Alberta City, never shortened as "the ABC" by locals, is the name of a

suburban area A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

Tuscaloosa, Alabama Tuscaloosa ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, Tuscaloosa County in west-central Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal Plain, Gulf Coastal and Piedmont (United States), Piedm ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Alberta City is located in the northeastern portion of Tuscaloosa and is generally defined as encompassing the portions of the city east of U.S. Route 82 (McFarland Boulevard), west of Holt, south of the

Black Warrior River The Black Warrior River is a waterway in west-central Alabama in the southeastern United States. The river rises in the extreme southern edges of the Appalachian Highlands and flows 178 miles (286 km) to the Tombigbee River, of which the ...

and north of Veterans Memorial Parkway.

History

With its founding in 1912 and much of its early development tracing to the early 20th Century, what is present-day Alberta City was

annexed Annexation, in international law, is the forcible acquisition and assertion of legal title over one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. In current international law, it is generally held to ...

into Tuscaloosa on September 21, 1948.

2011 tornado

On April 27, 2011, Alberta City suffered the heaviest damage from a

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the ...

that destroyed 12% of greater Tuscaloosa, including residences, churches, and stores. The suburb's landscape was changed significantly as numerous properties, homes, and businesses were completely destroyed and left as flat vacant lots after demolitions and debris clean-up. Two police stations, a

postal office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional service ...

, and elementary, middle, and primary day care schools were all damaged beyond repair or destroyed. Alberta City has undergone slow, gradual reconstruction ever since, largely due to revitalization efforts from the Tuscaloosa city government and from private investors and businesses seeing potential in the area due to its close proximity to the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, the Capstone, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of ...

's main campus. By 2021, reconstruction remained gradual as some commercial and residential sections of Alberta City remained in visible

urban decay Urban decay (also known as urban rot, urban death or urban blight) is the sociological process by which a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude. There is no single process that leads to urban decay. ...

due to minimal private investment and negligent property development on the many vacant lots. Continued public investment and the presence of

anchor store In North American, Australian and New Zealand retail, an "anchor tenant", sometimes called an "anchor store", "draw tenant", or "key tenant", is a considerably larger tenant in a shopping mall, often a department store or retail chain. They are ...

s have slowly facilitated recovery efforts.

Demographics

Alberta City never reported a population separately as an unincorporated community on the U.S. Census according to the census returns from 1850 until its annexation into Tuscaloosa in 1948.

Infrastructure

Transportation

The neighborhood is serviced by both

Alabama State Route 215 State Route 215 (SR 215) is a numbered state highway in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. SR 215 partially follows the former routes of U.S. Route 82 in Alabama, U.S. Route 82 (US 82) and U.S. Route 11 in Alabama, US 11. ...

(University Boulevard) and U.S. Route 82 (McFarland Boulevard). Public transportation is provided via public

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used ...

serviced by the

Tuscaloosa Transit Authority The Tuscaloosa Transit Authority, or TTA, is a local, government-owned bus system based in Tuscaloosa, Alabama that commenced operation in 1971. The Tuscaloosa Transit Authority serves the city of Tuscaloosa and also operates the trolleys between t ...

's ''Holt Route''.

References