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Huntsville, Alabama
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Huntsville is a city in Madison and Limestone Counties in the U.S. state of Alabama, and the county seat of Madison County. Huntsville is the largest city in northern Alabama in a region of a half-million people, with the city proper having 171,327 residents (2007 estimate). Started with a single cabin in 1805, the city was incorporated six years later as Twickenham. However, it was renamed "Huntsville" (after first settler John Hunt) during the War of 1812, and it has grown across nearby hills and along the Tennessee River, adding textile mills, then munitions factories, to become a major city, hosting the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center and Redstone Arsenal.
Huntsville is the largest core city of the four-county Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area.
As of the 2000 census, the population of Huntsville was 158,216.
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Encyclopedia
Huntsville is a city in Madison and Limestone Counties in the U.S. state of Alabama, and the county seat of Madison County. Huntsville is the largest city in northern Alabama in a region of a half-million people, with the city proper having 171,327 residents (2007 estimate). Started with a single cabin in 1805, the city was incorporated six years later as Twickenham. However, it was renamed "Huntsville" (after first settler John Hunt) during the War of 1812, and it has grown across nearby hills and along the Tennessee River, adding textile mills, then munitions factories, to become a major city, hosting the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center and Redstone Arsenal.
Huntsville is the largest core city of the four-county Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area.
As of the 2000 census, the population of Huntsville was 158,216. As of 2007, the estimated population of the Huntsville Metropolitan Area is 386,632, with the city proper having 171,327 residents. Huntsville and its cross-river neighbor Decatur combine their separate metro areas to form the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area, which in 2007 had a total population of 535,911.
History
First settlers
Huntsville is named after Revolutionary War veteran John Hunt, the first settler of the land around the Big Spring. However, Hunt did not properly register his claim, and the area was purchased by Leroy Pope, who imposed the name Twickenham on the area to honor the home village of his distant kinsman Alexander Pope.
Twickenham was carefully planned, with streets laid out on the northeast to southwest direction based on the Big Spring (see images below). However, due to anti-English sentiment during the War of 1812, the name was changed to Huntsville to honor John Hunt, who had been forced to move to other land south of the new city.
Both John Hunt and Leroy Pope were Freemasons and charter members of Helion Lodge #1.
Incorporation 1811
In 1811, Huntsville became the first incorporated town in Alabama. However, the recognized "birth" year of the city is 1805, the year of John Hunt's arrival. The city's sesquicentennial anniversary was held in 1955 and the bicentennial was celebrated in 2005.
Emerging industries
Huntsville's quick growth was from wealth generated by the cotton and railroad industries. Many wealthy planters moved into the area from Virginia, Georgia, and the Carolinas. In 1819, Huntsville hosted a constitutional convention in Walker Allen's large cabinetmaking shop. The forty-four delegates meeting there 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, and the capital was then moved to another temporary location, Cahawba, until the legislature selected a permanent capital. (Today, the capital is Montgomery.)
Civil War
In 1855, the Memphis and Charleston Railroad was constructed through Huntsville, becoming the first railway to link the Atlantic seacoast with the Mississippi River. Huntsville initially opposed secession from the Union in 1861, but provided many men for the state's defense when Abraham Lincoln called for an invasion of the South. 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 Fourth Alabama Infantry, which contained two Huntsville companies, were the first Alabama troops to fight in the war and were present at the end when Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox in April 1865. Eight generals of the war were born in or near Huntsville, evenly split with four on each side.
On the morning of April 11, 1862, Union troops led by General Ormsby M. Mitchel seized Huntsville to sever the Confederacy's rail communications. The Union troops were forced to retreat some months later, but returned to Huntsville in the fall of 1863 and thereafter used the city as a base of operations for the remainder of the war. While many homes and villages in the surrounding countryside were burned in retaliation for the active guerrilla warfare in the area, Huntsville itself was spared because it housed the occupying Union Army.
After the Civil War
After the Civil War, Huntsville became a center for cotton textile mills, such as Lincoln, Dallas and Merrimack. Each mill had its own housing community that included everything the mill workers needed (schools, churches, grocery stores, theatres, and hardware stores, all within walking distance of the mill).
Great Depression 1930s
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.
World War II
By 1940, Huntsville was still a small quiet town with a population of only 13,150 inhabitants. This quickly changed at the onset of World War II, when Huntsville was chosen as the location of Redstone Arsenal, with its numerous munitions manufacturing plants. The Arsenal was almost closed in 1949 when it was no longer needed, but it saw new life when Major General Holger Toftoy with support from Senator John Sparkman convinced the U. S. Army to choose Huntsville as the location for its missile research program. In 1950, General Toftoy brought German rocket scientist Wernher von Braun and his colleagues to Redstone Arsenal to develop what would eventually become the United States' space program.
Space flight
On September 8, 1960, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower formally dedicated the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville. (NASA had already activated this facility, which is located on Redstone Arsenal, on July 1 of that year.)
Huntsville is thus home to both Redstone Arsenal and the Marshall Space Flight Center, and is nicknamed "The Rocket City" for its close history with U.S. space missions. Huntsville has been important in developing space technology since the 1950s, when the German scientists headed by Dr. Wernher von Braun, brought to the United States at the end of World War II through Operation Paperclip, arrived to develop rocketry for the U.S. Army. Their work included designing the Redstone ballistic missile, a variant of which, the Juno I, carried the first U.S. satellite and astronauts into space.
The Saturn V, utilized by the Apollo program manned Moon missions, was developed from the Redstone Arsenal. Huntsville continues to play an important role in the United States' Space Shuttle and International Space Station programs. It is estimated that 1 in 13 of Huntsville's population are employed in some engineering field of work.
Huntsville's economy was nearly crippled and growth came to a near standstill in the 1970s following the closure of the Apollo program, but the emergence of the Space Shuttle and the ever-expanding field of missile defense in the 1980s helped give Huntsville a resurgence that continues to this day. The city continues to be the center of rocket-propulsion research in the United States, and is home to large branches of many defense contractors.
Huntsville is also the location of the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM). Huntsville's contributions to United States Cold War missile armament and technology earned it a "red star" designation as a target of the Soviet Union in the event of a nuclear exchange, fourth behind only New York City, Washington, DC, and NORAD.
Geography
Huntsville is located at 34°42' North, 86°35' West (34.7, -86.6). According to the Huntsville Times from Tuesday April 15, 2008, the city now has a total area of 202 square miles (451.8 km²). Recent annexations into Limestone County have pushed Huntsville City to a total of inside Limestone County and officially abuts Huntsville to Athens, a city to the west.
Huntsville is located in the Tennessee River Valley. Several mesas and large hills partially surround the city. These mesas are associated with the Cumberland Plateau, and are locally called "mountains". Monte Sano (Spanish for "Healthy Mount") 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 Redstone Arsenal in the south. Brindlee 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. Huntsville was founded around the Big Spring, which is a typical karst spring, and many caves perforate the limestone bedrock underneath the city, as is common in karst areas. The headquarters of the National Speleological Society are located in Huntsville.
Climate
Huntsville has a humid subtropical climate. It experiences hot, humid summers and generally mild winters, with average high temperatures ranging from 89.0 °F (31.6 C) in the summer to 49.0 °F (9.4 C) during winter. Some years, Huntsville experiences tornadoes during the spring and fall. Significant tornado events include the Super Outbreak in 1974, the November 1989 Tornado Outbreak that killed 21 and injured almost 500, and the Anderson Hills Tornado that killed one and caused extensive damage in 1995. Since Huntsville is nearly 300 miles (480 km) inland, hurricanes are rarely experienced with their full force; however, many weakened tropical storms cross the area after a U.S. Gulf Coast landfall. While most winters have some measurable snow, significant snow is rare in Huntsville; but there have been some anomalies, like the 1963 New Years Day snowstorm, when 17 inches (43 cm) fell within 24 hours. Likewise, the Blizzard of 1993 and a Groundhog Day snowstorm in 1996 were substantial winter events for Huntsville. However, as of the winter of 2007-08, Huntsville has gone 12 years without any significant snowfall (>4 inches).
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
|---|
Average high
°F (°C) | 48.9
(9.4) | 54.6
(12.6) | 63.4
(17.4) | 72.3
(22.4) | 79.6
(26.4) | 86.5
(30.3) | 89.4
(31.9) | 89.0
(31.7) | 83.0
(28.3) | 72.9
(22.7) | 61.6
(16.4) | 52.4
(11.3) | 71.1
(21.7) |
|---|
Average low
°F (°C) | 30.7
(-0.7) | 34.0
(1.1) | 41.2
(5.1) | 48.4
(9.1) | 57.5
(14.2) | 65.4
(18.6) | 69.5
(20.8) | 68.1
(20.1) | 61.7
(16.5) | 49.6
(9.8) | 40.7
(4.8) | 33.8
(1.0) | 50.1
(10.1) |
|---|
| Average rainfall: inches/mm | 5.52
140 | 4.95
126 | 6.68
170 | 4.54
115 | 5.24
133 | 4.22
107 | 4.40
112 | 3.32
84 | 4.29
109 | 3.54
90 | 5.22
133 | 5.59
142 | 57.51
1460 |
|---|
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Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 158,216 people living within the city limits. There are 66,742 households and 41,713 families residing in the city. The population density was 909.0 people per square mile (351.0/km²). There were 73,670 housing units at an average density of 423.3/sq mi (163.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 64.47% White, 30.21% Black or African American, 0.54% Native American, 2.22% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 0.66% from other races, and 1.84% from two or more races. 2.04% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 66,742 households out of which 27.6% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.5% are married couples living together, 13.7% have a female householder with no husband present, and 37.5% are non-families. 32.3% of all households are made up of individuals and 9.2% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.29 and the average family size is 2.91.
Huntsville, Alabama Demographic Distribution
width="360">
Age
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<18
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18-24
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25-44
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45-64
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65+
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Distribution %
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23.1
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10.7
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29.3
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23.4
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13.4
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Huntsville, Alabama Sex Ratio & Income Distribution
width="279">
Median Age = 37
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Sex Ratio F:M = 100:92.8
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Sex Ratio age 18+ F:M = 100:89.7
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Median Income = 41,074
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Family Median Income = 52,202
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Male Median Income = 40,003
|
Female Median Income = 26,085
|
Per capita Income = 24,015
|
Percent Below poverty = 12.8
|
Age < 18 Below Poverty = 18.7
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Age 65+ Below Poverty = 9.0
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Politics and government
The current mayor of Huntsville is Tommy Battle, who was elected in 2008. The city has a five-member/district City Council. The current members are:
- District 1 (Northwest)- Richard Showers, Sr.
- District 2 (East)- Mark Russell (President)
- District 3 (Southeast)- Sandra Moon
- District 4 (Southwest)- Bill Kling
- District 5 (West)- Will Culver.
Council elections are "staggered", meaning that Districts 2, 3, and 4 will have elections in August 2010, while Districts 1 and 5 will have elections simultaneously with mayoral elections in 2012.
There are also many boards and commissions run by the city, controlling everything from schools and planning to museums and downtown development.
See also: List of mayors of Huntsville, Alabama
Public Safety
In 2007, Mayor Loretta Spencer combined the police, fire, and animal services departments to create the . The former chief of police, , was appointed as its director. The new department has nearly 900 employees and an annual budget of $63 million.
Fire
The has 19 engine companies, 4 ladder/rescue companies, and 2 hazardous materials companies located in 17 stations throughout the city of Huntsville. Many Huntsville firefighters are also members of the regional Hazardous Materials and response teams. The current chief is Danny Loggins.
Police
The has 3 precincts and 1 downtown HQ, 360 sworn officers, 150 civilian personnel, and patrols an area of 194.7+ square miles (this number has grown due to recent annexations). The current chief is .
Police Academy
The is one of the oldest police academies in the United States. To date the Academy has completed 48 basic academies, and most recently the 47th Lateral Session. On May 8, 2006 the Huntsville Police Academy began the 47th Basic Session. Until the 47th Lateral Session, academies were held at the Old Huntsville Airport on Airport Rd. After the gradation of the 46th Session, the academy moved to the Public Safety Training Complex on Sparkman Drive, which is also home to the Huntsville Fire Academy.
Economy
Huntsville's main economic influence is derived from aerospace and military technology. Redstone Arsenal, Cummings Research Park (CRP), 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, and is over 38 years old. Huntsville is also home for commercial technology companies such as the network access company ADTRAN, computer graphics company Intergraph and design and manufacturer of IT infrastructure Avocent. Telecommunications provider Deltacom, Inc. and copper tube manufacturer and distributor Wolverine Tube are also based in Huntsville. Cinram manufactures and distributes 20th Century Fox DVDs and Blu-ray Discs out of their Huntsville plant. Sanmina-SCI also has a large presence in the area. Forty-two Fortune 500 companies have operations in Huntsville.
In 2005, Forbes Magazine named the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area as 6th best place in the nation for doing business, and number one in terms of the number of engineers per total employment. In 2006, Huntsville dropped to 14th; the prevalence of engineers was not considered in the 2006 ranking.
Retail
Huntsville is fast becoming a regional retail center. There are many strip malls and "power centers" throughout the city. Huntsville has two malls—Madison Square Mall, built in 1984, and Parkway Place, built in 2002 on the site of the former Parkway City Mall. The city also has a lifestyle center called Bridge Street Town Centre, built in 2007, in Cummings Research Park. Another "live, work, and play" center is being constructed on the former site of the Heart of Huntsville Mall. It is to be called Constellation with ground breaking in Fall 2007 and scheduled completion by 2010.
Utilities
Electricity, water, and natural gas are all provided in Huntsville by (HU). HU gets its power from the Tennessee Valley Authority, or TVA for short. 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. Due to the rapid growth of the region, TVA has plans to eventually activate the plant.
Telephone service in Huntsville is provided by AT&T, Knology and Comcast . Huntsville has 2 cable providers in the city limits: Comcast and Knology (Mediacom in rural outlying areas).
Transportation
Huntsville is served by several U.S. Highways, including 72, 231, 431 and an Interstate highway spur, I-565, that links the two cities of Huntsville and Decatur to I-65. Alabama Highway 53 also connects the city with I-65 in Ardmore, Tennessee.
Public transit
Public transit in Huntsville is run by the city's . The Huntsville Shuttle 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. There is also a Tourist Trolley that makes stops at tourist attractions and shopping centers. The city also runs HandiRide, a demand-response transit system for the handicapped, and RideShare, a county-wide carpooling program.
Railroads
Huntsville has two active commercial rail lines. The mainline is run by Norfolk Southern, which runs from Memphis, TN to Chattanooga.
Another rail line, formerly part of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, successor to the Nashville, Chattanooga and Saint Louis Railroad, is being operated by HMCRA (Huntsville-Madison County Railroad Authority). The line connects to the Norfolk Southern line downtown and runs 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-fifties, L & N provided freight and passenger service to Guntersville and points South. The rail cars were loaded onto barges at Hobbs Island. The barge tows were taken 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.
The North Alabama Railroad Museum in Chase maintains a line once owned by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad (L&N). The museum runs weekend tourist rides along a short track in Northeast Madison County. The origin of these rides was once the smallest Union Station in the United States when it served the predecessor to L&N and the predecessor to the Norfolk and Western Railroad.
Ports
The inland Port of Huntsville combines the Huntsville International Airport, International Intermodal Center, and Jetplex Industrial Park. The intermodal terminal transfers truck and train cargo. The port has on-site U.S. Customs and USDA inspectors and is Foreign Trade Zone No. 83.
Huntsville International Airport is served by several regional and national carriers (including Delta, Northwest, US Airways, Continental, United, and American) and offers non-stop flights to many airports across the Eastern U.S. However, Huntsville International gets its name because of its reputation as a cargo transport hub. Many delivery companies have hubs in Huntsville, making delivery flights to Europe, Asia, and Mexico.
Media and communications
Newspapers
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 Huntsville Times has a weekday circulation of 60,000, which rises to 80,000 on Sundays.
A few alternative newspapers are available in Huntsville. The covers entertainment in the Huntsville area. The is a newspaper distributed throughout Redstone Arsenal's housing area covering activities on Redstone. is a weekly newspaper focused on African Americans. El Reportero is a Spanish-language newspaper for North Alabama.
Radio
Huntsville is the 113th largest radio market in the United States. Huntsville's National Weather Service forecast and warning station broadcasts as KIH20. Huntsville also receives several radio stations from Birmingham and Nashville.
Television
The Huntsville DMA serves 15 counties in North Alabama and 6 counties in Southern Middle Tennessee.
TV Stations:
Movie theaters
There are 6 movie theaters located in Huntsville. They are:
Feature films shot in Huntsville
A few feature films have been shot in Huntsville, including (2008 originally named Like Moles, Like Rats in 2006), Air Band (2005), and Constellation (2005). Portions of the film SpaceCamp (1986) were filmed at Huntsville's U.S. Space and Rocket Center at the eponymous facility. The U.S. Space and Rocket Center stood in for NASA in the 1989 movie Beyond the Stars starring Martin Sheen, Christian Slater, and Sharon Stone. Parts of Tom and Huck (1995) were filmed in Cathedral Caverns, located on the outskirts of Huntsville. Following in the motif of the "Rocket City," Columbia Pictures filmed Ravagers (1979) in The Land Trust's Historic Three Caves Quarry, at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, and on location at an antebellum home located next door to Lee High School. This cult classic starred Richard Harris, Ernest Borgnine, Ann Turkel, Art Carney and Cecily Hovanes.
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 the film Apollo 13 (1995), the cast and crew spent time at Space Camp and Marshall Space Flight Center preparing for their roles. Space Camp also garnered a mention in the film Stranger than Fiction and was featured in a 2008 episode of Penn & Teller: Bullshit! on NASA.
Education
K-12 education
The majority of K-12 students in Huntsville attend Huntsville City Schools. Nearly 25,000 students attend Huntsville City Schools . There are 29 elementary schools, 12 middle schools, and 7 high schools including 2 magnet elementary schools (The Academy for Academics and Arts and the Academy for Science and Foreign Language), 3 magnet middle schools (Williams Technology, The Academy for Academics and Arts, and the Academy for Science and Foreign Language), and 2 magnet high schools (New Century Technology High School and Lee High School). About 21 private, parochial, and religious schools also serve students ages pre-K-12.
Elementary schools
Public
- Academy for Academics and Arts
- Academy for Science and Foreign Language
- Blossomwood Elementary
- Chaffee Elementary
- Challenger Elementary
- Chapman Elementary
- East Clinton Elementary
- Farley Elementary
- Hampton Cove Elementary
- Highlands Elementary
| Jones Valley Elementary Lakewood Elementary Lincoln Elementary Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary McDonnell Elementary Monte Sano Elementary Montview Elementary Morris Elementary Mountain Gap Elementary Providence K-8 | Ridgecrest Elementary Rolling Hills Elementary Terry Heights Elementary University Place Elementary Weatherly Heights Elementary West Huntsville Elementary West Mastin Lake Elementary Whitesburg Elementary Williams Elementary |
Private/Religious
- Country Day School
- Faith Christian Academy
- Grace Lutheran School
- Greengate School for Dyslexia
- Hampton Cove Christian Academy
- Holy Family School
| Holy Spirit School Madison Academy Montessori School of Huntsville Oakwood Elementary Providence Classical School Randolph School | Schola Maxima St. John's School Valley Fellowship Christian Academy Westminister Christian Academy Whitesburg Christian Academy |
Middle schools
Public
- Academy for Academics and Arts
- Academy for Science and Foreign Language
- Challenger Middle
- Chapman Middle
- Davis Hills Middle
| Ed White Middle Hampton Cove Middle Huntsville Middle Mountain Gap Middle Providence K-8 | Stone Middle Westlawn Middle Whitesburg Middle Williams Technology Middle School |
Private/Religious
- Country Day School
- Covenant Christian Academy
- Grace Lutheran School
- Holy Family School
- Holy Spirit Regional Catholic School
| Islamic Academy of Huntsville Madison Academy Providence Classical School Randolph School St. John the Baptist Catholic School | Valley Fellowship Christian Academy Westminister Christian Academy Whitesburg Christian Academy |
High schools
Public
|
| Huntsville High School J. O. Johnson High School Lee High School | New Century Technology High School Columbia High School Seldon Center |
Private/Religious
Higher education
Huntsville's higher education institutions include:
The University of Alabama in Huntsville is the largest university serving the greater Huntsville area. The research-intensive university has more than 7,200 students. Approximately half of the university’s graduates earn a degree in engineering or science, making the university one of the largest producers of engineers and physical scientists in Alabama.
Oakwood University, founded in 1896, is a Seventh-day Adventist university and a member institution of the United Negro College Fund. It is one of the nation's leading producers of successful Black applicants to medical schools. Also, the school is home to the USCAA National Basketball Champions (2008) and the winning team of the 19th Annual Honda Campus All-Star Challenge National Championship Tournament (2008).
Numerous colleges and universities have satellite locations or extensions in Huntsville:
One of two local hospitals, Huntsville Hospital also has an accredited school of radiologic technology.
Attractions
Historic districts
- 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, and contains the most dense concentration of antebellum homes in Alabama. The 1819 Weeden House Museum, home of female artist and poet Howard Weeden, is open to the public, as are several others in the district.
- Old Town Historic District contains a variety of styles (Federal, Greek Revival, Queen Anne, and even California cottages), with homes dating from the late 1820s through the early 1900s.
- Five Points Historic District , the newest historic district, consists predominantly of bungalows built around the turn of the 20th century, by which time Huntsville was becoming a mill town.
Museums
* U.S. Space & Rocket Center is home to the U.S. Space Camp and Aviation Challenge programs as well as the only Saturn V rocket designated a National Historic Landmark.
- Alabama Constitution Village features eight reconstructed Federal style buildings, with living-museums displays downtown.
- Burritt Museum and Park located on Monte Sano Mountain, is a regional history museum featuring a 1930s mansion, nature trails, scenic overlooks and more.
- Clay House Museum is an antebellum home built ca. 1853 and showcases decorative styles up to 1950 and an outstanding collection of Noritake Porcelain.
- Early Works Museum is a child friendly interactive museum in downtown Huntsville.
- Harrison Brothers Hardware Store established in 1879, is the oldest operating hardware store in Alabama. Though now owned and operated by the Historic Huntsville Foundation , it is still a working store, and part museum featuring skilled craftsmen who volunteer to run the store and answer questions.
- The Historic Huntsville Depot completed in 1860 is the oldest surviving railroad depot in Alabama and one of the oldest surviving depots in the United States.
- Huntsville Museum of Art in Big Spring International Park offers permanent displays, traveling exhibitions, and educational programs for children and adults.
- Sci-Quest is an interactive premiere hands-on museum for early childhood education, aged four through sixth grade.
- North Alabama Railroad Museum is a railroad museum with over 30 pieces of rolling stock.
Parks
- Land Trust of Huntsville & North Alabama is a member supported, non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of the natural heritage of the area, and has preserved more than of open space, wildflower areas, wetlands, working farms and scenic vistas in North Alabama, including 1,000+ acres (4.0 km²) of the Monte Sano Preserve (Monte Sano Mountain), 1,000+ acres (4.0 km²) of the Blevins Gap Preserve (Huntsville & Green Mountains), and of the Wade Mountain Preserve. Volunteers have created and maintain 33+ miles (53+ km) of public trails - all of which are within the Huntsville city limits.
- The Lydia Gold Skatepark, located at 200 Cleveland Avenue, NW (behind the Historic Huntsville Depot, between Church and Meridian Streets) is a free venue open to the public from sunup until sundown. In 2003, it was dedicated to the late Lydia Leigh Gold (1953-1993), an area skateboarding activist in the 1980s and the former owner of “Tattooed Lady Comics and Skateboards.”
Festivals
- Big Spring Jam is an annual three-day music festival held on the last full weekend of September in and around Big Spring International Park in downtown Huntsville. It features a diversity of music including rock, country, Christian, kid-friendly, and oldies.
- The , an annual Huntsville tradition since 1981, is presented by and held the last full weekend of each April in and around downtown’s Big Spring International Park. This three-day festival features presentations, demonstrations, performances, and workshops while promoting and enhancing the arts. Over the years, Panoply has evolved into the South's Most All-Embracing ARTStravaganza, featuring activities and events like the “Global Village” – a gateway to the area’s diverse cultures – to free hands-on children’s activities to the “Official Alabama State Fiddling Championship.” Panoply had a record attendance of about 150,000 in 2008. The Southeast Tourism Society consistently ranks the festival among their “Top Twenty Events” and Gov. Bob Riley announced it as one of Alabama’s Top Ten Tourism Events for 2007.
- The June Black Arts Festival is the largest two-day ethnic festival in the Huntsville area. From the performing to the visual arts, it provides a glimpse of the wealth of talent among local, regional & national entertainers & artists within the black community. Begun in 1990 by veteran Huntsville broadcaster Hundley Batts, Sr., the first 17 events were held at the grounds surrounding the WEUP studio complex. Because of parking and traffic considerations, the festival (beginning with 2007) is now held on the grounds of Alabama A&M University, near the Louis Crews Stadium.
- Con†Stellation is an annual general-interest science fiction convention. Con†Stellation (also written as Con*Stellation) is generally held over a Friday-Sunday weekend in mid-October each year but exact dates vary.
Public golf courses
- , known locally as the "Muni", off Airport Road (named for the old airport, not near the current airport).
- Sunset Landing Golf Club (located next to the airport)
- Colonial Golf Course
- Fox Run Golf Course
- Redstone Arsenal Golf Course (Open to military ID holders)
- is one of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trails, named after Hampton Cove, and features two championship 18-hole courses and one par three. (Owens Cross Roads, AL)
- Harvest Hills Golf Course (Harvest, AL)
- Chriswood Golf Course (Athens, AL)
- Southern Gayles (Athens, AL)
- (Athens, AL)
Private golf courses
- Established in 1925, the historic boasts a challenging 18-hole course with dining and banquet facilities located just North of downtown at 2601 Oakwood Avenue.
- The Ledges is Huntsville's newest golf community with 18 holes, dining and banquet facilities overlooking Jones Valley.
- Valley Hill Country Club features 27 holes in South Huntsville's Jones Valley.
Libraries
- The Huntsville Madison County Public Library founded in 1818, is Alabama's oldest continually operating library system with 12 branches throughout the county including one bookmobile. The Main Library Archives contains a wealth of historical resources, including displays of photographic collections and artifacts, has Alabama's highest materials circulation rate, and features daily public programs.
Performing arts
- is located in the historic Lowe Mill, and hosts a variety of such as the traditional Cigar Box Guitar festival and the edgy Sex Workers' Art Show. The Flying Monkey is home to a variety of artists and shops including , the , , Karma Rags, Virago, , and many more.
- Huntsville Symphony Orchestra is Alabama's oldest, continuously-operating professional symphony orchestra, featuring high quality performances of classical, pops and family concerts, and extensive music education programs serving public schools.
- is Huntsville's oldest children's theater, with over 46 years of performing for the young and young at heart. An all volunteer organization, Fantasy Playhouse engages the children of North Alabama both on stage and off. Fantasy Academy, the organization's dance, music and art school, teaches hundreds of children and adults each year. Fantasy Playhouse regularly produces three plays a year with an additional play, A Christmas Carol produced in early December.
- , the result of a merger between Twickenham Repertory Company (1979-1997) and Huntsville Little Theatre (1950-1997), is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, all-volunteer arts organization that presents six plays each season in the Von Braun Center Playhouse, and also produces the annual "Shakespeare on the Mountain" in an outdoor venue, such as Burritt on the Mountain. Presentations range from such popular favorites as "The Foreigner" and "Noises Off" to original plays ("The Trial of Frank James in Huntsville, Alabama") to cutting-edge productions, including "Mrs. Bob Cratchit's Wild Christmas Binge," "The Laramie Project" and "Angels in America," to the occasional musical ("Little Shop of Horrors," "Nunsense") and local works.
- , was founded in 1993 and presents at least one annual main production such as "Ragtime", "Civil War", "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum", "Into The Woods", and "Big River". In addition, musicals for children and outreach programs compliment the season. Productions are held at the local Lee High School Theatre for purposes of cost, parking, outreach, seating capacity and technical venue attributes afforded by the school.
- Plays are also performed at With two stages, (upstairs) MainStage and (downstairs) Alpha Stage each with the intimate setting of about 85 seats. Formerly the commissary building for the historic Lincoln Mill Village, the theatre is just north of downtown. Performances range from original works to standards, and have included the regional première of "The Maltese Falcon" (April 2008); "La Cage Au Folles", "Urinetown", "The Rocky Horror Show", "The Book of Liz" and "The Reindeer Monologues".
- Theatre, music and dance can be seen at Merrimack Hall was home to the Company Store and became the central hub of the village, providing a place for socialization and recreation to all of the village's residents. With renovations complete in June of 2007, Merrimack Hall Performing Arts Center now includes a 300-seat, state-of-the-art performance hall, a 3,000 square foot dance studio, and rehearsal and instructional spaces for musicians. At any given time such varied productions including "Menopause: The Musical", "Dixie's Tupperware Party", and "Motherhood" can be seen. Past performers include Billy Bob Thornton, Claire Lynch, Step Afrika!, and Second City Comedy Troupe.
- Huntsville hosts a season of broadway productions hosted by the Such shows as "Rent", "Chicago", "Sweeney Todd", "Spamalot", and "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" along with season extras such as "Happy Days" and "The Rat Pack" have been performed with featured performers in the Von Braun Center's Concert Hall.
- Ars Nova School of the Arts is a local conservatory for music and performing arts. Ars Nova also produces musical theatre and opera for the local stage.
- is Huntsville's oldest performing arts organization, producing both choral concerts and musical theater productions. In addition, HCCA features its Madrigal Singers; "Glitz!" (a show choir); a Chamber Chorale; an annual summer melodrama; and two children's groups, the Huntsville Community Children’s Chorus (HC3) and HC3Jr, for the younger set.
Convention centers and arenas
- The Von Braun Center, which opened in 1975, has an arena capable of seating 10,000, a 2,000-seat concert hall, a 500-seat playhouse, and of convention space.
Other
- The National Speleological Society is headquartered in Huntsville on Cave Street.
- The Von Braun Astronomical Society has two observatories and a planetarium on 10 acres (40,000 m²) in Monte Sano State Park.
Sports
Past sports franchises
Stadiums
Notable residents and famous natives
- Tallulah Bankhead, famous actress
- William B. Bankhead, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1936-1940; father of Tallulah Bankhead; the local Bankhead Parkway is named in his honor
- Fred "Rerun" Berry, best known as "Rerun" in the "What's Happening" television sitcom; also a member of the Locker Dancers who would appear on Soul Train during the 1970s
- Bo Bice, American Idol runner-up
- David B. Birney, Union Army general and son of James G. Birney
- James G. Birney, Southern abolitionist leader and presidential candidate of the Liberty Party (anti-slavery) in 1840 and 1845
- William Birney, Union Army general and son of James G. Birney
- Michael E. Brown, noted astronomer
- José Canseco, Major League slugger, played for the Huntsville Stars, where he was nicknamed "Parkway Jose" for his many home runs
- Stewart Cink, PGA tour golfer
- Robert E. Cramer, Congressman representing Alabama's 5th Congressional District
- Thomas Turpin Crittenden, Union Army general
- Howard Cross, All-American tight end for the University Of Alabama and New York Giants
- Kenneth Darby, former star running back for the University of Alabama
- Dr. Julian Davidson, best known as the "Father" of Missile Defense; chairman of the board,
- Clifton Davis, Grammy Award-winner for the Jackson Five song "Never Can Say Goodbye", actor, singer and television show host
- Dr. Jan Davis, former astronaut; among crew on three Space Shuttle missions in 1992, 1994, and 1997
- Michael Durant, CW4 (Ret) Black Hawk Pilot, 160th Special Operations Group, New York Times bestselling author
- Bobby Eaton, professional wrestler
- Albert Russel Erskine, famed chairman of the Studebaker Corp.
- Andrew Jackson Hamilton, appointed Union military governor of Texas (with rank of general) by Abraham Lincoln (1862) and appointed Reconstruction governor of Texas by Andrew Johnson (1865-66)
- Cully Hamner, comic book artist
- Heartland, country music band
- John S. Hendricks, founder and chairman of the Discovery Channel
- Homer Hickam, author
- Hallerin Hilton Hill, award winning songwriter, talk radio host, former station manager of WOCG radio, author of "Seven Pillars of Wisdom".
- Margaret Hoelzer, 2004 and 2008 Olympic swimmer
- Bill Holbrook, nationally published artist of the newspaper comic strip "On the Fastrack"
- Dave James, 1987 graduate of Virgil I. Grissom High School and QVC host since May 2005 - the only QVC host in program history to be voted into position by viewers during the "America's Host Search" held in 2004, beating over 4,000 contestants in the nationwide contest.
- Buck Johnson, former University of Alabama and Houston Rockets basketball star
- Jimmy Key, former MLB All-Star pitcher with the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees.
- Clarke Lewis, was a United States Representative from Mississippi.
- Rev. Dr. Joseph Lowery, respectfully dubbed the "dean of the Civil Rights Movement" by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a Huntsville native, and co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Dr. William R. Lucas, rocket scientist and former Director of the Marshall Space Flight Center
- Mark McGwire, Major League slugger, got his start with the Huntsville Stars
- Brian McKnight, Grammy Award-winning singer and writer
- Jimmy Means, NASCAR driver
- Don Mincher, born in Huntsville, major league baseball player and president of the Southern League
- John Hunt Morgan, general in the Army of the Confederate States of America
- Amobi Okoye, defensive lineman for the Houston Texans
- Edward A. O'Neal, governor of Alabama 1882-86; he was a major and lieutenant colonel in the Army of the Confederate States of America
- Chris O'Neil, 1986 Goodwill Games gold medalist in Swimming (100 meter butterfly)
- John Piersma, 1996 Olympic swimmer
- Brian Reynolds, game developer best known for designing Sid Meier's Civilization II
- Ramzee Robinson, former star cornerback for the University of Alabama
- Debby Ryan, actress best known for her role as Bailey Pickett in Disney Channel original series The Suite Life on Deck
- Dred Scott, slave who fought for his freedom lived on what is now known as Oakwood University
- Bryan Shelton, professional tennis player
- Mark Spencer, creator of the open source Gaim instant messenger, and the Asterisk open source PBX
- John Stallworth, former Pittsburgh Steelers player and 2002 inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame
- Gabby Street, born in Huntsville, major league baseball player
- Take 6, Grammy Award-winning gospel group formed in Huntsville
- Harry Townes, 1914-2001, actor who appeared on Broadway, in movies, and on television
- Dr. Wernher von Braun, German rocket scientist, "father of American space program"
- Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia founder
- Leroy Pope Walker, first Secretary of War of the Confederate States of America and briefly a brigadier general in the Confederate Army
- Mervyn Warren, five-time Grammy-award-winning recording artist, film composer, record producer, songwriter/arranger, and an original member of Take 6
- Jones M. Withers, major general in the army of the Confederate States of America
Hospitals
Suburbs
External links
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