List of city nicknames in Alabama explained

This partial list of city nicknames in Alabama compiles the aliases, sobriquets and slogans that cities in the U.S. state of Alabama are known by (or have been known by historically), officially and unofficially, to locals, outsiders or their tourism boards.

City nicknames can help establish a civic identity, help outsiders recognize a community, attract people to a community because of its nickname, promote civic pride, and build community unity.^[1] Nicknames and slogans that successfully create a new community "ideology or myth" are also believed to have economic value. This value is difficult to measure, but there are anecdotal reports of cities that have achieved substantial economic benefits by "branding" themselves by adopting new slogans.^[2]

Some unofficial nicknames are positive, while others are derisive. The unofficial nicknames listed here have been in use for a long time or have gained wide currency.

• Alabaster – The City for Families^[3]
• Albertville – The Fire Hydrant Capital of the World^{[4] [5] [6]}
• Anniston – The Model City^[7]
• Auburn – The Armpit of the Confederacy^{[8] [9]}
  • Loveliest Village on the Plains^[10]
• Bayou La Batre – Seafood Capital of Alabama^[11]
• Bessemer – The Marvel City^[12]
• Birmingham
  • B'ham^[13]
  • Bombingham
  • The Magic City^[14]
  • The Pittsburgh of the South^{[15] [16]}
  • The Steel City^[17]
  • The Tragic City^[18]
• Cedar Bluff – Crappie Capital of the World^[19]
• Daphne – The Jubilee City^[20]
• Decatur
  • Ballooning Capital of Alabama^[21]
  • The Chicago of the South^[22]
  • Home of America's First Wave Pool^[23]
  • The River City^[24]
  • Wave Pool Capital of the World^[25]
• Demopolis – City of the People^[26]
• Dothan
  • Condom Capital of the World^[27]
  • The Peanut Capital of the World^{[28] [29]}
• Douglas – City of Eagles^[30]
• Enterprise – City of Progress^[31]
• Eufaula – Bass Capital of the World^[19]
• Fort Payne – Sock Capital of the World^[5]
• Gadsden – City of Champions^[32]
• Gordo – The Armpit of Civilization
• Greenville – The Camellia City^{[33] [34]}
• Haleyville – Home of 911^[35]
• Hartselle – The City of Southern Hospitality^[36]
• Hueytown – Home of the Alabama Gang^[37]
• Huntsville
  • The Rocket City^{[38] [39]}
  • Watercress Capital of the World^[40]
• Jackson – The Pine City
• Jacksonville – Gem of the Hills^[41]
• Lincoln – The Motorsports City^[42]
• Madison – Where Progress Meets Preservation^[43]
• Mentone – Camping Capital of the World^[44]
• Mobile
  • The Azalea City^[45]
  • The City of Six Flags^[46]
  • The Home of Mardi Gras^[47]
  • The Port City^[48]
• Monroeville – Literary Capital of the World^[49]
• Montgomery
  • Capital of the South
  • The Cradle of the Confederacy
  • The Gump
• Mountain Brook
  • Small Kingdom [52]
• Muscle Shoals – The Hit Recording Capital of the World (formerly)^[50]
• Ozark – The Home of Fort Rucker^[51]
• Prattville
  • The Fountain City^[52]
  • The Preferred City^[52]
• Selma
  • Butterfly Capital of Alabama
  • Queen of the Alabama Black Belt^{[53] [54]}
• Slocomb – The Tomato Capital of the South^[55]
• Summerdale – The Sunshine City^[56]
• Sylacauga – The Marble City^[57]
  • • Tuscaloosa The Druid City^[58]
  • T-Town
  • Tusca Town
• Tuskegee – The Pride of the Swift-Growing South^[59]
• Union Springs – Bird Dog Field Trial Capital of the World^[60]
• Vestavia Hills – The Jewel City^[61]
• Wetumpka – Rumbling Waters^[62]
• Winfield – City on the Move^[63]

See also

• List of city nicknames in the United States
• List of cities in Alabama

External links

• a list of American and a few Canadian nicknames
• U.S. cities list

Notes and References

1. Web site: Muench, David . Wisconsin Community Slogans: Their Use and Local Impacts . University of Wisconsin Extension . December 1993 . April 10, 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130309175857/http://www.uwex.edu/ces/cced/economies/communityindicators/communityslogans.pdf . March 9, 2013.
2. Alfredo Andia, Branding the Generic City :), MU.DOT magazine, September 10, 2007
3. http://www.usacitiesonline.com/alcountyalabaster.htm Alabaster, Alabama
4. https://web.archive.org/web/20080216220609/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,988693,00.html Greetings From America's Secret Capitals
5. http://www.epodunk.com/slogans/products.html Claims to Fame - Products
6. Maney, Kevin. "Claims to fame", USA Today, May 20, 2005. Accessed June 3, 2009.
7. http://www.powells.com/biblio?PID=28081&cgi=product&isbn=0817308180 The Model City of the New South: Anniston, Alabama, 1872-1900
8. News: Ladd . Donna . 2018-08-06 . Pride and prejudice? The Americans who fly the Confederate flag . 2024-07-13 . The Guardian . en-GB . 0261-3077.
9. Web site: May 2013 Confederate Newsletter .
10. http://www.auburnbeautification.org/default.aspx?MODE=RECENTAWARDEES "Loveliest Village" Inspiration Award
11. Web site: The World Capital of Whatever. The New York Times. Harold . Faber. 1993-09-12. 2018-11-15.
12. http://www.bessemerchamber.com/ Bessemer Area Chamber of Commerce
13. Web site: Original B'ham . 2022-07-12 . 2022-03-18 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220318164627/https://originalbham.com/ . dead .
14. http://www.archivists.org/conference/birm2002/magiccity.asp Birmingham: The Magic City
15. http://www.city-data.com/us-cities/The-South/Birmingham-Introduction.html Birmingham: Introduction
16. http://www.taglineguru.com/monikerlist.html U.S. City Monikers
17. http://steelcityjazzfestbham.com Steel City Jazz Festival
18. Web site: TragicCity.com: A Birmingham Guide to Living Uniquely . 2011-05-12 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110621042438/http://tragiccity.com/ . 2011-06-21 ., accessed May 12, 2011.
19. http://www.epodunk.com/slogans/fish.html Claims to Fame - Fish
20. http://www.daphneal.com/jubileecity.asp City of Daphne, Alabama website
21. http://www.decaturcvb.org/Pages/jubilee.html Alabama Jubilee Hot-Air Balloon Classic
22. http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/news/brac2007/tuesday/grow.shtml Railroad keyed Decatur's growth
23. http://www.decaturcvb.org/Pages/area_history.html Decatur History
24. http://huntsville.about.com/od/decatu1/Decatur_The_River_City_Review_Alabama.htm Decatur - The River City Review
25. Web site: Archived copy . 2010-04-14 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100220094720/http://www.waterparks.com/funfacts.asp . 2010-02-20 ., accessed April 14, 2010.
26. http://www.ruralswalabama.org/towns/demopolis/ Rural Southwest Alabama
27. Web site: Alabama town which calls itself the "Sock Capital of the World" may soon lose that title to China. Mighty sock lobby pressuring Bush to limit sock imports.
28. http://www.dothan.org/ City of Dothan
29. http://www.epodunk.com/slogans/agriculture.html Claims to Fame - Agriculture
30. http://www.usacitiesonline.com/alcountydouglas.htm Douglas, Alabama profile
31. Web site: https://www.enterpriseal.gov . www.enterpriseal.gov . September 3, 2017.
32. Web site: Visitors Gadsden, AL - Official Website.
33. http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=52947 Greenville, Alabama city profile
34. http://www.epodunk.com/slogans/plants.html Claims to Fame - Plants
35. http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?r106:34:./temp/~r106bPhKeg:: CONGRATULATING THE CITY OF HALEYVILLE, ALABAMA AS THE HOME OF 911
36. http://www.hartselle.org/ City of Hartselle
37. http://bama.live.advance.net/motorsports/index.ssf?resources/alabamagang.html The Alabama Gang
38. Time . National Affairs: Rocket City, U.S.A. . https://web.archive.org/web/20080831094820/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,862900,00.html . dead . August 31, 2008 . February 17, 1958 . March 16, 2010.
39. http://huntsville.about.com/library/weekly/aa102599a.htm Huntsville: Rocket City
40. http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/huntsville/hsv_history.html A Brief History of Huntsville
41. http://www.usacitiesonline.com/alcountyjacksonville.htm Jacksonville, Alabama profile
42. http://www.tceda.com/quality.htm Talladega County: Quality of Life
43. http://www.usacitiesonline.com/alcountymadison.htm Madison, Alabama city profile
44. Web site: Bed and Breakfast Alabama . 2010-04-14 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100430133052/http://www.lanierbb.com/Alabama/ . 2010-04-30 ., accessed April 14, 2010.
45. http://www.alabamatv.org/news/azalea.htm Public Television Features Mobile's Azalea Trail
46. http://www.newspaperarchive.com/newspapers1/na0012/689228/8066458.html Sheboygan Press
47. http://www.fabuloustravel.com/usa/mardigras/almardigras.html The Mother of All Mardi Gras
48. http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp%3Fid%3Dh-1803 "Encyclopedia of Alabama: Steamboats in Alabama"
49. http://www.southernliterarytrail.org/monroeville.html, accessed April 10, 2010.
50. http://www.shoalschamber.com/live/muscleshoalsmusic.html "Muscle Shoals Music - Shoals Chamber of Commerce"
51. http://ozarkalchamber.com/ozkftr.html Ozark Area Chamber of Commerce
52. https://web.archive.org/web/20070325211429/http://www.prattville.com/Default.asp?ID=13&pg=Visiting+or+Staying? Visiting or Staying?
53. Web site: City of Selma official website . 2015-12-09 . 2012-11-22 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121122084330/http://selma-al.gov/ . dead .
54. News: Freedom March Begins at Selma; Troops on Guard . New York Times. March 22, 1965 . Selma, which calls itself queen of the Alabama Black Belt -- the swath of rich, dark soil and heavy Negro population across south-central Alabama..
55. http://www.wtvynews4.com/home/headlines/3068291.html Slocomb Tomato Festival at WTVY.com
56. http://www.southbaldwinchamber.com/Default.asp?p='dem' South Baldwin Chamber of Commerce
57. http://www.epodunk.com/slogans/rocks.html Claims to Fame - Rocks
58. https://web.archive.org/web/20041217090909/http://www.dchsystem.com/body.cfm?id=37337 Frequently Asked Questions
59. http://www.tuskegee.edu/Global/category.asp?C=56172 Welcome to Tuskegee University
60. Web site: Bird Dog Monument. 2010-04-14. 2018-01-06. https://web.archive.org/web/20180106120347/http://www.unionspringsalabama.com/birddogmonument.html. dead.
61. http://www.relocateamerica.com/alabama/cities/vestavia-hills Vestavia Hills, Alabama
62. http://wetumpka.al.us/Default.asp?ID=2 About Wetumpka
63. https://web.archive.org/web/20070421021404/http://irvineworldnews.com/Astories/febs22/cityside.htm Motto ought to be boffo