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Temperature: 77°F /
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| Anniston, Alabama | |
| Nickname: The Model City | |
| Location in Alabama | |
| Coordinates: | |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| State | Alabama |
| County | Calhoun |
| Settled | April 1872 |
| Incorporated | 3 July 1883 |
| Government | |
| - Mayor | Hoyt W. “Chip” Howell, Jr. |
| Area | |
| - City | sq mi (km²) |
| - Land | sq mi ( km²) |
| - Water | sq mi ( km²) |
| Elevation | ft ( m) |
| Population (2005)[1] | |
| - City | |
| - Density | /sq mi (/km²) |
| - Metro | |
| Time zone | Central (UTC-6) |
| - Summer (DST) | Central (UTC-5) |
| Website: www.ci.anniston.al.us | |
Anniston is a city in Calhoun County in the state of Alabama, United States. As of the 2000 census, the population of the city is 24,276. According to the 2005 U.S. Census estimates, the city had a population of 23,741.[1] The city is the county seat of Calhoun County and one of two urban centers/principal cities of and included in the Anniston-Oxford Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Named the The Model City by Atlanta newspaperman Henry W. Grady for its careful planning, the city is situated on the slope of Blue Mountain, beginning point of the Blue Ridge region of the Appalachian Mountains.
During the civil war, the Confederecy established an iron furnace not too far from present day downtown Anniston is today. The furnace was destroyed by the union troops in 1865.
In 1872, the Woodstock Iron Company organized by Samuel Noble and Gen. Daniel Tyler (1799-1882), rebuilt the furnace on a much larger scale. Iron and steel manufacturing boomed in post Civil War central part of the state. Anniston, along with Birmingham 60 miles (100 km) west of town, became major new cities over night. Though it was not opened for general settlement until twelve years later, it was chartered as a city in 1879, and carefully crafted as the "Model City," at its time. The community name derives from Annie's Town, named for Annie Scott Tyler, wife of railroad president Alfred L. Tyler.
Though the roots of the city’s economy were in Iron and steel, it was also known as a health resort that attracted many hotels to set up shop, as well as establishing schools like The Noble Institute (a school for girls established in 1886) and the Alabama Presbyterian College for Men (founded in 1905).
In 1917, Anniston went from steel and resort town, to military town, when the United States Army established a presence at Fort McClellan during the start of World War I. On the other side of town, the Anniston Army Depot opened in the World War II years as a major storage and maintenance site, a role it continues to serve. The old site of Fort McClellan was incorporated into Anniston some time after 1970.
Anniston was also a center of controversy during the American civil rights movement. A Freedom Riders bus was fire-bombed near Anniston on Mother's Day Sunday May 14, 1961. The civil rights protesters inside were beaten by an angry mob from Anniston as they fled the burning bus. [citation needed]
Anniston residents began class action suits against Monsanto during the early 2000s. Monsanto had knowingly dumped PCBs into the local water supply. The aftermath included poisoning surrounding groundwater, wildlife, and residents.
The Army closed the fort in 1999, as part of the Base Realignment and Closure round of 1995. The old Fort McClellan property is now being redeveloped for civilian use. The Anniston Eastern Bypass underconstruction now, will give the fort property quicker access to I-20.
In 2003, the Anniston Army Depot begain the process of destoying stock nerve agents it hads stored over the years. The incinerator was built to destroy the chemical weapons stockpile of Sarin and VX nerve agent and mustard blister agent stored at the depot. The process is near complete. The depot, along with associated defense contractors, is now Anniston's largest employer.
Anniston is located at (33.663003, -85.826664)1.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 117.7 km² (45.5 mi²). 117.7 km² (45.4 mi²) of it is land and 0.1 km² (0.04 mi²) of it (0.07%) is water.
Anniston is governed by Alabama's "weak mayor" form of city government. Four city council members are elected to represent the city's four wards, and the mayor is elected at-large. Day-to-day functions of city government are managed by the city manager, who is appointed by the mayor and city council.
Anniston is the county seat of Calhoun County, Alabama. Circuit and district courts for the county and the district attorney's office are located in the Calhoun County Courthouse at the corner of 11th Street and Gurnee Avenue. Other county administrative offices are in the Calhoun County Administrative Building at the corner of 17th and Noble streets.
A United States Courthouse, part of the U.S. Alabama Northern District Court, is located at the corner of 12th and Noble streets.
As of the census
There were 10,447 households out of which 24.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.0% were married couples living together, 20.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.6% were non-families. 34.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 2.91.
In the city the population was spread out with 23.6% under the age of 18, 8.7% from 18 to 24, 25.7% from 25 to 44, 23.3% from 45 to 64, and 18.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 83.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 78.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $27,385, and the median income for a family was $36,067. Males had a median income of $31,429 versus $21,614 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,769. About 20.1% of families and 22.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 35.2% of those under age 18 and 16.2% of those age 65 or over.
Anniston long has served as a cultural center for northeastern Alabama. The Alabama Shakespeare Festival was founded in the city in 1972 before moving to Montgomery in 1985. The Knox Concert Series regularly brings world-renowned musical and dance productions to the area. The city also is home to the Anniston Museum of Natural History and the Berman Museum of World History. The Alabama Symphony Orchestra since 2004 has performed a summer series of outdoor concerts, Music at McClellan, in Anniston at the former Fort McClellan. Organizers have said they hope to make the concerts the center of an arts community at the closed army base.
The city has many examples of Victorian-style homes, some of which have been restored or preserved. Many others have been destroyed or are in dilapidated conditions. Several of the city’s churches are architecturally significant or historic, including the Church of St. Michael and All Angels, Grace Episcopal Church, and Parker Memorial Baptist Church. Temple Beth EL, dedicated in 1893, has the oldest building in the state continuously and currently being used for Jewish worship.
After decades of decay, Noble Street, is seeing a rebirth as a downtown shopping and dining district in the heart of downtown. There are several large shopping centers in the area as well, such as the Quintard Mall and the Oxford Exchange, both located just outside town in Oxford.
Anniston is home to many restaurants ranging from American, Italian, Greek, Cajun, Mexican, and Chinese cuisines, as well as Barbecue and Southern flavored cuisines. Many locally own dining establishments are located in the downtown CBD (along Noble Street and Quintard Ave.), as well as Buckner Circle (McClellan), Lenlock, the south Quintard area, and the Golden Springs area.
Anniston is served by one daily newspaper, The Anniston Star, which also covers and is delivered to communities in the surrounding five-county region. Commercial radio stations with broadcast facilities in the city include WHMA 95.5-FM, WHMA 1390-AM and WDNG 1450-AM. There are other in Oxford and Jacksonvile as well.
Television station with broadcast facilities - WJXS-TV, is the only station that directly broadcasts from Anniston (area), but many Birmingham stations as have towers and news bureaus here, such as WJSU-TV (WJSU is a local broadcast station for Birmingham-based ABC 33/40), WBRC-TV (FOX), and WVTM-TV (NBC).
Anniston is a part of the Birmingham-Anniston-Tuscaloosa designated market area when it comes to television. Radio stations are divided up into three sub markets within that market, where Anniston is in the Anniston-Gadsden-Talladega radio sub market.
The Anniston Metropolitan Airport is a general aviation facility, south of the city proper, in Oxford. Its single asphalt runway is 7,000 feet (2,100 m) long and 150 feet (46 m) wide.
Amtrak's Crescent train connects Anniston with the cities of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Charlotte, Atlanta, Birmingham and New Orleans. The Amtrak station is situated at the Southern Railway Depot (which was built in 1926), located at 126 West 4th Street. The city purchased the station in 2001 for $430,000 from federal grants for the restoration, in hopes of turning the building into a multi modal transportation hub for the city. It will be served by Amtrak (train), Greyhound (bus), and local taxi and bus services if all goes as planned.
Street and Highways
Anniston is home to the United States Army's Anniston Army Depot which is used for the maintenance of most Army tracked vehicles. The depot houses a major chemical weapons storage facility, the Anniston Chemical Activity, and a program to destroy those weapons, the Anniston Chemical Agent Disposal Facility. Fort McClellan, former site of the U.S. Army Military Police Training Academy and Chemical Warfare training center, was de-commissioned in the 1990s. A portion of the former fort is now home to the Alabama National Guard Training Center. Another 9000 acres (36 km²) of the fort were set aside for the Mountain Longleaf National Wildlife Refuge in 2003. The Department of Homeland Security also uses a portion of the de-commissioned fort for training and fieldwork.
Public schools in Anniston are operated by Anniston City Schools. There is also a public, four-year institution of higher learning, Jacksonville State University, located in nearby Jacksonville, Alabama. Anniston is also home to some satellite campuses of Gadsden State Community College at the former Fort McClellan and the Ayers campus in southern Anniston. There are also some private schools in Anniston. These include a Christian school called Faith Christian, a Catholic school at the former Fort McClellan called Sacred Heart, and a K-12 college prep school called The Donoho School.
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
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