| Official Name: | Cottondale, Alabama |
| Settlement Type: | Census-designated place |
| Pushpin Map: | Alabama#USA |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | United States |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | Alabama |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | Tuscaloosa |
| Unit Pref: | Imperial |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Total Sq Mi: | 3.46 |
| Area Land Sq Mi: | 3.44 |
| Area Water Sq Mi: | 0.02 |
| Population As Of: | 2020 |
| Population Total: | 3130 |
| Population Density Sq Mi: | 908.83 |
| Timezone: | Central (CST) |
| Utc Offset: | -6 |
| Timezone Dst: | CDT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | -5 |
| Elevation Ft: | 344 |
| Coordinates: | 33.1894°N -87.4517°W |
| Postal Code Type: | ZIP code |
| Postal Code: | 35453 |
| Area Code: | 205, 659 |
| Blank Name: | GNIS feature ID |
| Blank Info: | 116690 |
| Area Total Km2: | 8.97 |
| Area Land Km2: | 8.92 |
| Area Water Km2: | 0.05 |
| Population Density Km2: | 350.94 |
Cottondale is a census-designated place in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, United States, now encompassed in the eastern suburbs of Tuscaloosa. The ZIP Code is 35453.[2] Alternative spellings include Cotton Dale, Kennedale, Kennidale and Konnidale.
Cottondale was the site of cotton mills where the Knights of Labor had some success in organizing drives in the late 1880s; and where "Mother" Jones worked in 1904 while studying conditions for working women and children in the South.
Little girls and boys, barefooted, walked up and down between the endless rows of spindles, reaching thin little hands into the machinery to repair snapped threads.... Tiny babies of six years old with faces of sixty did an eight-hour shift for ten cents a day.... The machines, built in the north, were built low for the hands of little children.[3]
Cottondale was originally called Kennedale in honor of Joseph Kennedy, one of the owners of a local cotton mill. In 1876, the name was changed to Cottondale for the cotton mill.[4]
Cottondale first appeared as a CDP in the 2020 census.
| White alone (NH) | 1,609 | 51.41% | |
| Black or African American alone (NH) | 1,049 | 33.51% | |
| Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH) | 9 | 0.29% | |
| Asian alone (NH) | 15 | 0.48% | |
| Pacific Islander alone (NH) | 2 | 0.06% | |
| Some Other Race alone (NH) | 8 | 0.26% | |
| Mixed Race/Multi-Racial (NH) | 122 | 3.90% | |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 316 | 10.10% | |
| Total | 3,130 | 100.00% |