Rail and airline
The Norfolk Southern railway has the main line and a spur running through Madison. The Port of Huntsville, an intermodal center that includes Huntsville International Airport and a rail cargo center, is located just south of the city.

Sports
The Rocket City Trash Pandas (formerly Mobile BayBears) is a Double A Southern League affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels that moved from Mobile, Alabama to Madison. The team was to begin play in Madison at Toyota Field beginning in April 2020,  but coronavirus concerns delayed the team's debut until May 11, 2021.

Parks and greenways
The City of Madison has several greenways and parks within city limits.

Madison is working with the nearby cities of Huntsville and Decatur to create a 70-mile bicycling and walking trail.

Notable people

 * Mike Ball, politician and member of the Alabama House of Representatives
 * Grant Dayton, Major League baseball pitcher
 * Lewie Hardage, American football player and coach, baseball coach
 * Robert Hoffman, actor, dancer, and choreographer
 * Bill Holtzclaw, politician and Republican member of the Alabama State Senate
 * Kerron Johnson, professional basketball player
 * Kerryon Johnson, professional football player free agent
 * Walter Jones, former offensive lineman at Florida State and a Hall of Famer for the Seattle Seahawks
 * Chip Lindsey, college football coach for Troy University
 * Reggie Ragland, American football linebacker
 * Levi Randolph, basketball player for Hapoel Jerusalem of the Israeli Basketball Premier League

title: Madison, Alabama


text:
Mooresville, Alabama

Mooresville is a town in Limestone County, Alabama, United States, located southeast of the intersection of Interstate 565 and Interstate 65, and north of Wheeler Lake.

The town is between Huntsville and Decatur, and is part of the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area; its population as of the 2010 census is 53, down from 59 in 2000.

Although the town's per-capita income is over $50,000, Mooresville is within the area covered by the charter for the Appalachian Regional Commission, an organization whose goal is to help increase the per-capita income of impoverished areas. Mooresville is within Corridor V of the Appalachian Development Highway System.

The town was the primary filming location for Disney's live action production of Tom and Huck (1995).

History
Mooresville is one of the oldest incorporated towns in Alabama, having been incorporated on November 16, 1818, when Alabama was still a Territory. It was named for early settlers, Robert and William Moore who located on land which became the site of Mooresville. Andrew Johnson, later to become to 17th president of the United States, lived in Mooresville as an apprentice tailor when he was a young man. The Union Army occupied Mooresville several times during the Civil War, and a few skirmishes were fought in the vicinity. Future U.S. president James Garfield, then a Union general camped in the area, delivered a sermon at the Mooresville Church of Christ in 1863. Mooresville thrived as a cotton farming hub until the early 20th century, when the boll weevil infestation wrecked the cotton economy.

The entire town, described as a picturesque early 19th century village, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Many of the older public buildings, including the Stagecoach Inn and Tavern, the Brick Church, the Post Office, and the Church of Christ, are owned and maintained by the town's residents.

Historic buildings

 * Stagecoach Inn and Tavern (1820s) – a frame building constructed before 1825 that served as an inn and post office. This building was documented by the Historic American Buildings Survey in the 1930s, and underwent extensive restoration in the 1990s.
 * Mooresville Post Office (1840) – located at the corner of Lauderdale and High streets, this post office is the oldest in operation in Alabama and has call boxes dating before the American Civil War. Some of the call boxes have been owned by the same families since before the Civil War. The call boxes and some of the office furnishings actually predate the building, having been used in the nearby Stagecoach Inn and Tavern.
 * Brick Church (1839) – a Greek Revival-style church built of handmade bricks that stands on Lauderdale Street. Originally a Presbyterian church, it later served as a Methodist church and a Baptist mission.  The church's recessed entrance is supported by two stucco-covered columns.
 * Mooresville Church of Christ (1854) – a white clapboard church on Market Street that originally served as a meeting house for the Disciples of Christ. The rear wing and entry vestibule were added in 1937.

Geography
Mooresville is located at 34.62694°N, -86.88111°W (34.626931, -86.881091). The town lies southwest of Huntsville and northeast of Decatur in southern Limestone County. Wheeler Lake, an artificial reservoir along the Tennessee River, lies to the south.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.1 sqmi, all land.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, 59 people, 24 households, and 19 families resided in the town. The population density was 741.1 PD/sqmi. There were 28 housing units at an average density of 351.7 /sqmi. The racial makeup was 88.14% White and 11.86% Black or African American.

There were 24 households, of which 25.0% had children under 18 living with them; 66.7% were married couples living together; 12.5% had a female householder with no husband present; and 20.8% were non-families. 20.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 2.84.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 16.9% under the age of 18, 6.8% from 18 to 24, 20.3% from 25 to 44, 40.7% from 45 to 64, and 15.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 50 years. For every 100 females, there were 118.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 104.2 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $54,167, and the median income for a family was $136,039. Males had a median income of $51,667 versus $65,417 for females. The per capita income for the town was $51,694, unusually high for the state. No families and 4.3% of the population are living below the poverty line, including 3.33% of those over 64.

Education
It is in the Limestone County School District.

Notable people

 * Wade Keyes, Confederate States Attorney General in 1861, and from 1863 to 1864
 * James Sloss, planter, industrialist, and founder of Sloss Furnaces

title: Mooresville, Alabama


text:
List of World Organization of the Scout Movement members

Since its conception in 1907, the Scouting movement has spread from the United Kingdom to 216 countries and territories around the world. There are over 54 million Scouts worldwide, with 174 national organizations governed by the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM).

Table of members
The World Organization of the Scout Movement recognizes at most one Scouting organization per country. Some countries have several organizations combined as a federation, with different component groups divided on the basis of religion (e.g., France and Denmark), ethnic identification (e.g., Israel), or language (e.g., Belgium). Canada is the only country to have two distinct recognized associations, which are divided by language. About 30 national Scout organizations are a member of WOSM and the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, mostly from Europe and the Arab countries.

Non-sovereign territories with independent WOSM member organizations

 * Hong Kong - The Scout Association of Hong Kong: Full Member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement
 * Aruba - Scouting Aruba: Full Member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement
 * French Polynesia - Conseil du Scoutisme polynésien: Associate Member of the Asia-Pacific Region of the World Organization of the Scout Movement
 * Macau - Associação de Escoteiros de Macau: Full Member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement
 * Curaçao, Sint Maarten and the Caribbean Netherlands (former Netherlands Antilles) - Scouting Antiano: Full Member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement

Countries and territories with Scouting run by overseas branches of WOSM member organizations
Ten of these overseas branches of accredited National Scout Organizations are considered "potential members" by the WOSM (marked by *).

Served by the Boy Scouts of America

 * Federated States of Micronesia - Scouting in the Federated States of Micronesia* - Aloha Council of the Boy Scouts of America
 * Marshall Islands - Scouting in the Marshall Islands* - Aloha Council of the Boy Scouts of America
 * Palau - Scouting in Palau* - Aloha Council of the Boy Scouts of America

Served by The Scout Association (UK)

 * Saint Kitts and Nevis - The Scout Association of Saint Kitts and Nevis*
 * Tonga - Tonga branch of The Scout Association*
 * Tuvalu - Tuvalu Scout Association*
 * Vanuatu - Vanuatu branch of The Scout Association*

Served by Scouts Australia

 * Nauru - Scouting in Nauru*

Australia

 * Christmas Island - Scouts Australia
 * Cocos (Keeling) Islands - Scouts Australia
 * Norfolk Island - Scouts Australia

Denmark

 * Faroe Islands - Føroya Skótaráð
 * Greenland - Grønlands Spejderkorps

France

 * French Guiana - Scouting in French Guiana
 * Guadeloupe and Saint Martin - Scouting in Guadeloupe et Saint Martin
 * Martinique - Scouts et Guides de Martinique
 * Mayotte - Scouting in Mayotte
 * New Caledonia - Scouting in New Caledonia
 * Réunion - Scouting on Réunion
 * Saint Pierre and Miquelon - Scouting in Saint Pierre and Miquelon
 * Wallis and Futuna - Scouting in Wallis and Futuna

New Zealand

 * Cook Islands - Cook Islands Boy Scout Association
 * Niue - Scouting and Guiding on Niue
 * Tokelau - Scouting and Guiding in Tokelau

United Kingdom

 * Anguilla - The Scout Association of Anguilla
 * Bermuda - Bermuda Scout Association
 * Cayman Islands - The Scout Association of the Cayman Islands
 * Falkland Islands - Scouting and Guiding in the Falkland Islands
 * Gibraltar - The Scout Association of Gibraltar
 * Montserrat - The Scout Association of Montserrat
 * Saint Helena and Ascension Island - Scouting and Guiding on Saint Helena and Ascension Island
 * Turks and Caicos Islands - The Scout Association of the Turks and Caicos
 * British Virgin Islands - The Scout Association of the British Virgin Islands

United States

 * American Samoa - Scouting in American Samoa - Aloha Council of the Boy Scouts of America
 * Guam - Scouting in Guam - Aloha Council of the Boy Scouts of America
 * Northern Marianas Islands - Scouting in the Northern Mariana Islands - Aloha Council of the Boy Scouts of America
 * Puerto Rico - Puerto Rico Council of the Boy Scouts of America
 * United States Virgin Islands - Scouting in the United States Virgin Islands is the responsibility of National Capital Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America

'Potential member countries' listed by WOSM
In 2020, WOSM listed 25 sovereign countries as potential members. 10 of these were served by oversea branches of WOSM member organizations (see ).

 * Albania - Scouting and Guiding in Albania. In 2014, the membership of Beslidhja Skaut Albania was terminated by WOSM with hopes to establish a new National Scouting Organization.
 * Central African Republic - Fédération du scoutisme centrafricain
 * Djibouti - Association des Scouts de Djibouti
 * Equatorial Guinea - Scouting in Equatorial Guinea
 * Eritrea - National Scout Association of Eritrea
 * Iran - Iran Scout Organization
 * Kyrgyzstan - Scouting in Kyrgyzstan
 * Mali - Scouting in Mali
 * Samoa - Scouting in Samoa
 * Somalia - Scouting in Somalia
 * Turkmenistan - Scouting in Turkmenistan
 * Uzbekistan - Scouting in Uzbekistan

Countries with no Scouting organization
In 2020, WOSM listed five sovereign countries as without Scouting; the list omitted Vatican City, which is also without Scouting.
 * Andorra - Scouting and Guiding in Andorra - reactivated in 2016
 * People's Republic of China (mainland China) - Scouting in Mainland China - Scout Association of the People's Republic of China
 * Cuba - Cuban Scouting prior to 1961 and in exile [Note:one new Scout group, in a Catholic church in Santiago de Cuba since early 2012]
 * Laos - Laotian Scouting prior to 1975 and in exile[Laotian Scouting in exile existed at least into the early 1990s in Los Angeles and Birmingham. Actually, a small remnant persists in Sacramento and San Pablo, alongside fellow Vietnamese Scouting in exile and Cambodian Scouting in exile groups.]
 * North Korea - shared history with Korea Scout Association prior to 1950
 * Vatican City - Scouting in Vatican City

Other status

 * Antarctica - Scouting in the Antarctic
 * Kosovo - Scouting in Kosovo - partially recognized state
 * Somaliland - Scouting in Somaliland - self-proclaimed unrecognized functional state within Somalia
 * Western Sahara - Scouting in Western Sahara


text:
Benton, Alabama

Benton is a town in Lowndes County, Alabama, United States. Its population was 41 at the 2020 census, down from 49 at the 2010 census.

Geography
Benton is located at 32.30611°N, -86.8175°W (32.306248, -86.817551).

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.3 sqmi, of which 0.3 sqmi is land and 0.04 sqmi (8.82%) is water.

History
Settled in 1832 on land owned by James Maull, it was initially known as Maull's Landing, before it was renamed and incorporated as Benton in 1834. It was named after Thomas Hart Benton, then the U.S. Senator from Missouri, who had served under General Andrew Jackson in the Creek Campaign. During the steamboat era, it was a major trading stop along the Alabama River.

Maull's son, Edward, auctioned off lots in 1855, that were incorporated into the town. The earliest year any population figures were returned by the U.S. Census for the area (below the county level) was in 1870, when Benton Beat (then one of ten divisions in Lowndes County) returned 2,627 residents, the majority of whom were newly emancipated blacks.

In 1880, Lowndes County was subdivided further into 20 beats (precincts), and the Benton Beat fell to 1,094 residents. In 1890, it declined to 994, and for the first time, the town of Benton was reported separately with a population of 265.

Benton's incorporation would lapse shortly (the town did not report a separate population in 1900) and with the shift to railroads, followed by the outmigration of the majority black population, it would dwindle in size. The Benton Precinct would fall from 1,049 in 1900 (same as its 1880 population), down to 409 by 1950, before all the county precincts were eliminated and redistricted into census divisions.

In 1964, Benton was reincorporated, reporting 115 residents as of the 1970 census. As of 1990, it has declined to just under 50 residents and has held steady as of 2010. Out of Lowndes County's seven incorporated communities, it is one of only two with a white majority (as of 2000 and 2010), Lowndesboro being the other. It is also one of the smallest incorporated communities in the state.

Benton, Alabama can be confused in genealogy research with Calhoun County, Alabama, which was known as Benton County from 1832 to 1858, and which was also originally named for Senator Benton, but renamed because of his unpopular (in Alabama) political views — namely, opposition to slavery — by the late 1850s.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 47 people, 18 households, and 14 families residing in the town. The population density was 153.4 PD/sqmi. There were 19 housing units at an average density of 62.0 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the town was 76.60% White and 23.40% Black or African American.

There were 18 households, out of which 38.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 72.2% were married couples living together, 5.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 16.7% were non-families. 16.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and none had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 2.87.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 29.8% under the age of 18, 34.0% from 25 to 44, 19.1% from 45 to 64, and 17.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 123.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 135.7 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $90,000, and the median income for a family was $92,113. Males had a median income of $41,250 versus $26,875 for females. The per capita income for the town was $28,035. There were 7.7% of families and 7.5% of the population living below the poverty line, including 14.3% of under eighteens and none of those over 64.

Notable people

 * David Gordon Lyon, Hollis Chair at Harvard Divinity School and founding curator of Semitic Museum
 * Bill Traylor, African American self-taught artist
 * Zeke Wilson, former Major League Baseball pitcher

title: Benton, Alabama


text:
Fort Deposit, Alabama

Fort Deposit is a town in Lowndes County, Alabama, United States. Since 1890, it has been the largest town in Lowndes County. At the 2010 census the population was 1,344, up from 1,270 in 2000. It is part of the Montgomery Metropolitan Statistical Area.

This town is named after a fort that was built under the order of General Andrew Jackson. This was a supply fort that was built to serve the soldiers during the Creek Indian War. There is an annual arts and crafts fair called Calico Fort on the second weekend of April every year.

It was incorporated on February 13, 1891. It reportedly sits on the highest point of land between Montgomery and New Orleans, Louisiana.

Geography
Fort Deposit is located at 31.98778°N, -86.57111°W (31.987872, -86.571249).

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 5.6 sqmi, all land.

Climate
According to the Köppen climate classification, Fort Deposit has a humid subtropical climate (abbreviated Cfa).

2010 census
At the 2010 census there were 1,344 people, 512 households, and 348 families in the town. The population density was 240 PD/sqmi. There were 592 housing units at an average density of 105.7 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the town was 75.5% Black or African American, 23.7% White and 0.6% from two or more races. 0.4% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. Of the 512 households 28.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 34.8% were married couples living together, 29.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.0% were non-families. 28.9% of households were one person and 11.2% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.63 and the average family size was 3.28.

The age distribution was 29.5% under the age of 18, 9.6% from 18 to 24, 22.1% from 25 to 44, 26.6% from 45 to 64, and 12.2% 65 or older. The median age was 34.3 years. For every 100 females, there were 86.9 males. For every 100 women age 18 and over, there were 76.7 men.

The median household income was $30,000 and the median family income was $31,591. Males had a median income of $41,579 versus $25,341 for females. The per capita income for the town was $14,411. About 19.4% of families and 22.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 43.6% of those under age 18 and 25.4% of those age 65 or over.

2000 Census
At the 2000 census there were 1,270 people, 489 households, and 349 families in the town. The population density was 225.1 PD/sqmi. There were 569 housing units at an average density of 100.9 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the town was 68.19% Black or African American, 31.50% White and 0.31% from two or more races. 0.47% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. Of the 489 households 35.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.3% were married couples living together, 27.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.6% were non-families. 25.6% of households were one person and 9.6% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.12.

The age distribution was 29.8% under the age of 18, 8.6% from 18 to 24, 27.1% from 25 to 44, 21.7% from 45 to 64, and 12.8% 65 or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 86.2 males. For every 100 women age 18 and over, there were 83.0 men.

The median household income was $20,433 and the median family income was $24,250. Males had a median income of $27,391 versus $20,882 for females. The per capita income for the town was $12,584. About 29.8% of families and 35.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 42.8% of those under age 18 and 34.2% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

 * Richard Williamson, former NFL head coach (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
 * Ed Bell (country blues singer and guitarist)

title: Fort Deposit, Alabama


text:
Talk:Fleeming Jenkin

Untitled
Where is this from? I found a Gutenberg text about Jenkin, but this isn't it. -phma

It smells like a copyvio and is hopelessly badly structured and discursive in any case. I plan a leisurely cleanup. The first thing is to remove two paragraphs about family history. It's just a question of working out how. I think that I will move them to a new article called Jenkins of Stowting Court then they can survive or fall on their own merits. Cutler 11:38, Aug 6, 2004 (UTC)

Next step is to move all diary entries to Wikisource. Cutler 11:53, Aug 6, 2004 (UTC)

Source
Much of this text originally came from the book Heroes of the Telegraph by John Munro, available at Project Gutenberg:. Lupo 14:12, 12 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Yes, the text comes from Munro (1891): Fleeming Jenkin (hero of telegraphy). Massive inclusion of text from another author without explicit attribution is not how Wikipedia builds its articles. Though the text is in the public domain, its usage in this way detracts from the Encyclopedia.Rgdboer (talk) 21:06, 2 April 2015 (UTC)

 * Since the article was in a state of WP:Plagiarism, several reference tags were added to paragraphs. Looking at policy, there are Attribution Templates that could have been used. Further, editors work to re-write paragraphs that have been lifted whole, but the crew doing this is overwhelmed with cases so I did not list this article. Fleeming Jenkin is yet to have a proper biography that assimilates his text Electricity and Magnetism (1873) and his other writings. Munro has the Ocean Cable business in focus, so our article reflects that.Rgdboer (talk) 21:27, 14 May 2015 (UTC)

From VfD
A section of this article was moved to a separate article titled "Jenkins of Stowing Court". Following a VfD discussion, that article was deleted. See Votes for deletion/Jenkins of Stowting Court for a record of the discussion. Rossami 21:58, 8 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Pronunciation
"Generally called Fleeming (pronounced "flemming", IPA )"

His name is likely written Fleeming because the Scots pronunciation is.

84.135.209.254 08:46, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

A section on Jenkin's attack on Darwinism
The sentence about Jenkin's attack on Darwinism (in the Personality and assessment section) is at once insufficient for the reader to really understand Jenkin's objections, and is misleading in suggesting that Jenkin's objections were valid (rather than clarifying that they were merely thought to be valid at the time). It would be of historical and scientific interest to understand how Jenkin tried to use an incomplete science (i.e., Maxwellian thermodynamics as described by the Lord Kelvin) to falsify Darwin's (then) hypothesis of natural selection with such certainty.

Also, it is historically important to document the racism of Jenkin's language in an illustration he uses in his review of Darwinism. What was acceptable then would be remarkable (and unthinkable) to modern minds.

Thus, I propose the addition of a section detailing Jenkin's attack on Darwinism, including a brief citation from his racist illustration (which is very relevant to his attack).

Mavaddat 01:24, 9 December 2006 (UTC)

 * I now have this in my cross hairs. Needs doing.Cutler 14:21, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Jenkin's argument about the age of the universe predates atomic theory, and is invalid on physical grounds. More interesting to biology is his argument about mixing, which Mendel invalidated. In modern terms Jenkin said that genetics has to be digital to work, an interesting fact. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.217.131.136 (talk) 11:44, 16 December 2011 (UTC)

Picture of Jenkin
A sketch of Fleeming Jenkin was done by an artist (W. Hole) in Jenkin's time. A description and smaller image of the sketch can be found here, but a larger image can be found here.

How can we go about adding this image to his page?

-Mavaddat 01:30, 9 December 2006 (UTC)

Inventor of the supply and demand graphic
Is this claim true? I can't find any citations referring to this. As far as I knew, Marshall was the first to -publish- the supply and demand graph. I'm not sure who first thought of the idea itself though, but they were used in private earlier than Marshall's publication. --70.121.165.220 (talk) 03:05, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

title: Talk:Fleeming Jenkin


text:
Gordonville, Alabama

Gordonville is a town in Lowndes County, Alabama, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 326, up from 318 in 2000. It is part of the Montgomery Metropolitan Statistical Area. It incorporated effective January 20, 1990.

Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 5.7 sqmi, of which 5.6 sqmi is land and 0.04 sqmi (0.35%) is water.

2020 census
As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 170 people living in the town. The racial makeup of the town was 72.4% Black and 24.7% White. 2.9% were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

As of the census of 2000, there were 161 people, 56 households, and 40 families residing in 70 housing units in the town. The racial makeup of the town was 29.8% White and 70.2% Black or African American.

There were 56 households, out of which 32% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45% were married couples living together, 18% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27% were non-families. 23% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.9 and the average family size was 3.5.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 30% under the age of 18, 11% from 18 to 24, 23% from 25 to 44, 22% from 45 to 64, and 14% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were approximately 83 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were approximately 90 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $17,917, and the median income for a family was $23,750. Males had a median income of $30,625 versus $10,417 for females. The per capita income for the town was $8,585. About 33% of families and 41% of the population were below the poverty line, including 60% of those under the age of 18 and 33% of those 65 or over.

As of the census of 2000, there were 318 people, 112 households, and 84 families residing in the town. The population density was 56.5 PD/sqmi. There were 129 housing units at an average density of 22.9 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the town was 95.91% Black or African American, 3.77% White and 0.31% Pacific Islander. 1.26% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 112 households, out of which 30.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.3% were married couples living together, 33.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.0% were non-families. 23.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.84 and the average family size was 3.38.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 28.0% under the age of 18, 9.7% from 18 to 24, 25.5% from 25 to 44, 20.4% from 45 to 64, and 16.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.4 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $10,278, and the median income for a family was $21,250. Males had a median income of $25,375 versus $22,292 for females. The per capita income for the town was $8,948. About 37.8% of families and 42.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 38.0% of those under age 18 and 69.1% of those age 65 or over.

Notable person

 * Francis Gordon Caffey, former United States federal judge

title: Gordonville, Alabama


text:
Hayneville, Alabama

Hayneville is a town in Lowndes County, Alabama, United States and its county seat. At the 2010 census the population was 932, down from its record high of 1,177 in 2000. It is also part of the Montgomery Metropolitan Statistical Area. It initially incorporated in 1831, but lapsed, finally reincorporating in 1967. Before 1970, the town appeared only twice on the U.S. Census: in 1850 and 1890. The 1850 estimate of 800 residents ranked it as the largest town in the county at the time.

Located in the fertile Black Belt region, Hayneville was the county seat in a plantation economy after Native Americans were removed that used slave labor for cotton production. The town was later a railway terminus and home to the Hayneville Railway Company, which was organized in 1903. Two years later, the company was reorganized as the Hayneville & Montgomery Railroad Company and provided connections for shipping with the L&N Railroad Company's tracks.

Settlement (1820-1831)
Hayneville was founded in 1820 by settlers from the Edgefield, Abbeville, and Colleton districts of South Carolina on property purchased from the U.S. Land Office at Cahawba. Throughout the 1820s, Hayneville was known as "Big Swamp". The indigenous Muscogee Creek people had been forced to cede their lands under various treaties with the United States, and most of them were removed to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River.

In 1831, after being chosen as the county seat of Lowndes County, the town was officially named Hayneville in honor of Robert Y. Hayne, governor of South Carolina and a U.S. senator.

Late 19th and early 20th century
During the early part of the 20th century, the boll weevil invaded the South, destroying cotton crops across the most productive counties. In the latter half of the 20th century, the agricultural focus shifted to more diverse crops and livestock. Hayneville, like the rest of the Black Belt, has struggled to develop a prosperous economy. Lowndes County Training School was established in Hayneville in 1913.

Civil Rights Era and "Bloody Lowndes" (1965)
Despite the county's black majority, it had no registered black voters in the spring of 1965, after more than 60 years of disenfranchisement under the Alabama Constitution. Civil rights activists worked in Hayneville and Lowndes to organize residents in preparation for registration and voting. After passage of the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 in August, activists provided residents with political education and helped them register to vote. They continued to work to integrate stores and public facilities. On August 13, 1965, Jonathan Daniels, an Episcopal seminarian from New Hampshire, worked with a group of 29 civil rights protesters to picket whites-only stores in the small town of Fort Deposit. All of the protesters were arrested by county police and taken to jail in nearby Hayneville. Five juvenile protesters were released the next day. The rest of the group was held for six days; they refused to accept bail unless everyone was bailed.

On August 20, the prisoners were released without transport back to Fort Deposit. After release, the group waited by a road nearby the jail. Daniels, along with three others — a white Catholic priest and two black women activists—went to buy soft drinks at Varner's Grocery Store, one of the few local stores that would serve non-whites. There, they encountered Tom L. Coleman, an engineer for the state highway department and unpaid special county deputy wielding a shotgun. The man threatened the group, and finally leveled his gun at seventeen-year-old Ruby Sales. Daniels pushed Sales to the ground and caught the full blast of the gun, which killed him instantly. Father Richard F. Morrisroe grabbed the other protester and ran. Coleman shot Morrisroe, wounding him in the lower back. White resistance to civil rights organizers continued.

In June 1965, Gregory Orr, a student from upstate New York who traveled to Mississippi to take part in civil rights protests, was driving home from the capital of Jackson. He had been arrested there with other protesters and held without charges for 10 days at the state fairgrounds. While driving through Lowndes County, he was stopped by white vigilantes, kidnapped and held without charges for eight days in the Hayneville courthouse jail. Back in New York that August, Orr read a report of the murder of Jonathan Daniels in The New York Times. He recognized one of his kidnappers in a photograph—apparently Tom Coleman. Numerous other incidents have been documented in the county of violence against civil rights people.

Civil rights activities in Lowndes continued in the county under the leadership of Stokeley Carmichael, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and local residents, to educate and register blacks to vote after passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. They organized the Lowndes County Freedom Organization (LFCO), the first independent black political party in the county since Reconstruction era, and continued to register voters. They ran a slate of candidates in 1966 but lost due to election fraud in the majority-black county. In 1970, African-American chairman of LCFO John Hulett was elected as county sheriff.

Incorporation (1967-1968)
The incorporation of Hayneville as a town began in July 1967 with the vision of 25 qualified electors of the county and residents of the Hayneville community. Two subsequent attempts were made for incorporation, the last resulting in favor of incorporation. Only one person filed for a statement of candidacy and was nominated for the office of Mayor and five places on the town council. Therefore, due to the completion of the requirements of incorporation, the court declared on July 15, 1968, by Probate Judge Harold Hammond, that Hayneville was completely incorporated.

Geography
Hayneville is located at 32.1825°N, -86.58056°W (32.182365, -86.580468).

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 1.9 sqmi, of which 1.9 sqmi is land and 0.54% is water.

Climate
According to the Köppen climate classification, Hayneville has a humid subtropical climate (abbreviated Cfa).

2020 census
As of the census of 2000, there were 1,177 people, 409 households, and 294 families residing in the town. The population density was 635.3 PD/sqmi. There were 467 housing units at an average density of 252.1 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the town was 85.47% Black or African American, 13.42% White, 0.17% Asian, and 0.93% from two or more races. 0.34% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 409 households, out of which 37.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 34.7% were married couples living together, 33.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.1% were non-families. 27.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.80 and the average family size was 3.45.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 32.7% under the age of 18, 11.8% from 18 to 24, 25.1% from 25 to 44, 17.8% from 45 to 64, and 12.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.7 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $19,554, and the median income for a family was $22,788. Males had a median income of $22,396 versus $20,417 for females. The per capita income for the town was $9,556. About 35.2% of families and 35.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 42.3% of those under age 18 and 28.1% of those age 65 or over.

Education
Central High School, formerly Lowndes County Training School, is in Hayneville. Alumni include the Negro league and Major League Baseball player Billy Parker, civil rights activist Catherine Coleman Flowers, and professional basketball player Ben Wallace.

Notable people

 * Billy Parker (1942 - 2003), former Major League Baseball player
 * Ruth Reese (1921-1990), Civil rights activist and singer
 * Ben Wallace, former NBA player
 * Kelvin Lawrence, politician

title: Hayneville, Alabama