Huntsville AL - The Rocket City

Historic Huntsville

The city of Huntsville, Madison County, Alabama, is named after John Hunt, the first person to settle in the area in 1805. At that time the area was called Ah-la-bama by the local Indian tribes. John Hunt built a log cabin in a lovely valley above the Big Spring , but failed to register his claim correctly and Leroy Pope bought and developed the land around that area. He named the new town Twickenham after the home of one of his ancestors. However on November 25th 1811, the name was changed to Huntsville in honor of the first settler who had been forced to relocate to land south of the growing town.

Huntsville grew in importance and many people settled there, Alabama was made a state in 1819 and Huntsville was selected to be the first capital. By 1823 Huntsville had its own public water supply, probably the first in America. A wooden pump attached to a wooden storage tank fed water from the Big Spring through several hundred feet of hollowed out cedar logs!

Today Huntsville is a thriving city of more than 180,105 inhabitants., it is the fourth largest city in Alabama and has made it onto Forbes Top 10 list of best places to live to weather the economic downturn. The intervening years have seen may changes to the area including noticeably the establishment of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and in 1958 Explorer 1 became the first satellite to be launched into orbit from Huntsville, which has since been nicknamed "The Rocket City".

Huntsville Botanical Gardens

For the tourist and resident alike there are many places in the Huntsville area worth visiting, these are just a few, if you are able to stay in the area for several weeks, you will find many more! A "must see" is the 112 acre Huntsville Botanical Garden in Bob Wallace Avenue. Open all year it is fifth on Alabama's list of top paid tourist attractions. Visitors flock to see the gardens every year, in 2008 there were 307,985 recorded visitors! Features include rose, fern, perennial, aquatic, and wildflower gardens , a butterfly house a nature path and flowering dogwood trees.

Space & Rocket Center

You cannot visit Huntsville without seeing The U.S. Space & Rocket Center, this museum houses more than 1,500 exhibits and artifacts from the U.S. Space program and is considered the largest of its kind. Located in the same grounds is The U.S. Space Camp. Here children and adults can visit for the day or longer and join in educational themed schedules such as space oriented, aircraft and outdoor programs.

Monte Sano State Park

The Monte Sano State Park rising more than 1,600 feet above sea level, has over twenty miles of hiking trails and has attracted visitors since the 1820s. There are pavilions and picnic areas, The Monte Sano Lodge, camping sites, cabins and an eight mile bike ride created and maintained by local bike riders.

Tennessee River

For anglers, at this point the Tennessee River has a large amount of fairly clean water. Unusual varieties of animals and fish to Alabama are present here, smallmouth bass and sauger are two species not found in other areas of the state and blue catfish attract interest among anglers.

University of Alabama in Huntsville - UAH

The University of Alabama in Huntsville or UAH is highly regarded for educational excellence. The average score of twenty five on the ACT by incoming freshmen is one of the best in Alabama. There are five colleges, science, engineering, business, liberal arts and nursing.

Downtown Huntsville - Old Town

If you are looking for great bars, restaurants and late night fun, historic Downtown Huntsville is the place to be! Central to the area is Washington Square, it has old town atmosphere, great food and live music. There is enough variety to please everyone. In the The Old Town Historic District are to be found houses from the 1820s up to the early 1900's in a range of styles from Queen Anne, Victorian, Federal, Greek Revival and American Craftsmen.

Bridge Street Town Centre

If you like to shop 'til you drop, Huntsville is the place to be with several centers to choose from. The Bridge Street Town Center has more than seventy shops and restaurants, an hotel, a customer service center, a ten acre lake, featuring gondolas, boats, fountains, a carousel and lots of open green areas.

Madison Square Mall

This is a 1,100,000 square foot shopping mall. It is one of the largest in the area and around 14,000,000 shoppers visit every year! Here you will find all the top names with four department stores, more than 120 shops, cafes and restaurants and twelve theater screens. Even the surrounding area has a vast number of stores among them are Target, Super Wal-mart, Goody's, PetsMart and Bed Bath & Beyond,

Huntsville has something for everyone, but don't plan a quick visit, stay and enjoy this unique city and all its attractions for as long as possible.