Lipscomb, Alabama
Encyclopedia
Lipscomb is a city in Jefferson County, Alabama
Jefferson County, Alabama
Jefferson County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Alabama, with its county seat being located in Birmingham.As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the population of Jefferson County was 658,466...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It is part of the Birmingham–Hoover Metropolitan Area. At the 2000 census the population was 2,458.

It does not have its own U.S. Post Office or ZIP code
ZIP Code
ZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...

, instead sharing the Bessemer
Bessemer, Alabama
Bessemer is a city outside of Birmingham in Jefferson County, Alabama, United States eight miles west of Hoover. The population was 29,672 at the 2000 Census, but by the 2009 U.S...

 ZIP code (35020).

Geography

Lipscomb is located at 33°25′38"N 86°55′21"W (33.427308, -86.922475).

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 1.1 square miles (2.8 km²), all of it land.

Demographics

As of the census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

of 2000, there were 2,458 people, 901 households, and 634 families residing in the town. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 was 2,163.6 people per square mile (832.5/km²). There were 1,108 housing units at an average density of 975.3 per square mile (375.3/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 32.55% White
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, 65.58% Black
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

 or African American
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, 0.28% Native American
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, 0.04% Asian
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, 0.12% Pacific Islander
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, 0.94% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, and 0.49% from two or more races. 2.24% of the population were Hispanic
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

 or Latino
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

 of any race.

There were 901 households out of which 35.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.4% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 living together, 23.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.6% were non-families. 26.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.73 and the average family size was 3.35.

In the town, its population was spread out with 30.1% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 29.9% from 25 to 44, 21.0% from 45 to 64, and 10.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 96.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.2 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $30,865, and the median income for a family was $35,556. Males had a median income of $26,908 versus $21,150 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...

 for the town was $13,582. About 15.9% of families and 16.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.7% of those under age 18 and 16.4% of those age 65 or over.

History

The city of Lipscomb was first incorporated on June 30, 1910, and was named for L. Y. Lipscomb, one of three brothers who first settled in the area in 1885. As early as the 1880s, the community was called Wheeling and the town had 200-300 residents by 1906. The community was originally named after Wheeling, West Virginia
Wheeling, West Virginia
Wheeling is a city in Ohio and Marshall counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia; it is the county seat of Ohio County. Wheeling is the principal city of the Wheeling Metropolitan Statistical Area...

 because the owners of Woodward Iron Company
Woodward Iron Company
The Woodward Iron Company was founded on December 31, 1881, by two brothers, William & Joseph Woodward. William was the company president and Joseph was the company secretary. The company operated mines, quarries and furnaces that were connected by a private industrial railroad in Bessemer,...

, who employed many of the residents, also had business interests in that state.
Y. L. Lipscomb ran a general store on the old South Bessemer car line which opened in 1890, though the first settlers actually came to the area in the 1830s, when Vincent Loveless established his farm in the area. The first church was established in the area in June, 1834 when a log structure was built named Union Baptist Church which sat on the site of the present church.

Notable Native

  • Virginia Hill
    Virginia Hill
    Virginia Hill was a Chicago Outfit courier who was famous for being the girlfriend of Genovese crime family mobster Bugsy Siegel, following the breakdown of his marriage.- The Kefauver hearings :...

     was a Chicago Outfit
    Chicago Outfit
    The Chicago Outfit, also known as the Chicago Syndicate or Chicago Mob and sometimes shortened to simply the Outfit, is a crime syndicate based in Chicago, Illinois, USA...

     courier
    Courier
    A courier is a person or a company who delivers messages, packages, and mail. Couriers are distinguished from ordinary mail services by features such as speed, security, tracking, signature, specialization and individualization of express services, and swift delivery times, which are optional for...

     and was famous for being the steady girlfriend of mobster Bugsy Siegel
    Bugsy Siegel
    Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel was an American gangster who was involved with the Genovese crime family...

    .
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