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Montgomery, Alabama
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Montgomery is the capital, second most populous city, and the fourth most populous metropolitan area in the Southern U.S. state of Alabama, and is the county seat of Montgomery County. It is located southeast of the center of the state, in the Gulf Coastal Plain. The city population was 201,568 as of the 2000 census. Montgomery is the primary city of the Montgomery Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had a 2000 population of 346,528.
The city was incorporated in 1819, as a merger of two towns situated along the Alabama River.
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Encyclopedia
Montgomery is the capital, second most populous city, and the fourth most populous metropolitan area in the Southern U.S. state of Alabama, and is the county seat of Montgomery County. It is located southeast of the center of the state, in the Gulf Coastal Plain. The city population was 201,568 as of the 2000 census. Montgomery is the primary city of the Montgomery Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had a 2000 population of 346,528.
The city was incorporated in 1819, as a merger of two towns situated along the Alabama River. It became the state capital in 1846. In February 1861, Montgomery was selected as the first capital of the Confederate States of America, until the seat of government moved to Richmond, Virginia in May of that year. During the mid-20th century, Mongtomery was a primary site in the African-American Civil Rights Movement, including the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Selma to Montgomery marches.
Today, in addition to housing many Alabama government agencies, Montgomery has a large military presence due to Maxwell Air Force Base, public universities Alabama State University and Auburn University-Montgomery, high-tech manufacturing including Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama, and cultural attractions like the Alabama Shakespeare Festival and Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts.
History
The Montgomery area was originally heavily populated by the Alibamu tribe of Native Americans (after which the state is named). By 1800 the Native Americans had been mostly driven out, and white settlers began to permanently occupy the area. From 1800 to 1813, settlers continued to move in, but in 1814 two competing businessmen who would lay the foundation of the capital city arrived. Each seeking his fortune on the fertile lands near the river, they constructed separate towns, East Alabama and New Philadelphia, along the Alabama River. Each town was a success, and their proximity to each other quickly caused them to merge. Incorporated in 1819 when Alabama was admitted to the Union, the new city was named for General Richard Montgomery, who died in the American Revolutionary War attempting to capture Quebec City, Canada. Montgomery County, Alabama, was named in memory of Major Lemuel P. Montgomery of Virginia, who fell at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend on March 27, 1814. He was struck in the head by a Redstick musketball, becoming the first man to die in the battle. A statue of Major Montgomery graces the entrance of the Montgomery County Courthouse.
Montgomery was not the first capital of Alabama; it was actually the fifth. The territorial capital of Alabama was St. Stephens, on the Tombigbee River. The state capital was temporarily located in Huntsville after the state's creation in 1819, but was transferred to Cahawba in 1820. Cahawba was considered a less-than-ideal location because of periodic flooding and was abandoned by 1826. The state capital then was moved to Tuscaloosa. In 1846, the capital was permanently located at Montgomery, the legislature likely finding it an ideal location from which to run the state, due to adequate amenities and travel. It has been said that New Philadelphia's founder, Andrew Dexter, the more prominent of the two businessmen whose cities eventually merged into Montgomery, believed so strongly that his town would one day become capital of a new state that he actually reserved a spot for a capitol building. Once the capital was moved to Montgomery, his spot was purchased for that very purpose.. From then, Montgomery continued to increase in prosperity and prominence. When Alabama seceded during the Civil War, Montgomery served as the first capital of the Confederate States of America; Jefferson Davis was inaugurated as president on the steps of the Capitol.
During the Civil War, Montgomery was left virtually physically undamaged, thanks in part to the Confederate capital having been moved to Richmond, Virginia, early in the war in an effort to keep the war in the north. Alabama's infrastructure, however, was damaged with much the rest of the South. Once the railways had been rebuilt, the city moved its focus toward industrial growth in textiles and agriculture. In 1886 Montgomery became the first city in the United States to install city-wide electric street cars along a system that was nicknamed the Lightning Route. On March 19, 1910, Montgomery became the winter home of the Wright brothers' Wright Flying School. The men frequented Montgomery and founded several airfields, one of which developed into the Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base after the Wrights began working with the government to produce planes for military use. Montomery flourished in the years leading up to the Great Depression, having experienced steady population growth. World War II revitalized the city after the Depression, but the city continued to weather some economic hardships.
Civil rights movement in Montgomery
Reverend Dr. Martin L. King Jr. gained national attention for civil rights issues during his tenure (1954 to 1960) as pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, two blocks from the State Capitol Building. A civil rights memorial has been erected near the still-active church. On December 1, 1955 Rosa Parks became a civil rights heroine in the city by refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man. The reaction to this arrest led to the 382-day Montgomery Bus Boycott, which forced the city to desegregate its transit system on December 21, 1956. In 1965, Dr. King's nationally publicized four day march for justice was conducted from Selma to Montgomery.
Deadly fire
On February 7, 1967, a devastating fire broke out at Dale's Penthouse, a restaurant and lounge on the top floor of the Walter Bragg Smith apartment building (now called Capital Towers) at 7 Clayton Street downtown. The fire was reported to have started in the cloakroom, and early efforts to extinguish it by the staff failed. Twenty-five people lost their lives, mainly because the only emergency stair exit, which was next to the cloakroom, was blocked by the fire and because the restaurant was not evacuated promptly. Many prominent local citizens and some visiting teamsters in town for a convention perished. As a result of the national exposure of the tragedy, a nationwide effort to revamp fire code standards was launched.
Recent years
In more recent history, Montgomery has begun to recover from its economic problems of the 20th century. Montgomery is now home to Hyundai Motor Company's first assembly plant in the United States. A revitalization effort has brought a baseball stadium and a riverfront walk to downtown as well as numerous parks and historical attractions. Montgomery public schools were among the first in the nation to receive city-wide Internet access, and the Alabama school system was the first to wire all districts and schools via fiber-optics. In 1994, the 22-floor RSA Tower was constructed, which now houses many prominent tenants, including Raycom Media, the Capital City Club, and Morgan Keegan & Company. Montgomery is also expanding rapidly with plans to build a second bypass system and construction of large residential and commercial developments throughout the city. Montgomery is home to a federal minimum-security prison and to some of the military's most valuable and critical computer systems and is a major supply hub for the military. The city also houses one of the military's key air war colleges. Recently, Montgomery has been focusing on further improving local schools. Also, Montgomery is home to a Fine Arts Museum and the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, the fifth largest Shakespearean venue in the world.
Geography
Montgomery is located at .
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it (0.52%) is water. The city is built over rolling terrain at an elevation of about above sea level
Cityscape
Downtown Montgomery lies along the southern bank of the Alabama River, about downstream from the confluence of the Coosa and Tallapoosa Rivers. The most prominent feature of Montgomery's skyline is the 22-story RSA Tower, built in 1996 by the Retirement Systems of Alabama. Downtown also contains many state and local government buildings, including the Alabama State Capitol. The Capitol is located atop a hill at one end of Dexter Avenue, along which also lies the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, where Martin Luther King, Jr. was pastor. Both the Capitol and Dexter Baptist Church are listed as National Historic Landmarks by the U.S. Department of the Interior. One block south of the Capitol is the First White House of the Confederacy, the 1835 Italianate-style house in which President Jefferson Davis and family lived while the capitol of the Confederacy was in Montgomery. Montgomery's third National Historic Landmark is Union Station. Train service to Montgomery ceased in 1985, but today Union Station is part of the Riverwalk park development, which also includes an amphitheater, a riverboat dock and Montgomery Riverwalk Stadium. Three blocks east of the Convention Center, Old Alabama Town showcases more than 50 restored buildings from the 19th century. The Riverwalk is part of a larger plan to revamp the downtown area. The plan includes the utilization of urban forestry, infill development, and façade renovation to encourage business and residential growth. A Convention Center which was completed in 2007 is expected to further encourage growth in the downtown area.
South of downtown, across Interstate 85, lies Alabama State University. ASU's campus was built in Colonial Revival architectural style from 1906 until the beginning of World War II. Surrounding ASU are the Garden District, and Cloverdale Historic District. Houses in these areas date from around 1875 until 1949, and are in Late Victorian and Gothic Revival styles. Huntingdon College is on the southwestern edge of Cloverdale. The campus was built in the 1900s in Tudor Revival and Gothic Revival styles. ASU, the Garden District, Cloverdale, and Huntingdon are all listed as National Historic Districts.
Montgomery's east side is the fastest-growing part of the city. The city's two largest shopping malls, as well as many big-box stores and residential developments are on the east side. The area is also home of the Wynton M. Blount Cultural Park, a park which contains the Alabama Shakespeare Festival and Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts.
Prattville, to the northwest is the second largest city in the Montgomery Metropolitan Area. Other area towns are Pike Road to the southeast, Millbrook to the north, and Wetumpka to the northeast.
Climate
Montgomery's climate is humid subtropical (Köppen climate classification Cfa). The area experiences short, warm springs and hot, typically humid summers lasting from mid-May to well into September. Autumns are usually during October and November and are mild – from the mid-60s to 70s (degrees Fahrenheit). Winters last from December until February; their severity/coldness varies from year to year, but they are usually moderate, with temperatures rarely dipping below . The highest recorded temperature in Montgomery was , on August 7, 1881. The record low temperature of was reached on January 21, 1985.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 201,568 people, 78,384 households, and 51,084 families residing in the city. The 2006 Census Bureau estimate places the population at 201,998.
The population density was 1,297.3 people per square mile (500.9/km²). There were 86,787 housing units at an average density of 558.5/sq mi (215.7/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 49.63% Black, 47.67% White, 0.25% Native American, 1.06% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.37% from other races, and 0.98% from two or more races. 1.23% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 78,384 households out of which 32.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.4% were married couples living together, 19.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.8% were non-families. 30.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 3.06.
In the city the population was spread out with 25.9% under the age of 18, 12.1% from 18 to 24, 29.8% from 25 to 44, 20.3% from 45 to 64, and 11.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 88.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.9 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $35,627, and the median income for a family was $44,297. Males had a median income of $31,877 versus $25,014 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,385. About 13.9% of families and 17.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.7% of those under age 18 and 13.4% of those age 65 or over.
Economy
Montgomery's central location in Alabama's Black Belt makes it a processing hub for crops such as cotton, peanuts, and soybeans. In 1840 Montgomery County led the state in cotton production, and by 1911, the city processed 160,000-200,000 bales of cotton annually. Montgomery has long had large metal fabrication and lumber production sectors. Due to its location along the Alabama River and extensive rail connections, Montgomery has and continues to be a regional distribution hub for a wide range of industries. Today, the city's Gross Metropolitan Product is $12.15 billion, representing 8.7% of the Gross State Product of Alabama.
According to Bureau of Labor Statistics data from October 2008, the largest sectors of non-agricultural employment were: Government, 24.3%; Trade, Transportation, and Utilities, 17.3% (including 11.0% in retail trade); Professional and Business Services, 11.9%; Manufacturing, 10.9%; Education and Health Services, 10.0% (including 8.5% in Health Care & Social Assistance); Leisure and Hospitality, 9.2%; Financial Activities, 6.0%, Natural Resources, Mining and Construction, 5.1%; Information, 1.4%; and Other services 4.0%. Unemployment for the same period was 5.7%, 2.5% higher than October 2007. The city also draws in workers from the surrounding area; Montgomery's daytime population rises 17.4% to 239,101.
As of August 2008, Montgomery's largest employers were Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base (12,280 employees), the State of Alabama (9,500), Montgomery Public Schools (4,524), Baptist Health (4,300), Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama (3,171), Alfa Insurance (2,568), the City of Montgomery (2,500), 754th Electronics Systems Group (1,943), Jackson Hospital & Clinic (1,300), and Rheem Water Heaters (1,150). One Fortune 1000 company, Colonial Bancgroup, is headquartered in Montgomery.
According to Pennsylvania State University's "Living Wage Calculator", the living wage for the city is $8.02 per hour (or $16,691 per year) for an individual and $25.80 per hour ($53,662 per year) for a family of four. These are slightly higher than the state averages of $7.45 per hour for an individual and $25.36 for a family of four.
Law and government
Montgomery operates under a Mayor-council government system. Mayor Bobby Bright was elected to the United States Congress from Alabama's 2nd congressional district in November 2008. City council president Charles Jinright is the acting mayor until a special election is held March 10, 2009, to select a permanent successor. Bright was elected mayor in the 1999, having unseated longtime Republican Mayor Emory Folmar. Bright was re-elected in a landslide against challenger Scott Simmons in the 2003 and 2007 municipal elections.
The city is served by a nine-member city council, which is composed of nine districts of equal size. The city council is responsible for establishing the city of Montgomery's policies.
Culture
The Wynton M. Blount Cultural Park in east Montgomery is home to the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts. The Museum's permanent collections include American art and sculpture, Southern art, master prints from European masters, and collections of porcelain and glass works. The Society of Arts and Crafts operates a co-op gallery for local artists. Montgomery Zoo, one of only two AZA-accredited zoos in Alabama, has over 500 animals in of barrier-free habitats. The Hank Williams Museum contains one of the largest collections of Williams memorabilia in the world.
Blount Park is also contains the Alabama Shakespeare Festival's Carolyn Blount Theatre. The Shakespeare Festival presents year-round performances of both classic plays and performances of local interest, in addition to works of William Shakespeare. The 1200-seat Davis Theatre for the Performing Arts, on the Troy University at Montgomery campus, opened in 1930 and was renovated in 1983. It houses the Montgomery Symphony Orchestra, Alabama Dance Theatre and Montgomery Ballet, as well as other theatrical productions. The Symphony has been performing in Montgomery since 1979. The Capri Theatre in Cloverdale was built in 1941, and today shows independent films. Jubilee CityFest is an annual music festival featuring a variety of performers.
There is a rich history of musical performers with roots in Montgomery. Jazz singer and pianist Nat King Cole, country singer Hank Williams, blues singer Big Mama Thornton, Melvin Franklin of The Temptations, and guitarist Tommy Shaw of Styx are among the many musicians to get their start in Montgomery. Author and artist Zelda Sayre was born in Montgomery. In 1918, she met F. Scott Fitzgerald, who was a soldier stationed at an Army post nearby. The house where they lived is today used as the F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Museum. Poet Sidney Lanier lived in Montgomery and Prattville immediately after the Civil War, while writing his novel Tiger Lilies.
Sports
Montgomery is home of the Montgomery Biscuits baseball team. The Biscuits play in the Class AA Southern League. They are affiliated with the Tampa Bay Rays, and play at Montgomery Riverwalk Stadium. Riverwalk Stadium was the host of the NCAA Division II National Baseball Championship from 2004 until 2007. The championship had previously been played at Paterson Field in Montgomery from 1985 until 2003.
The Navistar LPGA Classic women's golf event is held at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at Capitol Hill in nearby Prattville. Garrett Coliseum was the home of the now-defunct Montgomery Bears indoor football team.
Montgomery is also the site of sporting events hosted by the area's colleges and universities. The Alabama State University Hornets play in NCAA Division I competition in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. The football team plays at the Cramton Bowl and the basketball team play at the Joe L. Reed Acadome. Auburn University Montgomery also fields teams in NAIA competition. The Blue-Gray Football Classic was an annual college football all-star game held from 1938 until 2001.
Several successful professional athletes hail from Montgomery, including Pro Football Hall of Famer Bart Starr and two-time Olympic gold medalist in track and field Alonzo Babers.
Education
Primary and secondary schools
The city of Montgomery and Montgomery County is served by the Montgomery Public Schools system. As of 2007, there were 32,520 students enrolled in the system, and 2,382 teachers employed. The system manages 32 elementary schools, 10 middle schools, and 4 high schools (G.W. Carver, Jeff Davis, Robert E. Lee, and Sidney Lanier) as well as 9 magnet schools and 1 alternative school, and 2 special education centers. Montgomery is also home to 28 private schools.
Higher education
Montgomery has been the home of Alabama State University, a historically black university, since the Lincoln Normal University for Teachers relocated from Marion in 1887. Today, ASU enrolls over 5,600 students from 42 U.S. states and 7 countries. Auburn Montgomery in the eastern part of the city operates as a satellite campus of Auburn University, and has an enrollment of 5,123. Montgomery also is home to several private colleges: Faulkner University which has an enrollment of 3500, is a Church of Christ-affiliated school and Huntingdon College is affiliated with the United Methodist Church.
Military education
Maxwell Air Force Base is the headquarters for Air University, the United States Air Force's center for professional military education. Branches of Air University based in Montgomery include the Squadron Officer School, the Air Command and Staff College, the Air War College, and the Community College of the Air Force.
Media
The morning newspaper, the Montgomery Advertiser, began publication as the The Planter's Gazette in 1829. It is the principal newspaper of central Alabama and is affiliated with the Gannett Corporation. In 1970, then publisher Harold E. Martin won the Pulitzer Prize for special reporting while at the Advertiser. The Alabama Journal was a local afternoon paper from 1899 until April 16, 1993 when it published its last issue before merging with the morning Advertiser.
Montgomery is served by seven local television stations: WNCF 32 (ABC), WSFA 12 (NBC), WCOV 20 (Fox), WBMM 22 (CW), WAIQ 26 (PBS), WMCF 45 (TBN), WFRZ 34 (Religious and Educational). In addition, WAKA 8 (CBS) and WBIH 29 (independent) are located in Selma, and WRJM 67 (MyNetworkTV) is licensed to Troy. Montgomery is part of the Montgomery-Selma Designated Market Area, which is ranked 118th nationally by Nielsen Media Research.
The Montgomery area is served by nine AM radio stations: WMSP, WMGY, WNZZ, WTBF, WACV, WAPZ, WIQR, WLWI, and WXVI; and nineteen FM stations: WJSP, WAPR, WELL, WLBF, WTSU, WVAS, WLWI, WXFX, WQKS, WWMG, WVRV, WJWZ, WBAM, WALX, WHHY, WMXS, WHLW, WZHT, and WJAM. Montgomery is ranked 153rd largest by Arbitron.
Transportation
Two interstate highways run through Montgomery. Interstate 65 is the primary north–south freeway through the city leading between Birmingham and Huntsville to the north and Mobile to the south. Montgomery is the southern terminus of Interstate 85, another north–south freeway (though running east–west in the city), which leads northeast to Atlanta. The major surface street thoroughfare is a loop consisting of State Route 152 in the north, U.S. Highway 231 and U.S. Highway 80 in the east, U.S. Highway 82 in the south, and U.S. Highway 31 along the west of the city. The Alabama Department of Transportation is planning the Outer Montgomery Loop to ease traffic congestion in the city. It is planned to connect Interstate 85 near Mt. Meigs to U.S. Highway 80 southwest of the city. Montgomery Area Transit System (MATS) provides public transportation with buses serving the city. The system has 32 buses providing an average of 4500 passenger trips daily. MATS ridership has shown steady growth since the system was revamped in 2000; the system served over 1 million passenger trips in 2007. Greyhound Lines operates a terminal in Montgomery for intra-city bus travel.
Montgomery Regional Airport, also known as Dannelly Field, is the major airport serving Montgomery. It serves promarily as an Air National Guard base and for general aviation, but commercial airlines fly to regional connections to Atlanta, Charlotte, and Memphis.
Passenger rail service began to Montgomery in 1898, with the opening of Union Station. Service continued until 1979, when Amtrak terminated its Floridian route. Amtrak returned from 1989 until 1995 with the Gulf Breeze, an extension of the Crescent line.
Notable natives and residents
- Ralph David Abernathy, minister & civil rights leader
- Marlon Anderson, Major League Baseball player
- Reggie Barlow, National Football League player, Super Bowl XXXVII champion
- Inez Baskin, journalist and civil rights advocate
- Caesar Belser, National Football League player, Super Bowl IV champion
- Tom Boswell, National Basketball Association player
- Brett Butler, actress/comedian
- Johnnie Carr, civil rights advocate
- Dorothy Tillman, former member of Chicago City Council
- Clarence Carter, Blues singer
- Nat King Cole, jazz pianist & singer
- Johnny Davis, National Football League player, Super Bowl XVI champion
- Zelda Fitzgerald, novelist and wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Benjamin Fitzpatrick, 11th Governor of Alabama
- Eddie Floyd, singer-songwriter
- Jim Folsom, Jr., 50th Governor of Alabama
- Melvin Franklin, singer in The Temptations
- Glenn Howerton, actor
- Tarvaris Jackson, National Football League quarterback
- Martin Luther King, Jr., civil rights advocate
- Claude R. Kirk, Jr., Governor of Florida
- Harold E. Martin, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
- Frank McIntyre, chief of the Bureau of Insular Affairs, 1912-1929
- Charles Moore, photographer
- Edgar Nixon, civil rights advocate
- Mac Powell, lead vocalist for the Christian band Third Day
- Nell Rankin, opera singer
- Tommy Shaw, guitarist of Styx
- Bart Starr, Pro Football Hall of Famer
- Big Mama Thornton, blues singer
- Kathryn C. Thornton, astronaut
- Hank Williams, Sr., country singer
- Michael Young, Emmy winning actor
Further reading
- L. P. Powell (editor), in Historic Towns of the Southern States, (New York, 1900)
- Jeffry C. Benton (editor) A Sense of Place, Montgomery's Architectural History
External links
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