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.
History
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.
Geography
Anniston is located at 33°39′46″N, 85°49′35″West (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.
Government
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.
People & Culture
Demographics
As of the census2 of 2000, there were 24,276 people, 10,447 households, and 6,414 families
residing in the city. The population density was 206.3/km² (534.4/mi²). There were
12,787 housing units at an average density of 108.7/km² (281.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 48.71% White, 48.69% Black or African American, 0.27% Native American, 0.78% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 0.61% from other races, and 0.86% from two or more races. 1.68% of the population
were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
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.
Culture, Events & Attractions
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.
Restaurants
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.
Media
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.
Trivia
- Actor John Aniston (originally Ioannis Anastassakis and father of actress
Jennifer Aniston) reportedly chose his stage name when driving through the model
city.
Transportation
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
- Noble Street runs through downtown, lined with office buildings, specialty shops and
restaurants. A major revitalization effort in 2003 made this street more pedestrian friendly. The old four lane thoroughfare was
gutted, and turn-of-the-century trolley tracks were removed to help resurface the street. The road was converted to two lane
traffic with wider sidewalks.
- Quintard Avenue runs parallel two blocks east of Noble Street. It serves as the main north/south traffic corridor for Anniston. The road is six lanes from
East P street to 18th Street, the rest four lanes. It connects central Oxford to the
south and Jacksonville, Gadsden, and the
McClellan area of Anniston to the north. Traffic is relatively heavy on this road around downtown and in Oxford as well. Since the early 90’s, bypasses have been planned on both sides of town to alleviate
traffic.
- The Western Bypass runs from I-20 in Oxford (the Coldwater exit) and runs north into the
present AL 202. It is five lanes wide (handling Anniston Army Depot traffic). Future plans will extend it on the present County
road 109 by widening it to connect with US 431.
- The Eastern Bypass will run from McIntosh Road (in southeast Oxford) across
I-20 following the Golden Springs Road route and cross the Choccolocco Foothills cutting back into 431 where it hits into AL
route on McClellan Blvd. It is complete from McIntosh Road to Choccolocco Road (five lanes), but the northern portion, which is
to be built at interstate grade with three interchanges, is still under construction. Much development has been the result of
this highway in the past decade along I-20 in Oxford and many see it as a way to redevelop McClellan as well as north
Anniston.
Military
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.
Education
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.
Notable Residents
- George T. Anderson, Civil War general.
- Michael Biehn, actor
- Anne Braden, Civil Rights activist
- Red Byron, NASCAR driver
- Asa Earl Carter, Segregationist,
speechwriter, and author of The Education of Little Tree
- Quinton Caver, NFL Linebacker
- Ty Cobb, played minor league baseball for the
Anniston Rams before he made it big in the majors.
- B. B. Comer, Governor of Alabama.
- Louie Crew, gay rights activist and college professor.
- Michael Curry, NBA player.
- Cow Cow Davenport, Boogie-woogie
pianist
- Eric Davis, NFL cornerback.
- William Levi Dawson, (b. 23 September
1899), composer of Negro Folk Symphony.
- Kevin Greene, NFL Linebacker
- Thomas Kilby, Governor of Alabama.
- Perry Lentz, author and professor of English
- Lucky Millinder, Rhythm and blues and
swing bandleader and singer.
- John L. Pennington, Newspaper publisher, governor of Dakota Territory.
- Jim Nabors, actor, musician
- Patrick J. Que Smith, Grammy winning
songwriter
- David Satcher, former Surgeon General
References
External links
Coordinates:
33.663003° N 85.826664°
W
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