TIMELINE

First settlers

Indigenous peoples have resided in this area for thousands of years, particularly around the river. The Muskogee-speaking tribes were the first to come into contact with early European explorers and traders.

According to legend, the Chickasaw arrived in this area approximately 1300 after crossing the Mississippi. The Choctaw, another Muskogee-speaking tribe, bordered them on the west. To the east, there was Cherokee territory, which spoke an Iroquoian language and may have moved from south of the Great Lakes, where various Iroquoian tribes, including the Five Nations of the Iroquois League, are based. New infectious diseases were brought to the tribes by European settlers and traders, resulting in significant mortality. Furthermore, the three tribes contended for territory and resources.

By the turn of the century, this area had been largely devoid of indigenous peoples due to settlement pressures following the United States’ independence. In 1805, John Hunt, a Revolutionary War veteran, was a pioneer on land near the Big Spring. The United States concluded treaties with the Chickasaw in 1805 and the Cherokee in 1806 in which they relinquished their land claims to the federal authority.

Following that, LeRoy Pope bought the land and christened it Twickenham, after his distant kinsman Alexander Pope’s home place. Twickenham was meticulously planned, with streets oriented northeast to southwest to follow Big Spring’s flow. Given anti-British feeling following the Revolution and tensions leading up to the War of 1812, the town was renamed “Huntsville” in 1811 to honor pioneer John Hunt.

John Hunt and LeRoy Pope were both Freemasons and charter members of Alabama’s oldest lodge, Helion Lodge #1. 

Incorporation

Huntsville, Alabama’s first incorporated town, was founded in 1811. The year of John Hunt’s arrival, however, is considered the city’s “founding” year.

In 1817, David Wade arrived in Huntsville. He erected the David Wade House on the north side of what is now Bob Wade Lane, just east of Mt. Lebanon Road (Robert B. Wade was David’s grandson). The portico had six rough Doric columns. 

The Wade House was measured as part of the Historic American Structures Survey (HABS) for preservation of historic buildings in the government’s Archive during the Great Depression. Frances Benjamin Johnston photographed it for the initiative, which was part of the Roosevelt administration’s efforts to hire people during this difficult time. Architects, draftsmen, and photographers collaborated on the HABS project to develop a database of documentation and images of noteworthy properties around the country. The Wade house had been abandoned for years and had deteriorated significantly. It was demolished in 1952. Only the antebellum smokehouse remains on the property now.

Emerging industries

Huntsville’s early prosperity was built on the selling of cotton from plantations, which had a worldwide market, and trade related to railroad industry. Many affluent planters from Virginia, Georgia, and the Carolinas came to the area to establish new cotton estates. The invention of the cotton gin in the late eighteenth century meant that uplands areas could be profitably cultivated with short-staple cotton, which could be grown in a much larger area than the long-staple cotton of the Sea Islands and Low Country.

In 1819, a constitutional conference was held in Walker Allen’s big cabinet-making factory in Huntsville. For the nascent state of Alabama, the 44 delegates drafted a constitution. When Alabama was admitted to the Union, the new state constitution designated Huntsville as the state’s first capital. This was a one-time designation during a single legislative session. The capital was shifted to Cahawba, then Tuscaloosa, and ultimately Montgomery, which were all in the state’s center regions.

The Memphis and Charleston Railroad was built through Huntsville in 1855, and it was the first railway to connect the Atlantic seacoast with the lower Mississippi River.

Civil War

Huntsville was an outspoken opponent of secession from the Union in 1861, yet also supplied numerous men to the Confederacy’s cause. The 4th Alabama Infantry Regiment, led by Huntsville’s Col. Egbert J. Jones, distinguished itself at the Battle of Manassas/Bull Run, the American Civil War’s first major battle. Two Huntsville companies of the Fourth Alabama Infantry were the first Alabama troops to combat in the war. They were also present at Appomattox Court House in April 1865, when General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Grant. Huntsville produced nine military generals, five of them served for the Confederacy and four for the Union. Other Huntsville natives joined the Union Army and helped form the 1st Alabama Cavalry Regiment of the Union Army.

Union troops headed by General Ormsby M. Mitchel took Huntsville on the morning of April 11, 1862, in order to cut off the Confederacy’s rail links and gain access to the Memphis & Charleston Railroad. The Memphis & Charleston’s Western Division’s control point was Huntsville. The Union had dealt a huge blow to the Confederacy by seizing control of this railroad.

Union officials took over many of the city’s bigger homes during the first occupation, while enlisted soldiers stayed in tents mostly on the outskirts. During the first occupation, Union troops looked for both Confederate troops and weaponry hidden in the town. There was little opposition, and they dealt with Huntsville people in a civil manner. Residents of nearby towns, on the other hand, experienced harsher treatment. A few months later, Union troops were forced to flee. 

They returned to Huntsville in the fall of 1863 and used it as a base of operations for the war in the South until the closing months of 1864. In reprisal for the extensive guerilla warfare in the area, Union troops torched several homes and villages in the surrounding countryside, according to a nearby resident’s journal. Huntsville was kept intact as it housed both Union officers and troops.

After the Civil War

Three delegates from Huntsville attended the 1867 Constitutional Convention during the Reconstruction era, including Andrew J. Applegate, an Ohio native who later became Alabama’s first Lieutenant Governor. African American pupils attended Council Training School, which later became William Hooper Councill High School. It was named after William Hooper Councill, a teacher and the founder of the institution. 

Cotton textile factories such as Lincoln, Dallas, and Merrimack established themselves in Huntsville. Each mill built worker housing on the outskirts of town, eventually forming towns with schools, churches, grocery stores, theaters, and hardware stores all within walking distance of the mill. Workers in several of these company towns were compelled to purchase items from corporate stores, which frequently overcharged them. The mill owners also established rules for behavior and had the authority to evict workers from their homes if they disobeyed them. Only whites were allowed to work in the mills at first, as they paid better than farm employment. 

Lily Flagg, a local dairy cow, set the world record for butter output in 1892. General Samuel H. Moore, her Huntsville owner, painted his house butter yellow and threw a party, complete with electric lights for the dance floor. In honor of the cow, Lily Flagg, an area south of Huntsville was named Lily Flagg about 1906. The city later annexed this territory.

Great Depression 1930s

Huntsville’s industry collapsed during the Great Depression in the 1930s. Because of the abundance of watercress in the area, Huntsville became known as the Watercress Capital of the World. During this time, Madison County topped Alabama in cotton production.Huntsville’s industry collapsed during the Great Depression in the 1930s. Because of the abundance of watercress in the area, Huntsville became known as the Watercress Capital of the World. During this time, Madison County topped Alabama in cotton production.

World War II

Huntsville was still a small town in 1940, with a population of around 13,000 people. The US Army chose 35,000 acres (140 km2) of land surrounding the southwest section of the city in early 1941 for the construction of three chemical munitions facilities: the Huntsville Arsenal, the Redstone Ordnance Plant (soon rebranded Redstone Arsenal), and the Gulf Chemical Warfare Depot. During WWII, these units served with a total force of over 20,000 men. As additional workers rushed to the area, resources were stretched, and house building could not keep up.

Missile development

The munitions factories were no longer required at the end of the war in 1945. They were given the name Redstone Arsenal (RSA), and a lot of political and business effort was put into trying to attract new tenants. Manufacturing the Keller automobile was a notable start, but it was discontinued after just 18 automobiles were constructed. The US Army Air Force considered here for a major testing center with the encouragement of US Senator John Sparkman (D-AL), but chose another location. The Army had planned to decommission Redstone Arsenal, but Sparkman used his enormous Southern Democratic clout (the Solid South controlled multiple crucial congressional committee chairmanships) to persuade the Army to keep it as a facility for rocket and missile development.

When the Korean War broke out, the OGMC was tasked with developing what would later become the Redstone Rocket. This rocket established Huntsville as the headquarters of the United States’ space program, as well as significant Army missile programs. Brigadier General Holger Toftoy was in charge of the OGMC and the Redstone Arsenal as a whole. Major General John Medaris established the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) in early 1956.

Resettlement of German scientists

The Ordnance Guided Missile Center was established in 1950 when around 1,000 people were relocated from Fort Bliss, Texas, to Redstone Arsenal (OGMC). Colonel Holger Toftoy had transferred a group of roughly 200 German scientists and engineers, commanded by Wernher von Braun, from Nazi Germany to the United States as part of Operation Paperclip after World War II. They were sent to the Huntsville center, where they resided and raised families.

Early American space flight

Because of its close ties to US space operations, the city is known as “The Rocket City.” ABMA launched America’s first satellite, Explorer1, into orbit on January31,1958, utilizing a Jupiter-C launch vehicle, a successor of the Redstone. This drew national attention to Redstone Arsenal and Huntsville, as well as worldwide acknowledgment of the area as a significant high-tech hub.

On July1,1960, NASA’s George C. Marshall Space Flight Center was established with the transfer of 4,670 civilian workers, accompanying facilities and equipment, and 1,840 acres (7.4 km2) of land from ABMA (MSFC). MSFC’s first director was Wernher von Braun. President Dwight D. Eisenhower formally dedicated the MSFC on September 8.

MSFC’s main objective in the 1960s was to create the Saturn boosters that NASA employed in the Apollo Lunar Landing Program. As a result, MSFC hired a large number of new people, and the Huntsville industrial community grew significantly. To help with this industrial expansion, the Cummings Research Park was built immediately north of Redstone Arsenal, and it is today the second-largest research park of its kind in the United States.

Following the conclusion of the Apollo program in the 1970s, Huntsville’s economy was practically destroyed, and expansion came to a halt. The Space Shuttle, the International Space Station, and a wide range of advanced space science research led to a resurgence in NASA-related operations that has lasted well into the twenty-first century. In addition, at Redstone Arsenal, new Army organizations have arisen, particularly in the ever-expanding subject of missile defense.

Huntsville has grown to become the nation’s second-largest technology and research park, and it is among the top 25 most educated cities. It is one of the top high-tech hotspots in the country, as well as one of the greatest Southern cities for defense jobs. With a high average pay and cheap median gross rent, it is the number one location in the United States for engineers who are most content with the recognition they receive. 

Biotechnology 

The Huntsville Biotech Initiative has resulted in the development of more than 25 biotechnology companies in Huntsville. The HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology is located on the 150-acre Cummings Research Park Biotech Campus, which is part of the 4,000-acre Cummings Research Park, which is only second in size to North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park.

The HudsonAlpha Institute, a non-profit organization, has contributed genomics and genetics research to the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE). Infectious disease diagnostics, immunological responses to disease and cancer, protein crystallization, lab-on-a-chip technologies, and enhanced agricultural technology are among the topics addressed by for-profit businesses on the Biotech Campus.

The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) established a biotechnology doctoral program to help develop scientists to serve HudsonAlpha as well as Huntsville’s expanding biotechnology economy. Biotechnology is one of the university’s emerging topics for future instruction and research, according to its strategic plan.