Huntsville, Alabama

Huntsville was founded in 1805 and became an incorporated town in 1811. The city’s population was 180,105 in 2010, making it Alabama’s fourth-largest city. It’s the county seat of Madison County, but extends west into neighboring Limestone County and south into Morgan County.

About Huntsville, Alabama in brief

Summary Huntsville, AlabamaHuntsville was founded in 1805 and became an incorporated town in 1811. The city’s population was 180,105 in 2010, making it Alabama’s fourth-largest city. Huntsville is the largest city in the five-county Huntsville-Decatur-Albertville, AL Combined Statistical Area. The National Trust for Historic Preservation named Huntsville to its \”America’s Dozen Distinctive Destinations for 2010\” list. The first settlers of the area were Muscogee-speaking people. The Chickasaw traditionally claim to have settled around 1300 after coming east across the Mississippi. 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. The 4th Alabama Infantry Regiment, led by Col. Egbert J. Jones, distinguished itself at the Battle of Manassas in 1861. The Fourth Alabama, which contained two Huntsville companies, were the first Alabama troops to fight in the Civil War and were present when Lee surrendered to the Confederacy in April 1865. On the morning of April 11, 1862, Union troops led by General Ormsby M. Grant seized Huntsville’s communications and gain access to the Charleston & Charleston Railroad. On that morning, Huntsville was the point of control or near Huntsville for the Confederate and four to the Union armies. The Huntsville metro’s population reached 462,693 by 2018. It is the second most populous metropolitan area in the state, after Tuscaloosa, with a population of 417,593 in 2010.

It was named one of the nation’s top tourist destinations in 2009 by the American Institute of Architects and the National Park Service. It has been named a UNESCO World Heritage Site for the past three years, and is home to NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center and the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command nearby at the Redstone Arsenal. In 2005, the city celebrated its sesquicentennial in 1955 and its bicentenary in 2005. It also hosted a constitutional convention in 1819, where the 44 delegates meeting there wrote a constitution for the new state of Alabama. It became Alabama’s first capital when the state was admitted to the union, but this was a temporary designation for one legislative session only. In 1861, the first major encounter of the war between the Union and the Confederacy took place in Huntsville. In 1865, nine generals were born in the city, including Gen. Robert E. Lee and Gen. William H. Murray. It’s the county seat of Madison County, but extends west into neighboring Limestone County and south into Morgan County. In 2010, it was named to its top 10 list of historic places in the United States by the National Trust For Historic Preservation. The U.N. listed Huntsville as one of its top tourist spots in 2009 and in 2010 it was ranked No. 1 in its list of top destinations in the world for the year’s first 10 years.