Timeline of Huntsville, Alabama explained

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Huntsville, Alabama, USA.

Prior to 20th century

• 1809 - Town of Twickenham incorporated in U.S. Mississippi Territory.^[1]
• 1811 - Twickenham renamed "Huntsville".
• 1812 - Green Academy established.
• 1817
  • Town becomes part of U.S. Alabama Territory.
  • Huntsville Republican newspaper in publication.
• 1818 - Huntsville social library active.^[2]
• 1819
  • Alabama Territory constitutional convention held in Huntsville.
  • Town becomes part of new U.S. state of Alabama.
  • Newly formed Alabama Legislature convenes in Huntsville.
• 1820 - Alabama state capital relocated from Huntsville to Cahaba.
• 1822 - Maple Hill Cemetery in use (approximate date).
• 1825 - Southern Advocate and Huntsville Advertiser newspaper in publication.^[3]
• 1835 - A large fire near the Courthouse Square destroys about a dozen buildings.^[4]
• 1840 - Population: 2,496.
• 1844 - Huntsville was chartered as a city.
• 1855 - Memphis and Charleston Railroad begins operating.
• 1860 - Huntsville Depot built.
• 1862 - Huntsville occupied by Union forces during the American Civil War.
• 1870 - Population: 4,907.
• 1888
  • Old Federal Square U.S. Post Office and Courts built on corner of Randolph St and Green St
  • Monte Sano Railroad Workers' House built.
• 1896 - Oakwood College founded.
• 1898 - B’nai Israel Synagogue built.^[5]
• 1900 - Population: 8,068.

20th century

• 1904 - An angry mob sets fire to the city jail during the lead up to the Lynching of Horace Maples.^[6]
• 1910 - Huntsville Daily Times newspaper begins publication.^[3]
• 1912 - Lyric Theatre in business.^[7]
• 1916 - Carnegie Public Library building opens.^[8]
• 1932 - United States Courthouse and Post Office built.
• 1935 - Monte Sano State Park established near city.
• 1937 - WBHP radio begins broadcasting.
• 1938 - Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge established in vicinity of Huntsville.
• 1941 - U.S. military Redstone Arsenal begins operating.
• 1943 - (August) Community Chest, later to become United Way of Madison County, founded by community leaders
• 1947 - Keller (automobile) production begins.
• 1950
  • Area of city: 4 square miles.
  • Population: 16,437.
• 1951 - Huntsville-Madison County Historical Society formed.^[9]
• 1955
  • Huntsville Symphony Orchestra formed.
  • Memorial Parkway is constructed as a bypass around downtown.
• 1957 - Lee High School built.
• 1959 - WAFG-TV (television) begins broadcasting.
• 1960
  • U.S. NASA Marshall Space Flight Center established.
  • Area of city: 51 square miles.
  • Population: 72,365.
• 1962 - Arts Council formed.
• 1964 - Huntsville News begins publication.
• 1968 - Joe W. Davis becomes mayor.
• 1969 - Virgil I. Grissom High School established.
• 1970 - Population: 139,282.
• 1974 - Oakwood Adventist Academy established.
• 1975
  • Von Braun Civic Center (convention centre) opens.
  • Madison County Nature Trail established.
• 1976 - Huntsville Depot museum established.
• 1982
  • Panoply Arts Festival begins.
  • Alabama Constitution Village museum established.^[10]
• 1984 - Madison Square Mall in business.
• 1986 - Interstate 565 highway construction starts.
• 1988 - Steve Hettinger becomes mayor.
• 1989 - November 1989 tornado outbreak.
• 1990 - Population: 159,880.
• 1993 - Big Spring Jam (music festival) begins.
• 1995 - May 18: Anderson Hills tornado.
• 1996
  • Loretta Spencer becomes mayor.
  • Huntsville News ceases publication.
• 1997 - United States Army Aviation and Missile Command headquartered in Huntsville.

21st century

• 2006 - November 20: 2006 Huntsville bus crash.
• 2008 - Tommy Battle becomes mayor.
• 2010
  • February 12: 2010 University of Alabama in Huntsville shooting.
  • Population: 180,105.^[11]
• 2014
  • Area of city: 210 square miles.
  • Twickenham Square shopping/residential complex built.
  • Restore our Roads initiative created to fund a large amount of infrastructure projects to handle projected growth.^[12]
• 2018 - A Huntsville police officer, William Darby, shoots and kills a suicidal man seconds after arriving at the scene.^{[13] [14]} The city council votes to pay the officer's legal defense. Cleared of wrong-doing by the police review board,^[15] Darby is convicted of murder.^[16] The mayor and police chief continued to support the officer after the guilt verdict.^{[17] [18]}
• 2020
  • Construction begins on the next segment of the Northern Bypass, connecting Interstate 565 to US 231/431.
  • A George Floyd protest on June 3, 2020, was ended by Huntsville Police along with SWAT and Incident Response Team^[19] using tear gas, pepper spray, and rubber bullets.^{[20] [21] [22]}

See also

• Huntsville, Alabama history
• List of mayors of Huntsville, Alabama
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Huntsville, Alabama
• Timelines of other cities in Alabama: Birmingham, Mobile, Montgomery, Tuscaloosa

Bibliography

• Book: Southern Business Directory. John P. Campbell. Charleston, SC. Press of Walker & James . 1854. Alabama: Huntsville. https://books.google.com/books?id=_IRDAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA21.
  • • • Huntsville . 13 . 955 . 1910 . . 1.
• Book: Edward Chambers Betts . Early History of Huntsville, Alabama, 1804-1870 . Brown Printing Company . 1916 .
• Book: Thomas McAdory Owen . History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography . 1921. S. J. Clarke Publishing Company . 1. Huntsville. 2027/mdp.39015078279430?urlappend=%3Bseq=742 . https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015078279430?urlappend=%3Bseq=742 . .
  • 1971-
• Book: Sarah Huff Fisk . Civilization Comes to Big Spring: Huntsville, Alabama 1823 . Pinhook . 1997 .
• Book: Lynda Brown. Alabama History: an Annotated Bibliography . 1998. Greenwood Press . 978-0-313-28223-2 . Chronology . etal. .
• Trimble . Early Aviation in Rocket City, U.S.A. . . 0002-4341 . 57 . 2004 .
• Christine Dee . Trying James Hickman: The Politics of Loyalty in a Civil War Community . Alabama Review . 58 . 2005 .
  • Book: Paul T. Hellmann. Historical Gazetteer of the United States. 2006. Taylor & Francis. 1-135-94859-3. Alabama: Huntsville. 13. .
• Whitney Adrienne Snow . Cotton Mill City: The Huntsville Textile Industry, 1880-1989 . Alabama Review . 63 . 2010 .
• Web site: Huntsville History Collection . Deane K. Dayton . 2011- (Local wiki)
• Book: Images of America . Huntsville . Charleston, S.C. . Arcadia . 978-0-73859-891-8 . 2013 .
• . (City plan)

External links

• Web site: Genealogy, History and Archives . Research Guides . Huntsville-Madison County Public Library .
• Items related to Huntsville, various dates (via Digital Public Library of America)
• Web site: Birmingham Public Library . Selected Resources for Alabama Counties: Madison County .
• Web site: Education Resources . Kelly Hamlin . Huntsville History Collection . (Annotated list of links)
• Web site: Digital Collections . . Montgomery . (Materials related to Huntsville, Ala.)
• Web site: (Huntsville) . Alabama Mosaic . Alabama Commission on Higher Education, Network of Alabama Academic Libraries .
• Web site: (City: Huntsville) . Alabama Repositories Directory . Alabama Department of Archives & History . A listing of public entities and private organizations holding historical records, artifacts, and other cultural heritage materials .

Notes and References

1. Encyclopedia: Huntsville . Encyclopedia of Alabama . Greg Schmidt . Alabama Humanities Foundation . March 3, 2017 .
2. Web site: American Libraries before 1876 . Davies Project . Princeton University . March 3, 2017 .
3. Web site: US Newspaper Directory . Washington DC . . Library of Congress . March 3, 2017 .
4. Web site: Fire on Square - copy, 1835 . UAH Archives and Special Collections . 6 November 2021.
5. Encyclopedia: Huntsville, Alabama . Encyclopedia of Southern Jewish Communities . . Jackson, Mississippi . March 3, 2017 .
6. News: Alabama Mob Hangs Nergo . 6 August 2021 . The New York Times . Page 1 . 8 September 1904.
7. Web site: Movie Theaters in Huntsville, AL . CinemaTreasures.org . Cinema Treasures LLC . Los Angeles . March 3, 2017 .
8. Book: American Library Annual, 1917-1918 . 1918 . New York . R.R. Bowker Co. . https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015013751220?urlappend=%3Bseq=275 . Alabama . 7 v . 2027/mdp.39015013751220?urlappend=%3Bseq=275 .
9. Web site: Huntsville-Madison County Historical Society . March 3, 2017 .
10. Book: Directory of Historical Organizations in the United States and Canada . 2002 . 15th . 0759100020 . American Association for State and Local History . Alabama: Huntsville . 18–19 . Rowman Altamira . American Association for State and Local History .
11. Web site: Huntsville city, Alabama . QuickFacts . U.S. Census Bureau . March 3, 2017 .
12. Web site: Restore Our Roads. 2020-07-22. City of Huntsville. en-US.
13. News: Beachum . Lateshia . Alabama police officer convicted of murder for shooting suicidal man in 2018 . 6 June 2021 . The Washington Post . 8 May 2021.
14. News: Huntsville Police Officer William Darby found guilty of murder . 6 June 2021 . WHNT News 19 . Nexstar Media Inc. . 7 May 2021.
15. News: Jury convicts Alabama officer of murder in 2018 shooting . 6 June 2021 . FOX News . 7 May 2021.
16. News: Officer convicted of murder still gets paid in Alabama . 6 June 2021 . The Associated Press . 11 May 2021.
17. News: Police Chief, Mayor release statements on Murder conviction of Officer Darby . 6 June 2021 . WHNT News 19 . 7 May 2021.
18. News: Remkus . Ashley . Huntsville police officer William Ben Darby convicted of murder for shooting Jeffery Parker . 6 June 2021 . The Huntsville Times . AL.com . 7 May 2021.
19. Lightfoot, Franklin & White, LLC . Report by Independent Counsel to The Huntsville Police Citizens Advisory Council . 22 April 2021 . 50 of 248 . 29 August 2021.
20. News: Klapp . Caroline . Breakdown of 248 page report on Huntsville Police response to June 2020 protests . 30 August 2021 . WAFF 48 News . NBC . Gray Media Group, Inc. Station . 23 April 2021.
21. News: Remkus . Ashley . Protest review finds 'unprofessional' behavior, policy violations by Huntsville police . 29 August 2021 . The Huntsville Times . 23 April 2021.
22. News: UPDATED: Downtown Huntsville protest ends with riot gas, arrests . 30 August 2021 . WAFF 48 News . NBC . Gray Media Group, Inc . 4 June 2020.