Huntsville

Huntsville is a city located in the territory of Alabama. Huntsville is located in Madison County and is its center. Part of the city is located in the neighboring Limestone County. The population of the city of Huntsville is about 158 000 people.

The city owes its name to John Hunt, the first settler in the area who lived here in 1805. Although it was originally called Twickenham, the town was renamed in 1811 to Huntsville- the name of its first settler.

John Hunt was a veteran of the war of the revolution. Since he purchased the land on which he settled, he had to move south from his original place of residence. In 1811 the city of Huntsville became the first town incorporated in Alabama.

The city grew along the Tennessee River, as it began to build textile factories, factories producing munitions until, after some time, the city became a center of attraction and in it was built a NASA Space Center.

The rapid expansion of Huntsville is due to the construction of the railroad and the cotton industry. Many wealthy planters moved here from Virginia, North and South Carolina and Georgia. In 1819 Huntsville hosted the constitutional convention. Forty-four delegates wrote a new constitution for Alabama.

Then Huntsville was declared the first capital of the state, having been adopted in the state of the Union. Then the capital was moved to Cahawba and finally to Montgomery. Eight generals of the Civil War were born in Huntsville and its surroundings. Four of them fought on the side of the Confederacy and the other four supported the Union.

After the Civil War, Huntsville became the center of factories producing cotton textiles. Around each plant was built a neighborhood that had schools, churches, theaters and shops - everything that may be necessary for workers who lived near the plant.

In Huntsville was produced butter and Lily Flagg managed to break the world record for butter production in 1892. The area, located south of the city, is named Lily Flagg. It was annexed to the city in the twentieth century.

During the Great Depression, the industry in Huntsville was hampered. At that time, in and around Huntsville were growing large quantities of the healing herb Watercress and the city was declared Capital of the Watercress healing World.

In 1940 Huntsville had a population of around thirteen thousand people. One year later the city was joined by one hundred and forty square miles of land, which was for building military facilities for the U.S. Army. This city attracted many people who arrived to work at new military equipment. After the war in 1945 the facilities had been made futile.

The city bears the nickname City of missiles because there is the Redstone Arsenal, where the first U.S. satellite, Explorer I was launched. In the sixties many people who worked on the Apollo program arrived in the city. After closing the program the city's economy suffered severely. In the twenty-first century continues action from NASA in the area of Huntsville.