The History of Tuscaloosa

Tuscaloosa became an incorporated town on Dec. 13, 1819, two years after Alabama achieved its status as an American territory and just one day before Alabama was admitted to the Union. But the area's heritage goes back much further than that. In 1540, Hernando DeSoto of Spain was the first European to explore the area, where he had a fateful encounter with the famed Creek chief Tuskaloosa (whose name means "Black Warrior" in Choctaw).

Throughout history, various Indian tribes settled along what would come to be named the Black Warrior River, most near the southernmost site that could be forded under regular weather conditions. Those original inhabitants left along the shoals of the river a network of trails, which brought the first white explorers in the first decade of the 19th Century. After the War of 1812, more white settlers ventured into the area and honored the famed chief by naming their new town "Tuscaloosa."

Tuscaloosa was the capital of the state of Alabama from 1826-1846, a period that saw the founding of the University of Alabama as a military school in 1831. Because of the large water oaks that lined the streets during this time, Tuscaloosa was nicknamed "The Druid City." By 1845, the population of Tuscaloosa stood at 4,250, although that number dropped sharply when the state capital was moved to Montgomery the following year. The founding of Bryce Hospital - which is still in operation as the state mental hospital - in 1850 helped restore Tuscaloosa to prominence in the state.

Tuscaloosa was back in prominence during the Civil War, as the University furnished about 3,500 men for the Confederate cause. Because of the University's military affiliation, a Federal raiding party burned the campus to the ground during the last weeks of the war in 1865, leaving just four buildings - the President's Mansion, the Little Round House (a guard station), the Gorgas House, and Maxwell Hall (the old University Observatory) - undisturbed.

Gorgas House, The University of Alabama Campus

Tuscaloosa suffered along with the rest of the South during Reconstruction, but a system of locks and dams constructed by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers in the 1890s opened up commerce between Tuscaloosa and the Gulf seaport of Mobile, stimulating mining and metallurgical industries in the region throughout the 20th century.

In addition to the area's heritage of river commerce and gravel and coal mining operations, Tuscaloosa and its quickly-growing cross-river neighbor Northport (population 19,475) have in recent years entered the realm of manufacturing centers, first with Michelin Tires and JVC Electronics - which produces the bulk of its compact discs in Tuscaloosa - and later with Mercedes Benz. In the early 1990s, the German luxury car company chose the nearby town of Vance for its first and only U.S. production center in North America, where the M-Class sport utility vehicles have been manufactured since 1997. The Mercedes plant offers daily tours of the factory and automotive museum. For more information on Mercedes or to set up a tour, call 1-888-2-TOUR-MB.

In addition to the many University-related activities, the area also offers a variety of special events, including the annual Kentuck Arts Festival(held in late October in Northport).