Huntsville, Alabama (pop. 215,006; met. area pop. 491,723), is often called Rocket City, U.S.A. The Redstone Arsenal , the rocket and guided-missile center of the United States Army, lies just southwest of Huntsville. The German rocket engineer Wernher von Braun and other scientists developed the nation’s first large guided missiles there during the 1950’s. In the 1960’s, von Braun’s team designed the rockets that carried U.S. astronauts to the moon. Huntsville covers 221 square miles (572 square kilometers) in northern Alabama.
The city is the home of Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University, Oakwood University, and the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Huntsville has a symphony orchestra and several theatrical groups. The U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville exhibits the world’s largest collection of space-related materials. The area’s leading private industries produce personal computers, computer software, and electronic equipment for automobiles. Huntsville is the county seat of Madison County. The city has a mayor-council form of government.
Native American Cherokee and Chickasaw people lived in the area before white settlers arrived. In 1805, John Hunt of Virginia set up the first permanent settlement there. He chose the site because of its fertile soil and a big spring. The settlement, called Hunt’s Spring, was renamed Twickenham in 1809. In 1811, it was incorporated and renamed Huntsville for Hunt. The city was Alabama’s first state capital, in 1819 and 1820.
Huntsville, with an economy based on cotton and textiles, grew steadily during the 1800’s and early 1900’s. The population of the city jumped from about 16,000 in 1950 to more than 72,000 in 1960. This dramatic increase in population resulted from guided-missile research at the arsenal and industrial growth in the area. In 1960, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) opened the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center at the arsenal. Huntsville’s Von Braun Center, a convention and entertainment center, opened in 1975. A new public library was completed in the city in 1987.
