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ALABAMA STATE MAIN INFO

ALABAMA Main Info

Spanish explorers are believed to have arrived at Mobile Bay in 1519, and the territory was visited in 1540 by the explorer Hernando de Soto. The first permanent European settlement in Alabama was founded by the French at Fort Louis de la Mobile in 1702. The British gained control of the area in 1763 by the Treaty of Paris but had to cede almost all the Alabama region to the U.S. and Spain after the American Revolution. The Confederacy was founded at Montgomery in Feb. 1861, and, for a time, the city was the Confederate capital.

During the later 19th century, the economy of the state slowly improved with industrialization. At Tuskegee Institute, founded in 1881 by Booker T. Washington, Dr. George Washington Carver carried out his famous agricultural research.

In the 1950s and '60s, Alabama was the site of such landmark civil-rights actions as the bus boycott in Montgomery (1955–56) and the “Freedom March” from Selma to Montgomery (1965).

Today paper, chemicals, rubber and plastics, apparel and textiles, primary metals, and automobile manufacturing constitute the leading industries of Alabama. Continuing as a major manufacturer of coal, iron, and steel, Birmingham is also noted for its world-renowned medical center. The state ranks high in the production of poultry, soybeans, milk, vegetables, livestock, wheat, cattle, cotton, peanuts, fruits, hogs, and corn.

Points of interest include the Helen Keller birthplace at Tuscumbia, the Space and Rocket Center at Huntsville, the White House of the Confederacy, the restored state Capitol, the Civil Rights Memorial, the Rosa Parks Museum & Library, and the Shakespeare Festival Theater Complex in Montgomery; the Civil Rights Institute and the McWane Center in Birmingham; the Russell Cave near Bridgeport; the Bellingrath Gardens at Theodore; the USS Alabama at Mobile; Mound State Monument near Tuscaloosa; and the Gulf Coast area.

Coming!

See more on Alabama:

Encyclopedia: Alabama
Encyclopedia: Geography
Encyclopedia: Economy
Encyclopedia: Government
Encyclopedia: History
Monthly Temperature Extremes

Accredited Colleges and Universities

Selected famous natives and residents:

Hank Aaron baseball player;
Ralph Abernathy civil rights activist;
Tallulah Bankhead actress;
Hugo L. Black jurist;
George Washington Carver educator, agricultural chemist;
Nat “King” Cole entertainer;
Marva Collins educator;
Kenneth Gibson first black mayor of major eastern city (Newark);
Lionel Hampton jazz musician;
W. C. Handy composer;
Courtney Cox-Arquette actress;
Helen Keller author and educator;
Coretta Scott King civil rights leader;
Harper Lee writer;
Joe Louis boxer;
Willie Mays baseball player;
Jim Nabors actor;
Jesse Owens athlete;
Rosa Parks civil rights activist;
Wayne Rogers actor;
Tascaluza Choctaw chief;
George Wallace governor;
William Weatherford (Red Eagle) Creek leader;
Heather Whitestone Miss America (1995).
Hank Williams singer and songwriter.

 

 

 
Capital: Montgomery
State abbreviation/Postal code: Ala./AL

Governor: Bob Riley, R (to Jan. 2007)

Lieut. Governor: Lucy Baxley, D (to Jan. 2007)

Senators: Jeff Sessions, R (to Jan. 2009); Richard C. Shelby, R (to Jan. 2011)

U.S. Representatives: 7

Secy. of State: Nancy Worley, D (to Jan. 2007)

Treasurer: Kay Ivey, R (to Jan. 2007)
Atty. General: Troy King, R (to Jan. 2007)

Organized as territory: March 3, 1817

Entered Union (rank): Dec. 14, 1819 (22)

Present constitution adopted: 1901

Motto: Audemus jura nostra defendere (We dare defend our rights)
State symbols:
flower camellia (1959)
bird yellowhammer (1927)
song “Alabama” (1931)
tree Southern longleaf pine (1949, 1997)
salt water fish fighting tarpon (1955)
fresh water fish largemouth bass (1975)
horse racking horse (1975)
mineral hematite (1967)
rock marble (1969)
game bird wild turkey (1980)
dance square dance (1981)
nut pecan (1982)
fossil species Basilosaurus Cetoides (1984)
official mascot and butterfly eastern tiger swallowtail (1989)
insect monarch butterfly (1989)
reptile Alabama red-bellied turtle (1990)
gemstone star blue quartz (1990)
shell scaphella junonia johnstoneae (1990)
Nickname: Yellowhammer State
Origin of name: May come from Choctaw meaning “thicket-clearers” or “vegetation-gatherers”
10 largest cities (2003 est.): Birmingham, 236,620; Montgomery, 200,123; Mobile, 193,464; Huntsville, 164,237; Tuscaloosa, 79,294; Hoover, 65,070; Dothan, 60,036; Decatur, 54,239; Auburn, 46,923; Gadsden, 37,619
Land area: 50,744 sq mi. (131,427 sq km)
Geographic center: In Chilton Co., 12 mi. SW of Clanton
Number of counties: 67
Largest county by population and area: Jefferson, 658,495 (2004); Baldwin, 1,596 sq mi.
State forests: 21 (48,000 ac.)
State parks: 22 (45,614 ac.)
Residents: Alabamian, Alabaman
2004 resident population est.: 4,530,182
2000 resident census population (rank): 4,447,100 (23). Male: 2,146,504 (48.3%); Female: 2,300,596 (51.7%). White: 3,162,808 (71.1%); Black: 1,155,930 (26.0%); American Indian: 22,430 (0.5%); Asian: 31,346 (0.7%); Other race: 28,998 (0.7%); Two or more races: 44,179 (1.0%);
Hispanic/Latino: 75,830 (1.7%).
2000 percent population 18 and over: 74.7; 65 and over: 13.0; median age: 35.8.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
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