Huntsville is the
most populous city in the U.S. state of
Alabama
Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...
. The population of the city is estimated to be 241,114 in 2024, making it the
100th-most populous city in the U.S. The
Huntsville metropolitan area had an estimated 525,465 residents and is the second-most populous metro area in the state, after
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
. Huntsville is the seat of
Madison County, with portions extending into
Limestone County and
Morgan County.
Huntsville is located in the
Appalachia
Appalachia ( ) is a geographic region located in the Appalachian Mountains#Regions, central and southern sections of the Appalachian Mountains in the east of North America. In the north, its boundaries stretch from the western Catskill Mountai ...
n region of
northern Alabama, south of the state of
Tennessee
Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...
. It was founded within the
Mississippi Territory
The Territory of Mississippi was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that was created under an organic act passed by the United States Congress, Congress of the United States. It was approved and signed into law by Presiden ...
in 1805 and became an incorporated town in 1811. When Alabama was admitted as a state in 1819, Huntsville was designated for a year as the first capital, before the state capitol was moved to more central settlements. The city developed across nearby hills north of the
Tennessee River
The Tennessee River is a long river located in the Southern United States, southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. Flowing through the states of Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, it begins at the confluence of Fren ...
, adding textile mills in the late nineteenth century.
Major growth in Huntsville took place in the decades following World War II. During the war, the
U.S. Army established
Redstone Arsenal
Redstone Arsenal is a United States Army base adjacent to Huntsville, Alabama in the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge. A census-designated place in Madison County, Alabama, United States, it is part of the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistica ...
in the vicinity, with a chemical weapons plant and related facilities. After the war, additional research was conducted at Redstone Arsenal on
rocket
A rocket (from , and so named for its shape) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using any surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely ...
s, followed by adaptations for space exploration. NASA's
Marshall Space Flight Center
Marshall Space Flight Center (officially the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center; MSFC), located in Redstone Arsenal, Alabama (Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville postal address), is the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government's ...
, the
United States Army Aviation and Missile Command, and most recently the
FBI's operational support headquarters, all were sited at Redstone Arsenal.
History
The City of Huntsville was incorporated on November 25, 1811.
Early history
Due to settlement pressures after the United States gained independence, this area had become largely empty of indigenous peoples by the turn of the 19th century. An Indian trader and boatman named James Ditto established himself at a landing on the river prior to American settlement.
Revolutionary War veteran
John Hunt was a pioneer in 1805 on land around the
Big Spring. The US negotiated an
1805 treaty with the Chickasaw and an
1806 treaty with the Cherokee who ceded their claims to land to the federal government.

The area was subsequently purchased by
LeRoy Pope, who named it
Twickenham
Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...
after the home village of his distant kinsman
Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early ...
.
Thomas Freeman and Roach started government surveys in 1805. Twickenham was carefully planned, with streets laid out in a northeast to southwest direction based on the flow of Big Spring. Given anti-British sentiment during this period after the Revolution and with tensions leading to the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...
, in 1811 the town name was changed to "Huntsville" to honor pioneer John Hunt.
Both John Hunt and LeRoy Pope were
Freemasons and charter members of
Helion Lodge #1, the oldest lodge in Alabama.
In 1811, Huntsville became the first incorporated town in what is now Alabama. However, the recognized "founding" year of the city is 1805, the year of John Hunt's arrival. David Wade settled in Huntsville in 1817. He built the David Wade House on the north side of what is now Bob Wade Lane (Robert B. Wade was David's grandson), just east of Mt. Lebanon Road.
Emerging industries
Huntsville's initial growth was based on wealth generated by the sale of
cotton
Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...
from
plantations, for which there was international demand, and trade associated with
railroad
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
industries. Many wealthy planters moved into the area from
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
,
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States
Georgia may also refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
, and
the Carolinas to develop new cotton plantations.
The invention of the
cotton gin
A cotton gin—meaning "cotton engine"—is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, enabling much greater productivity than manual cotton separation.. Reprinted by McGraw-Hill, New York and London, 1926 (); ...
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. The increased use of cotton meant an increased use of
slave labor
Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...
throughout the South as well.
Like
the rest of Alabama, Huntsville was involved in the
slave trade.
Slaves worked in factories and on cotton plantations. Many cotton mills in the area relied on slave labor, most notably the Bell Factory, where slaves ran textile machinery. The factory was known throughout Alabama for its high levels of production.
Cotton mills grew Huntsville and the South's economies greatly, becoming 60% of all U.S. exports and connecting Huntsville to major cotton markets in Nashville, Memphis, and New Orleans.
An 1822 census showed that out of the 1,300 inhabitants of Huntsville, 448 were slaves, making up 36% of the city's population.
In 1819, Huntsville hosted a constitutional convention in Walker Allen's large cabinet-making shop. The 44 delegates wrote a constitution for the new state of Alabama. In accordance with the new state constitution, Huntsville became Alabama's first capital when the state was admitted to the Union. This was a temporary designation for one legislative session only. The capital was moved to more central cities in the state; to
Cahaba, then to
Tuscaloosa, and finally to
Montgomery.
In 1855, the
Memphis and Charleston Railroad was constructed through Huntsville, becoming the first railway to link the
Atlantic seacoast with the lower
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...
.
Civil War

Huntsville initially opposed
secession
Secession is the formal withdrawal of a group from a Polity, political entity. The process begins once a group proclaims an act of secession (such as a declaration of independence). A secession attempt might be violent or peaceful, but the goal i ...
from the Union in 1861, but provided many men for the
Confederacy's efforts. The 4th Alabama Infantry Regiment, led by Col. Egbert J. Jones of Huntsville, distinguished itself at the
Battle of Manassas/Bull Run, the first major encounter of the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
. The regiment, which contained two Huntsville companies, were the first Alabama troops to fight in the war. They were also present when General
Robert E. Lee
Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a general officers in the Confederate States Army, Confederate general during the American Civil War, who was appointed the General in Chief of the Armies of the Confederate ...
surrendered to
Grant at
Appomattox Court House in April 1865. Nine generals of the war were born in or near Huntsville; five fought for the Confederacy and four for the Union. Other Huntsville residents joined the Union Army and helped establish the Union Army's
1st Alabama Cavalry Regiment.
On the morning of April 11, 1862, Union troops led by General Ormsby M. Mitchel seized Huntsville in order to sever the Confederacy's rail communications and gain access to the
Memphis & Charleston Railroad. Huntsville was the headquarters for the Eastern Division of the Memphis & Charleston.
During the first occupation, Union officers took over many of the larger homes in the city while the enlisted soldiers camped in tents mainly on the outskirts. Union troops searched for Confederate troops hiding in the town and weapons. There was not much resistance, and they treated Huntsville residents in a relatively civil manner. However, residents of nearby towns reported harsher treatment.
Union troops were forced to retreat a few months later. In the fall of 1863, they returned to Huntsville, using it as a base of operations for the war in the South until the last months of 1864. According to the journal of a nearby resident, Union troops burned many homes and villages in the surrounding countryside in retaliation for the active
guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include recruited children, use ambushes, sabotage, terrori ...
in the area. Many houses and buildings were burned, although most of Huntsville was kept intact as it housed both Union officers and troops.
After the Civil War
During the
Reconstruction era
The Reconstruction era was a period in History of the United States, US history that followed the American Civil War (1861-65) and was dominated by the legal, social, and political challenges of the Abolitionism in the United States, abol ...
, three delegates from Huntsville attended the 1867 Constitutional Convention including
Andrew J. Applegate, originally from Ohio, who went on to serve as Alabama's first Lieutenant Governor. Councill Training School, which eventually became
William Hooper Councill High School, was established as the first public school for African American students. It was named for educator and school founder
William Hooper Councill.
Huntsville became a center for cotton
textile mill
Textile manufacturing or textile engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful good ...
s, such as Lincoln,
Dallas
Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
, and Merrimack. Each mill company constructed worker housing outside the city, creating communities that eventually included schools, churches, grocery stores, theaters, and hardware stores, all within walking distance of the mill. In many such company towns, workers were required to buy goods at the company stores, which sometimes overcharged them. The mill owners also established rules for behavior and could throw out workers from housing if they violated these policies. As was common for the time, work was highly segregated with only whites being allowed to work inside the mills and Blacks relegated to working outside as laborers and groundskeepers.
During the 1930s, industry declined in Huntsville due to the
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
. Huntsville became known as the
Watercress Capital of the World because of its abundant harvest in the area. Madison County led Alabama in cotton production during this time.
Military and NASA involvement
By 1940, Huntsville was still relatively small, with a population of about 13,000 inhabitants. This quickly changed in early 1941 when the
U.S. Army selected of land adjoining the southwest area of the city for building three
chemical munitions facilities: the
Huntsville Arsenal, the Redstone Ordnance Plant (soon redesignated Redstone Arsenal), and the Gulf Chemical Warfare Depot. These operated throughout
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, with combined personnel approaching 20,000. Resources in the area were strained as new workers flocked to the area, and the construction of housing could not keep up.
At the end of the war in 1945, the munitions facilities were no longer needed. They were combined with the designation Redstone Arsenal (RSA), and a considerable political and business effort was made in attempts to attract new tenants. One significant start involved manufacturing the
Keller automobile, but this closed after 18 vehicles were built. With the encouragement of US Senator
John Sparkman (D-AL), the
U.S. Army Air Force considered this for a major testing facility, but selected another site. Redstone Arsenal was prepared for disposal, but Sparkman used his considerable Southern Democratic influence (the
Solid South
The Solid South was the electoral voting bloc for the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party in the Southern United States between the end of the Reconstruction era in 1877 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In the aftermath of the Co ...
controlled numerous powerful chairmanships of congressional committees) to persuade the Army to choose it as a site for rocket and missile development.
As the
Korean War
The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...
started, the Ordnance Guided Missile Center (OGMC) was given the mission to develop what eventually became the
Redstone Rocket. This rocket set the stage for the
United States' space program, as well as major Army missile programs, to be centered in Huntsville. Brigadier General
Holger Toftoy commanded OGMC and the overall Redstone Arsenal. In early 1956, the
Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) under Major General
John Medaris was formed.
In 1950, about 1,000 personnel were transferred from
Fort Bliss
Fort Bliss is a United States Army post in New Mexico and Texas, with its headquarters in El Paso, Texas. Established in 1848, the fort was renamed in 1854 to honor William Wallace Smith Bliss, Bvt.Lieut.Colonel William W.S. Bliss (1815–1853 ...
, Texas, to Redstone Arsenal to form the Ordnance Guided Missile Center (OGMC). Central to this was a group of about 200 German scientists and engineers, led by
Wernher von Braun; they had been brought from
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
to the United States by Colonel Holger Toftoy under
Operation Paperclip
The Operation Paperclip was a secret United States intelligence program in which more than 1,600 German scientists, engineers, and technicians were taken from former Nazi Germany to the US for government employment after the end of World War I ...
following World War II. Assigned to the center at Huntsville, they settled and raised families.

The city is nicknamed "The Rocket City" for its close association with U.S. space missions. On January 31, 1958, ABMA placed America's first satellite,
Explorer 1
Explorer 1 was the first satellite launched by the United States in 1958 and was part of the U.S. participation in the International Geophysical Year (IGY). The mission followed the first two satellites, both launched by the Soviet Union duri ...
, into orbit using a
Jupiter-C
The Jupiter-C was an American research and development vehicle developed from the Jupiter-A. Jupiter-C was used for three Uncrewed vehicle, uncrewed sub-orbital spaceflights in 1956 and 1957 to test Re-entry vehicle, re-entry nosecones that were ...
launch vehicle, a descendant of the Redstone. This brought national attention to Redstone Arsenal and Huntsville, with widespread recognition of this being a major center for high technology.
On July 1, 1960, 4,670 civilian employees, associated buildings and equipment, and of land were transferred from ABMA to form
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
's
George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). Wernher von Braun was MSFC's initial director. On September 8, President
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...
formally dedicated the MSFC.
During the 1960s, the major mission of MSFC was in developing the
Saturn boosters used by NASA in the
Apollo Lunar Landing Program. For this, MSFC greatly increased its employees, and many new companies joined the Huntsville industrial community. The
Cummings Research Park was developed just north of Redstone Arsenal to partially accommodate this industrial growth, and has now become the second-largest research park of this type in America.
Huntsville was selected as the permanent home of the United States
Space Operations Command in 2020, but in 2023 the Pentagon announced that the temporary headquarters would be expanded and remain in Colorado.
Civil Rights Movement to modern day
Huntsville was a key location in the
Civil Rights Movement. In 1962, students from
Alabama A&M University held the city's first lunch counter
sit-in
A sit-in or sit-down is a form of direct action that involves one or more people occupying an area for a protest, often to promote political, social, or economic change. The protestors gather conspicuously in a space or building, refusing to mo ...
. After the mayor refused to address the protests, the Community Service Committee (CSC) was formed to help organize sit-ins and protests, as well as
bail out arrested protestors.
In April 1962, a committee was formed by the city to "address the concerns of the African American community," and eight lunch counters, as well as a number of other public spaces, were desegregated.
On May 11, 1962, Huntsville became the first city in Alabama to be racially integrated.
In June 1963, the admission of two Black students to the University of Alabama in Huntsville was challenged by
Governor
A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
George Wallace
George Corley Wallace Jr. (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) was an American politician who was the 45th and longest-serving governor of Alabama (1963–1967; 1971–1979; 1983–1987), and the List of longest-serving governors of U.S. s ...
. Wallace pushed back the registration dates for multiple state universities (presumably to allow more time for
state troopers to move into the area) but instead moved them to
Tuscaloosa. The students were admitted without issues. Around the same time, the
color barrier was broken further when the first white person enrolled at Alabama A&M University. In August 1963, a court ruling determined that Huntsville must desegregate their schools. Wallace used state troopers to stop four students from entering the first desegregated school. On September 6, the troopers announced that the desegregated schools were closed for three more days, but the Board of Education issued a statement denying the closure. When the schools opened on September 9, Wallace was served a restraining order against further interference with the desegregation of Huntsville schools. Huntsville became the first city in Alabama to desegregate its schools as well.
Alabama's opposition to desegregation at this time caused concern from the NASA Administrator
James E. Webb
James Edwin Webb (October 7, 1906 – March 27, 1992) was an American government official who served as Undersecretary of State from 1949 to 1952. He was the second Administrator of NASA, Administrator of NASA from February 14, 1961, to Octob ...
, who investigated equal employment opportunities for Black people in Huntsville. After failing to attract high-level staff to Huntsville, Webb said that "some research work would have to be switched from Huntsville to New Orleans". This investigation into employment caused MSFC to open their engineering education programs to Black students at Alabama A&M and
Oakwood College, as well as for local contractors to "work for progress in race relations".
The emergence of the
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable launch system, reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. ...
, the
International Space Station
The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was Assembly of the International Space Station, assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United ...
, and a wide variety of advanced research in space sciences led to a resurgence in NASA-related activities that has continued into the 21st century. In addition, new Army organizations have emerged at Redstone Arsenal, particularly in the ever-expanding field of
missile defense
Missile defense is a system, weapon, or technology involved in the detection, tracking, interception, and also the destruction of attacking missiles. Conceived as a defense against nuclear weapon, nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic mi ...
.
Geography
This city is located at (34.6934098, -86.5607619). According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the city has a total area of , of which is land and , is water as of 2023.
According to the ''City of Huntsville Statistics'', the city has a total area of , of which is land and , is water as of 2024.
Huntsville has grown through recent annexations west into
Limestone County by ) in the early 2000s, and south into
Morgan County with in 2018.
Huntsville borders
Marshall County across the Tennessee River near
Hobbs Island.
Huntsville has the
29th largest land area in the United States for cities with a population over 100,000. Huntsville has borders surrounding both the cities of
Madison and
Triana. Huntsville also borders the cities of
Decatur,
Athens
Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
,
Owens Cross Roads, the town of
Mooresville as well as the
census-designated place
A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only.
CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...
s of
Moores Mill,
Meridianville, Laceys Spring, and
Redstone Arsenal
Redstone Arsenal is a United States Army base adjacent to Huntsville, Alabama in the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge. A census-designated place in Madison County, Alabama, United States, it is part of the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistica ...
.
Situated in the Tennessee River valley, Huntsville is partially surrounded by several
plateau
In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. ...
s, large hills, and mountains. These plateaus are associated with the
Cumberland Plateau
The Cumberland Plateau is the southern part of the Appalachian Plateau in the Appalachian Mountains of the United States. It includes much of eastern Kentucky and Tennessee, and portions of northern Alabama and northwest Georgia. The terms " Al ...
.
Monte Sano Mountain
Monte Sano Mountain is a mountain located in Huntsville, Alabama. The name ''Monte Sano'' is Spanish for "Mountain of health". The mountain was given its name by Dr. Thomas Fern, who along with his two brothers, founded a small colony on the mo ...
(Spanish for "Mountain of Health") is the most notable and is east of the city, along with Round Top (Burritt), Chapman, Huntsville, and Green mountains. Others are Wade Mountain to the north, Rainbow Mountain to the west, and Weeden and Madkin mountains on the
Redstone Arsenal
Redstone Arsenal is a United States Army base adjacent to Huntsville, Alabama in the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge. A census-designated place in Madison County, Alabama, United States, it is part of the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistica ...
property in the south.
Brindley Mountain is visible in the south across the Tennessee River.
As with other areas along the Cumberland Plateau, the land around Huntsville is
karst
Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...
in nature. The city was founded around the Big Spring, which is a typical karst spring. Many
cave
Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...
s perforate the
limestone
Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
bedrock underneath the surface, as is common in karst areas. The
National Speleological Society is headquartered in Huntsville.
Climate
Huntsville has a
humid subtropical climate
A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...
(
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
''Cfa''). It experiences hot, humid summers and generally mild winters, with average high temperatures ranging from near in the summer to during winter.
Huntsville is near the center of a large area of the U.S. mid-South that has maximum precipitation in the winter and spring, not summer. The average yearly precipitation is more than 54 inches. On average, the wettest single month is December, but Huntsville has a prolonged wetter season from November to May with, on average, nearly or over 5 or more inches of precipitation most of those months. On average, August to October represent slightly drier months, showing less than of precipitation. Droughts can occur, primarily August through October, but usually there is enough rainfall to keep soils moist and vegetation lush. Much of Huntsville's precipitation is delivered by
thunderstorm
A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustics, acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorm ...
s.
Thunderstorms are most frequent during the spring, and the most severe storms occur during the spring and late fall. These storms can deliver large
hail
Hail is a form of solid Precipitation (meteorology), precipitation. It is distinct from ice pellets (American English "sleet"), though the two are often confused. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is called a hailsto ...
, damaging straight-line winds, and
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 ...
es. Huntsville lies in a region colloquially known as
Dixie Alley, an area more prone to violent, long-track tornadoes than most other parts of the US.
On April 27, 2011, the largest tornado outbreak on record, the
2011 Super Outbreak, affected northern Alabama. During this event,
an EF5 tornado that tracked near the
Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant destroyed many transmission towers and caused a multi-day power outage for the majority of North Alabama. That same tornado also resulted in considerable damage to the Anderson Hills subdivision and in
Harvest, Alabama. In total, nine people were killed in Madison County, and many others were injured. Other significant tornado events include the
Super Outbreak in April 1974, the
November 1989 tornado that killed 21 and injured over 460, and the
1995 Anderson Hills tornado that killed one person and caused extensive damage.
On January 21, 2010, an EF2 tornado struck Huntsville, resulting in moderate damage. Because it was not rain-wrapped and was easily photographed, it received extensive media coverage.
While most winters have some measurable snow, heavy snow is rare in Huntsville. However, there have been some unusually heavy snowstorms, like the New Year's Eve 1963 snowstorm, when fell within 24 hours. Likewise, the
Blizzard of 1993 and the
Groundhog Day
Groundhog Day (, , , ; Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia, Lunenburg, Nova Scotia: Daks Day) is a tradition observed regionally in the United States and Canada on February 2 of every year. It derives from the Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that if ...
snowstorm in February 1996 were substantial winter events for Huntsville. On Christmas Day 2010, Huntsville recorded over of snow, and on January 9–10, 2011 it received at the airport and up to in the suburbs.
Demographics
2020 census
As of the
2020 census, there were 215,006 people, 92,074 households, and 52,924 families residing in the city. The
population density
Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...
was There were 100,391 housing units. The racial makeup of the city was 55.17% White, 29.0% Black or African American, 0.40% Native American, 2.51% Asian, 0.12% Pacific Islander, and 4.63% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 7.75% of the population.
Economy
Huntsville's main economic influence is derived from aerospace and military technology. Redstone Arsenal, Cummings Research Park (CRP), Jetplex Industrial Park, and NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center comprise the main hubs for the area's technology-driven economy. CRP is the second largest research park in the United States and the fourth largest in the world. The
University of Alabama in Huntsville is a center for technology and engineering research in the area. There are commercial technology companies such as the network access company
ADTRAN, computer graphics company
Intergraph
Intergraph Corporation was an American software development and services company, which now forms part of Hexagon AB. It provides enterprise engineering and geospatially powered software to businesses, governments, and organizations around the w ...
and designer and manufacturer of IT infrastructure
Avocent.
Cinram manufactures and distributes
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...
DVDs and
Blu-ray
Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...
discs out of their Huntsville plant.
Sanmina-SCI has a presence in the area. A number of
Fortune 500
The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune (magazine), Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States Joint-stock company#Closely held corporations and publicly traded corporations, corporations by ...
companies have operations in Huntsville.
There are several strip malls and
shopping mall
A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a large indoor shopping center, usually Anchor tenant, anchored by department stores. The term ''mall'' originally meant pedestrian zone, a pedestrian promenade with shops along it, but in the late 1960s, i ...
s throughout the city. Huntsville has one enclosed mall,
Parkway Place, built in 2002 on the site of the former Parkway City Mall. A larger mall built in 1984,
Madison Square Mall Madison may refer to:
People
* Madison (name), a given name and a surname
* James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States
* Madison (footballer), Brazilian footballer
Places in the United States
Populated places
* Madi ...
, was closed in 2017 and the site is being redeveloped into the Mid City lifestyle center. An additional lifestyle center,
Bridge Street Town Centre, was completed in 2007, in Cummings Research Park.
Huntsville is a key city in rocket-propulsion research for NASA and various organizations run by the Army.
The Marshall Space Flight Center has been designated to develop NASA's
Space Launch System
The Space Launch System (SLS) is an American Super heavy-lift launch vehicle, super heavy-lift Expendable launch system, expendable launch vehicle used by NASA. As the primary launch vehicle of the Artemis program, Artemis Moon landing progra ...
(SLS),
and the
U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM) is responsible for developing a variety of rocket-based tactical weapons.
Toyota Motor Manufacturing Alabama was constructed in 2003 and is located in North Huntsville Industrial Park. The plant has 1,800 employees as of 2022. The plant manufactures engines for Toyota vehicles.
Navistar
International Motors, LLC (formerly Navistar International Corporation) is an American manufacturer of commercial vehicles and engines, established in 1986 as a successor to the International Harvester company. International Motors produces ...
Huntsville Powertrain Manufacturing Plant was opened in 2008 and provides powertrain components to Navistar's vehicle assembly plants in Springfield, Ohio and Escobedo, Mexico. The plant is located north of Huntsville International Airport.
Mazda Toyota Manufacturing USA
Mazda Toyota Manufacturing, U.S.A., Inc. (MTMUS) is a joint venture automobile manufacturing factory in Huntsville, Alabama, United States owned by Japanese automobile manufacturers Mazda and Toyota.
The companies announced on January 10, 201 ...
was constructed in 2021 with a plan to hire 4,000 employees. The facility produces Toyota and Mazda
SUVs and
pickup truck
A pickup truck or pickup is a Truck_classification#Table_of_US_GVWR_classifications, light or medium duty truck that has an enclosed cabin (truck), cabin, and a back end made up of a cargo bed that is enclosed by three low walls with no roof (th ...
s. such as the
Toyota Corolla Cross and
Mazda CX-50. The majority of the plant is located in Huntsville with the southern third located in the unincorporated community of
Greenbrier.
More than 25 biotechnology firms have developed in Huntsville due to the Huntsville Biotech Initiative. The HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology is part of the Cummings Research Park. The non-profit HudsonAlpha Institute has contributed
genomics
Genomics is an interdisciplinary field of molecular biology focusing on the structure, function, evolution, mapping, and editing of genomes. A genome is an organism's complete set of DNA, including all of its genes as well as its hierarchical, ...
and
genetics
Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinians, Augustinian ...
work to the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (
ENCODE
The Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) is a public research project which aims "to build a comprehensive parts list of functional elements in the human genome."
ENCODE also supports further biomedical research by "generating community resourc ...
). For-profit business ventures within the Biotech Campus focus on subjects such as diagnosing disease, immune responses to cancer,
protein crystallization
Protein crystallization is the process of formation of a regular array of individual protein molecules stabilized by crystal contacts. If the crystal is sufficiently ordered, it will diffract. Some proteins naturally form crystalline arrays, ...
,
lab-on-a-chip
A lab-on-a-chip (LOC) is a device that integrates one or several laboratory functions on a single integrated circuit (commonly called a "chip") of only millimeters to a few square centimeters to achieve automation and high-throughput screening. ...
technologies, and agricultural technologies. The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) created a doctoral program in biotechnology to help develop scientists to support HudsonAlpha in addition to the emerging biotechnology economy in Huntsville.
In 2018,
Meta broke ground on a $1.5 billion
data center
A data center is a building, a dedicated space within a building, or a group of buildings used to house computer systems and associated components, such as telecommunications and storage systems.
Since IT operations are crucial for busines ...
in North Huntsville Industrial Park, and was opened in 2021. In June 2022, they announced they would be expanding the facility to seven buildings across a 3.5 million square foot area, but paused construction in December. The company advertised that the facility runs on 100% renewable energy and provides 300+ jobs to the community.
Arts and culture
Historic districts and museums
Twickenham Historic District was chosen as the name of the first of three of the city's historic districts. It features homes in the Federal and Greek Revival architectural styles introduced to the city by Virginia-born architect
George Steele about 1818. The 1819
Weeden House Museum was home to female artist and poet
Howard Weeden, whose watercolors include portraits of African Americans.
Old Town Historic District contains a variety of styles, with homes dating from the late 1820s through the early 1900s.
Lowe Mill Village and
Lincoln Mill and Mill Village Historic District were established during the textile boom of the 1890s and were recognized for their historical importance in 2011, along with Dallas Mill Village.
EarlyWorks Family of Museums runs multiple museums in Huntsville. EarlyWorks Children's Museum is an interactive history museum.
Alabama Constitution Village features eight reconstructed Federal style buildings, with living-museum displays downtown. The
Huntsville Depot, completed in 1860, is the oldest extant railroad depot in Alabama and one of the oldest extant depots in the United States.
Burritt on the Mountain, located on Monte Sano Mountain, is a regional history museum and event venue featuring a 1950s mansion, interpretive historic park, nature trails, and scenic overlooks.
Harrison Brothers Hardware Store, established in 1879, is the oldest operating hardware store in Alabama. Now owned by the Historic Huntsville Foundation, it is still a working store and museum.
Huntsville Museum of Art in Big Spring International Park offers permanent displays, traveling exhibitions, and educational programs.
North Alabama Railroad Museum features locomotives, coach cars, and other train cars.
The
United States Space & Rocket Center features the United States Space Camp, Aviation Challenge, and the only
Saturn V
The Saturn V is a retired American super heavy-lift launch vehicle developed by NASA under the Apollo program for human exploration of the Moon. The rocket was human-rated, had multistage rocket, three stages, and was powered by liquid-propel ...
rocket designated a
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...
.
The U.S. Veterans Memorial Museum displays more than 30 military vehicles from World War I to the present, including the world's oldest jeep, artifacts, and small arms dating back to the Revolutionary War.
Libraries
Branches of the
Huntsville-Madison County Public Library include: South Huntsville Public Library, North Huntsville Public Library, Downtown Huntsville Public Library, Cavalry Hill Public Library, Gurley Public Library, Madison Public Library, Monrovia Public Library, New Hope Public Library, Tillman D. Hill Public Library of Hazel Green, and Triana Public Library. The Huntsville-Madison County Public Library has Alabama's highest materials circulation rate, and features a historical resource archive.
Visual arts and festivals
Arts Huntsville (TAC) includes over 100 local arts organizations and advocates, and promotes visual arts with two galleries: art@TAC, and JavaGalleria. TAC supports Create Huntsville, a county initiative to expand arts and cultural opportunities.
The Huntsville Museum of Art opened in 1970. It purchased the largest privately owned, permanent collection of art by American women in the U.S., featuring
Anna Elizabeth Klumpke
Anna Elizabeth Klumpke (October 28, 1856 – February 9, 1942) was an American portrait and Genre works, genre painter born in San Francisco, California, United States. She is perhaps best known for her portraits of famous women including Eliza ...
, among others. The Huntsville Photographic Society started in 1956, dedicated to furthering the art and science of photography in North Alabama. The Huntsville Art League started in 1957, adopting the name "The Huntsville Art League and Museum Association" (HALMA). In addition to their Visiting Artists and "Limelight Artists" series, which highlight both nonresident and member artists at the home office, HALMA features its members' works at galleries located in the Jane Grote Roberts Auditorium of the Huntsville-Madison County Public Library Main Branch, the Heritage Club, and the halls of the ''Huntsville Times''.
Panoply Arts Festival occurs every spring, and includes demonstrations, performances, competitions, workshops, and fireworks.
The Cigar Box Guitar Festival occurs each June, and is the world's longest running Cigar Box Guitar festival, featuring live music using home made instruments. The Galaxy of Lights is a holiday-themed light showcase hosted by the
Huntsville Botanical Garden each winter. The Botanical Garden hosts a fun-run through the event.
Performing arts
The Huntsville Community Chorus Association (HCCA) is one of Alabama's oldest performing arts organizations, with its first performance dating to December 1946. HCCA produces chorale concerts and musical theater productions. The
Huntsville Symphony Orchestra (HSO) is Alabama's oldest continuously operating professional symphony orchestra, featuring performances of classical, pops and family concerts, and music education programs in public schools.
The Huntsville Youth Orchestra was founded by Russell Gerhart, founding conductor of the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra, in 1961. Huntsville Chamber Music Guild was organized in 1952 to promote and present chamber music programs; the group seeks to present recitals in which artists are presented in works of the classical masters.
Broadway Theatre League was founded in 1959. BTL presents a season of national touring Broadway productions each year, a family-fun show, and additional season specials. Shows are presented in the Von Braun Center's Mark C. Smith Concert Hall.
Fantasy Playhouse Children's Theatre, Huntsville's oldest children's theater, was founded in 1961. Fantasy Playhouse Theater Academy, the organization's dance, music, and art school, teaches children and adults each year. Fantasy Playhouse regularly produces three plays a year with an additional play, ''A Christmas Carol'', produced early each December. Independent Musical Productions (IMP), was founded in 1993 and stages
musical productions performed by volunteers from the community. Three musicals are presented throughout the year, as well as several Cabaret performances at smaller local venues to round out each season. IMP is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and offers technical and performance workshops for the community.
The
Von Braun Center, which originally opened in 1975 as the Von Braun Civic Center, includes 10,000-seat capacity arena, a 2,000-seat concert hall, a 500-seat playhouse (330 seats with proscenium staging), and of convention space. Both the arena and concert hall have undergone major renovations; as a result, they have been rechristened the Propst Arena and the Mark C. Smith Concert Hall, respectively.
Breweries
A number of local breweries are located in Huntsville. Straight to Ale Brewery opened in 2010 in North Huntsville, later relocated to South Huntsville, and then moved to Campus 805 in West Huntsville. Yellowhammer Brewing opened in 2010 in West Huntsville. It later moved to a new facility at Campus 805 in West Huntsville. Salty Nut Brewery opened in 2013 in North Huntsville and moved to West Huntsville on brewery row. Green Bus Brewing in downtown Huntsville opened in late 2015.
Sports
Huntsville is home to a number of adult sports teams and leagues. The
Huntsville Havoc
The Huntsville Havoc are a professional ice hockey team in the SPHL. They play their home games at the Von Braun Center in downtown Huntsville, Alabama.
History
The team began play in the 2004–05 season, following the defunct Huntsville ...
are a professional
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...
team with the
SPHL that play home games at the Von Braun Center.
Huntsville City FC, a reserve team for
Nashville SC
Nashville Soccer Club is an American professional soccer club based in Nashville, Tennessee. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team spent two seasons in the USL Championship before joining ...
of
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...
, began playing in 2023 in
MLS Next Pro
MLS Next Pro (MLSNP) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the United States and Canada that is affiliated with Major League Soccer (MLS). It launched in 2022 with 21 teams and now comprises 27 reserve sides of MLS clu ...
, the third level of soccer in the US. The Huntsville Adult Soccer League, based at Merrimack Sports Complex, is an amateur adult soccer league with seven teams, including four men's divisions, a premier team, a women's team, and a master's team. The
Rocket City Roller Derby is part of the
Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) and plays at the NSS Conference Center. The
Alabama–Huntsville Chargers
The Alabama–Huntsville Chargers (also UAH Chargers) are the athletic teams that represent the University of Alabama in Huntsville, located in Huntsville, Alabama, in intercollegiate sports at the NCAA Division II, Division II ranks of the Nati ...
(University of Alabama in Huntsville)
Men's and
Women's Basketball
Women's basketball is the team sport of basketball played by women. It was first played in 1892, one year after men's basketball, at Smith College in Massachusetts. It spread across the United States, in large parts via women's college compet ...
teams are part of NCAA Division II, NCAA D-II and play at Spragins Hall. The Alabama A&M Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs, Alabama A&M Bulldogs (Alabama A&M University) Men's American football, Football team is part of NCAA Division I, NCAA D-I FCS.
Huntsville has numerous sports venues. The Von Braun Center has a maximum seating capacity of 9,000. Toyota Field (Madison, Alabama), Toyota Field is a baseball park with a capacity of about 7,000 in nearby Madison that is home to the AA-minor league Rocket City Trash Pandas team. A former baseball park, Joe Davis Stadium, was converted into a 6,000-seat soccer-specific stadium in 2023 for Huntsville City FC. The soccer field was named the Wicks Family Field to honor and recognize the Wicks family's contributions. A number of smaller stadiums are used by universities or public schools, including Louis Crews Stadium with a capacity of 21,000, and Milton Frank Stadium with a capacity of 12,000. The Merrimack Soccer Complex has 14 soccer fields used by youth soccer organizations. The Huntsville Speedway is a quarter mile oval race track used for race days and other events.
Huntsville has had many professional sports teams in its past, most of which were discontinued due to lack of funding or being transferred to a different city. Huntsville's first sports team was the Huntsville Rockets football team, launched in 1962 and folded in 1967 due to lack of funding. The Alabama Hawks were a football team founded in 1963 and were discontinued in 1969 due to lack of funding. The Huntsville Stars were a Minor League Baseball team founded in 1985, originally as the Nashville Sounds in Nashville, Tennessee, but were transferred to Huntsville soon after. In 2014, they were transferred to Biloxi, Mississippi and renamed the Biloxi Shuckers. The Huntsville Blast were a minor league ice hockey team, originally founded in 1981 as the Roanoke Valley Rampage in Vinton, Virginia, and were relocated to Huntsville in 1993. The following season, the team was relocated to Tallahassee, Florida as the Tallahassee Tiger Sharks.
The Huntsville Fire were an indoor soccer team founded in 1997 and dissolved in 1998 due to lack of funding. The Huntsville Channel Cats were an ice hockey team founded in 1995 and renamed the Huntsville Havoc in 2004.
The Huntsville Flight were a basketball team founded in 2001 and were moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico in 2005. Today, they are the Cleveland Charge. The Tennessee Valley Raptors were an indoor football team established in 2000 and relocated to Rockford, Illinois in 2005. The Alabama Hammers, which played at the Von Braun Center, were an indoor football team established in 2010 and folded in 2016 due to the collapse of the league.
Parks and recreation

There are more than Parks and Greenways in Huntsville, 60 parks within the city limits of Huntsville. In 2013, for the fifth time in seven years, Huntsville was named a 'Playful City USA' by KaBOOM! (non-profit organization), KaBOOM! for their efforts to provide a variety of play opportunities for children that included after school programs and parks within walking distance of home.
Centered on the natural Big Spring in downtown Huntsville is Big Spring International Park, containing the Huntsville Museum of Art. Fish and ducks live in the spring and in surrounding water bodies. There is a waterfall and a constantly lit gas torch. John Hunt Park is the city's largest park, with of open space, tennis courts, soccer fields, and walking trails, as well as facilities near the sports fields.
Burritt on the Mountain atop Monte Sano Mountain features a mid-century mansion and museum, a historic park depicting rural life in the 19th century, nature trails, and functions as a venue for regional events throughout the year. The Huntsville Botanical Garden's site features educational programs, woodland paths, grassy meadows, and vast floral collections.
Land Trust of North Alabama is a member supported, non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of the natural heritage of the area. They work to preserve open space, wildflower areas, wetlands, and working farms in North Alabama, including some of the Monte Sano Nature Preserve (Monte Sano Mountain). Monte Sano State Park has over and features hiking and bicycling trails, rentable cabins, campsites, full recreational vehicle, RV hookups, and a lodge. Other state parks nearby include Cathedral Caverns State Park, Cathedral Caverns in Woodville, Alabama, Woodville, Lake Guntersville State Park in Guntersville, Alabama, Guntersville, and Joe Wheeler State Park in Rogersville, Alabama, Rogersville.
There are six main golf courses in Huntsville. Hampton Cove is one of the eleven courses making up the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, featuring two championship 18-hole courses, one par-three course, and a driving range. Sunset Landing Golf Course is an 18-hole golf course next to Huntsville International Airport. The Links on Redstone Arsenal is available for Military, NASA, and others that have base access. The Links has four separate 9-hole courses (two of which can be used for footgolf) and a driving range. The Ledges is an exclusive 18-hole championship golf course, also offering a banquet hall, grand hall, and a number of meeting rooms at their clubhouse.
Government

The current mayor of Huntsville is Tommy Battle, who was first elected in 2008 and then re-elected in 2012, 2016, and 2020. The City Administrator is John Hamilton, who replaced Rex Reynolds on January 1, 2014, when Reynolds retired.
The city has a five-member (1 per district) City Council. Council elections are staggered, meaning that Districts 2, 3, and 4 had elections in August 2018, while Districts 1 and 5 had elections simultaneously with mayoral elections in 2020. The city has boards and commissions which control most public services and development projects. In 2020, the city announced that they would build a new $80 million city hall, planned to centralize all boards and committees in one building.
In July 2007, then Senator Barack Obama held the first fundraiser in Alabama for his presidential campaign in Huntsville. In 2022, former Rep. Mo Brooks (R-5th Congressional District, AL) announced his retirement from the U.S. House of Representatives to run for the Senate. In November, Dale Strong won the election to replace Mo Brooks.
Education
K–12 education
K–12 public education in Huntsville is provided by Huntsville City Schools.
In the 2022–2023 school year 23,939 students attended Huntsville City Schools. According to ''U.S. News & World Report'', "49% of high school students tested at or above the proficient level for reading, and 45% tested at or above that level for math". They also stated that high schoolers have a 92% graduation rate.
Of the 46 schools in the Huntsville City Schools system in 2020–2021, there were:
* 26 Preschools (Pre-kindergarten, Pre-K)
* 28 Elementary schools (K–5)
* 14 Middle schools (grades 6–8)
* 6 high Schools (grades 9–12)
* 3 Special education in the United States, special centers (two Schools of Choice and one Program of Choice)
Huntsville City Schools also offers six magnet programs at existing schools: three programs for grades 9–12, two for 6–8, and one for both.
The section in Morgan County is within the Morgan County School District. A few parcels of Huntsville in Madison County are in the Madison County School District (Alabama), Madison County School District, and a few parcels in Limestone County are in the Limestone County School District.
Several private, parochial, and religious schools serve grades pre-K–12. The city has several private Christian schools, including Catholic High School (Huntsville, Alabama), Saint John Paul II Catholic High School, Oakwood Adventist Academy, Whitesburg Christian Academy, Grace Lutheran School, and Westminster Christian Academy. Randolph School is Huntsville's only independent, private K-12 school.
Higher education
Huntsville has four main higher education institutions. The University of Alabama in Huntsville is the largest university serving the greater Huntsville area, with 9,636 undergraduate students in 2022–2023. About half of its graduates earn a degree in engineering or science, making it one of the larger producers of engineers and physical scientists in Alabama. The Carnegie Foundation ranks the school very highly as a research institution, placing it among the top 75 public research universities in the nation.
Alabama A&M University is the oldest university in the Huntsville area, dating to 1875. With over 5,000 students, it is home to the AAMU Historic District with 28 buildings and four structures listed in the United States National Register of Historic Places. Oakwood University, founded in 1896, is a Seventh-day Adventist Church, Seventh-day Adventist university with over 1,300 students and a member institution of the United Negro College Fund. J. F. Drake State Technical College, J.F. Drake State Community and Technical College, founded in 1961, is a public technical college with 872 students as of 2022.
Various colleges and universities have satellite locations or extensions in Huntsville. Calhoun Community College's Cummings Research Park location offers in-person technical and medical programs. Columbia College (Missouri), Columbia College's Redstone Arsenal location and Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's Redstone Arsenal location offer higher education programs in-person and Virtual learning environment, online to military individuals and their families. Faulkner University's Research Park location and Strayer University's Research Park offers in-person and online learning. Georgia Institute of Technology's Redstone Arsenal research institute is the "Development and technology home for Army Air Defense Systems, Missile Defense Systems, Rotary Wing Aviation Technology and more..." and offers professional training in those areas.
Several medical centers and universities with medical programs offer education in medicine. University of Alabama at Birmingham's Huntsville Regional Medical Campus offers a number of on-site programs, including the Family medicine, Family Medicine Residency, Internal medicine, Internal Medicine Residency, Obstetrics and Women's Health Fellowship. The campus also serves as a physician practice for the public. Ross Medical Education Center in Research Park offer 36-week experience programs in medicine, dentistry, and veterinary medicine fields. Huntsville Hospital has an accredited school of radiology.
Media
Newspapers and magazines
''The Huntsville Times'' has been Huntsville's only daily newspaper since 1996, when the ''Huntsville News'' closed. Before then, the ''News'' was the morning paper, and the ''Times'' was the afternoon paper until 2004. The ''Times'' has a weekday circulation of 60,000, which rises to 80,000 on Sundays. Both papers were owned by the Advance Publications, Newhouse chain.
In May 2012, Advance Publications, owner of the Times, announced that the Times would become part of a new company called the Alabama Media Group, along with the other three newspapers and two websites owned by Advance. As part of the change, the newspapers moved to a three-day publication schedule, with print editions available only on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. The Huntsville Times and its sister papers publish news and information seven days a week on AL.com. As of 2023, print editions have stopped production.
A few alternative newspapers are available in Huntsville. The ''Redstone Rocket'' is a newspaper distributed throughout Redstone Arsenal's housing area covering activities on Redstone. ''Speakin' Out News'' is a weekly newspaper focused on African Americans. ''Huntsville Magazine'' is a quarterly Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle magazine, which, "Serves as a guide to the best of the city with insightful reads on culture, people, entertainment, and businesses catalyzing the city's transformation."
Radio, television, and film
Station KIH20 broadcasts the National Weather Service's forecasts and warnings for the Huntsville area. The Huntsville DMA serves Madison, Limestone, and Morgan counties. Major stations include WHNT 19 (CBS, with The CW via Florence, Alabama, Florence-licensed WHDF on DT2), WHIQ 25 (PBS/Alabama Public Television), WAAY-TV, WAAY 31 (American Broadcasting Company, ABC), WAFF (TV), WAFF 48 (NBC), and WZDX 54 (Fox Broadcasting Company, FOX, with MyNetworkTV on DT2).
A few feature films have been shot in Huntsville, including ''SpaceCamp'', ''20 Years After'' (2008, originally released as ''Like Moles, Like Rats'') and ''Constellation (film), Constellation'' (2005). Columbia Pictures filmed Ravagers (1979 film), ''Ravagers'' (1979) in The Land Trust's Historic Three Caves Quarry, at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, and at an antebellum home. ''Dark Entities'' (2022) takes place in Huntsville and was filmed throughout North Alabama.
Huntsville's legacy in the space program continues to draw film producers looking for background material for space-themed films. During the pre-production of ''Apollo 13 (film), Apollo 13'' (1995), the cast and crew spent time at Space Camp and Marshall Space Flight Center preparing for their roles.
Infrastructure
Transportation

Huntsville is served by several major highways including U.S. Highway 72, US 72, U.S. Route 72 Alternate, US 72 Alt., U.S. Highway 231, US 231, U.S. Highway 431, US 431 and Interstate 565 (with a connection to Interstate 65 in Alabama, I-65 in
Decatur). Alabama State Route 53, Alabama Highway 53 also connects the city with I-65 in Ardmore, Tennessee. Other major roadways include University Drive (Huntsville), University Drive, Governors Drive (Huntsville), Governors Drive, Airport Road (Huntsville), Airport Road, Memorial Parkway (Huntsville), Memorial Parkway and Alabama State Route 255, Research Park Boulevard (SR 255).
Public transit in Huntsville is run by the city's Department of Parking and Public Transit. The Orbit (bus system), Huntsville Orbit runs 11 fixed routes throughout the city, mainly around downtown and major shopping areas like Memorial Parkway and University Drive and has recently expanded some of the buses to include bike racks on the front for a trial program. The city runs Access, a demand-response transit system for the handicapped, and CommuteSmart, a county-wide carpooling program.
There are several bicycle routes in the city. There are bike paths for exercise available. Huntsville's government is working to improve bicycle network within the city limits. In 2020, Huntsville released a master plan for a 70-mile bicycling and walking trail, named Singing River Trail of North Alabama, to connect downtown Huntsville to the cities of Madison, Decatur, and Athens.
Huntsville has two active commercial rail lines. The mainline is run by Norfolk Southern, which runs from Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis to Chattanooga, Tennessee. The original depot for this rail line, the Huntsville Depot, still exists as a railroad museum, though it no longer offers passenger service.
Another rail line, formerly part of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, Louisville and Nashville Railroad (L&N), successor to the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway, Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway (NC&StL), is being operated by the Huntsville and Madison County Railroad Authority, Huntsville and Madison County Railroad Authority (HMCRA). The line connects to the Norfolk Southern line downtown and runs south, passing near Ditto Landing on the
Tennessee River
The Tennessee River is a long river located in the Southern United States, southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. Flowing through the states of Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, it begins at the confluence of Fren ...
, and terminating at Norton Switch, near Hobbs Island. This service, in continuous operation since 1894, presently hauls freight and provides transloading facilities at its downtown depot location. Until the mid-1950s, the L&N provided freight and passenger service to Guntersville. The rail cars were loaded onto barges at Hobbs Island. The barge tows were taken upstream through the Guntersville Dam & Locks and discharged at Port Guntersville. Remnants of the track supporting piers still remain in the river just upstream from Hobbs Island. The service ran twice daily. L&N abandoned the line in 1984, at which time it was acquired by the newly created HMCRA, a state agency.
A third line, the Mercury and Chase Railroad, runs weekend tourist rides on part of another former NC&StL and L&N line from the North Alabama Railroad Museum's Chase Depot, located in the community of Chase, Alabama. Their collection includes one of the oldest diesel locomotives in existence (1926). The rail line originally connected Huntsville to NC&StL's Nashville-to-Chattanooga mainline in Decherd, Tennessee. The depot was once the smallest union station in the United States when it served the NC&StL and Memphis and Charleston Railroad, the predecessor to the Norfolk Southern.
Ports
The inland Port of Huntsville combines the Huntsville International Airport, International Intermodal Center, and Jetplex Industrial Park for truck, train and air transport. The Intermodal freight transport, intermodal terminal transfers truck and train cargo to aircraft. The port has on-site U.S. Customs and United States Department of Agriculture, USDA inspectors. The port is Foreign trade zones of the United States, Foreign Trade Zone No. 83.
Huntsville International Airport is served by several regional and national carriers, including Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Breeze Airways, Silver Airways and American Airlines. Delivery companies have hubs in Huntsville, making flights to Europe, Asia, and Mexico. The airport was reported to have the highest fares in the United States in 2014.
Huntsville is also served by the
Meridianville–located Madison County Executive Airport, sometimes denoted as Huntsville Executive Airport due to its proximity to the city. The airport is a general aviation airport and does not have any regularly-scheduled commercial services.
Utilities
Electricity, water, and natural gas are all provided in Huntsville by Huntsville Utilities (HU). HU purchases and resells power from the Tennessee Valley Authority. TVA has two plants that provide electricity to the Huntsville area: Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant in
Limestone County and Guntersville Dam in
Marshall County. A third, Bellefonte Nuclear Generating Station, Bellefonte Nuclear Power Plant in Jackson County, Alabama, Jackson County, was built in the 1980s but was never activated. TVA attempted to sell the plant in 2016, but withdrew from the deal, stating they could not sell the plant under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954.
Telephone service in Huntsville is provided by AT&T, EarthLink, WOW!, and Comcast. Comcast and WOW! are the two cable providers in the Huntsville city limits. Mediacom operates in rural outlying areas. AT&T announced the start of its AT&T U-verse, DSL U-verse service in the Huntsville-Decatur metro area in November 2010. AT&T and Google Fiber, Google offer fiber Internet service across the city.
Public safety
The Huntsville Fire and Rescue provides fire protection for the city. On a daily basis the department staffs and coordinates twenty-one engine companies, five ladder trucks, four rescue trucks, along with a Special Operations Division that includes Hazardous Materials Units, Technical Rescue Units, and several specialized support units. Huntsville Fire & Rescue also has Fire Investigations, emergency response dispatch, logistics, and training divisions.
Huntsville has two volunteer public safety organizations in their city. The Huntsville-Madison County Rescue Squad is the county-wide volunteer rescue organization with tasks ranging from vehicle extrication to water rescues. The other is the Huntsville Cave Rescue Unit which is the region's only all-volunteer cave rescue organization. It is tasked with cave, cliff and high angle rope rescues. These organizations are located in Huntsville but operate both in the city and outside with HCRU, responding to many cave rescue calls coming from caves well outside the city limits.

Huntsville Hospital in the downtown area is the largest hospital and trauma center. In 2021, Huntsville Hospital opened the Orthopedic & Spine Tower, a seven-story building with 24 surgical orthopedic suites, which brings the total bed count to 881 for Huntsville Hospital. Located further south, Crestwood Medical Center is a smaller, 180-bed teaching hospital that is ranked nationally in two specialties.
Huntsville Emergency Medical Services, Inc. (HEMSI) provides emergency medical services to Huntsville and surrounding Madison county. HEMSI operates from 12 stations with a fleet of 36 ambulances.
The Huntsville Police Department has three precincts and one downtown headquarters, over 500 sworn officers, 200 civilian personnel, and patrols an area of approximately 220 square miles. The department also boasts its own academy, which has been in operation since 1965.
Huntsville spent $1.2 million in 2015 to buy body cameras to be used by the Huntsville Police Department. Mayor Tommy Battle pushed for the purchase of the body cameras, saying: "We can provide a trust situation with police and our general public."
The mayor also said: "Having that body cam there, having the police video there record what actually happens, and when people come in with complaints against Huntsville police officers, they get to see the action that actually happened."
Following the conviction of a former Huntsville police officer for murder, after he was originally cleared of any wrongdoing by the Police department, the City of Huntsville voted to change the way police shootings are reviewed. Beginning in August 2021, all shootings that result in death that occur by Huntsville Police are to be investigated by the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency instead. The first investigation following the policy change started in January 2022 after an off-duty Huntsville police officer allegedly killed his girlfriend. The officer had initially reported the death as a suicide; however, it was later investigated as a homicide. An advisory council created by the city described actions by Huntsville Police department (HPD) as being "in a manner that was, at a minimum, unprofessional and on multiple occasions in violation of HPD policy."
Notable people
Notable people from Huntsville include Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales, Professional wrestling, professional wrestler Bobby Eaton, Film score, film composer and musician Mervyn Warren, early-20th century actress Tallulah Bankhead, and horror actor David Howard Thornton (Terrifier (film series), ''Terrifier'' film series).
Sister cities
Huntsville has 2 sister city, sister cities:
* Tainan, Taiwan
* Issy-les-Moulineaux, France, a suburb of Paris
Notes and references
Notes
References
Sources
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Further reading
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External links
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Huntsville/Madison County Convention & Visitors BureauHuntsville History Collection
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Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville
Cities in Alabama
Cities in Limestone County, Alabama
Cities in Madison County, Alabama
County seats in Alabama
Former state capitals in the United States, Alabama
Huntsville-Decatur, AL Combined Statistical Area
Populated places established in 1805
Alabama populated places on the Tennessee River
Special economic zones of the United States
1809 establishments in the United States