|
|
|
Huntsville - Alabama - History |
|
John
Hunt, for whom the city is named,
(Huntsville ) occupied a cabin alongside a spring here in 1805. A
town soon flourished and was the largest in the Alabama Territory by 1819.
That year the leaders of the Alabama Territory met here to petition the
U.S. Congress to grant Alabama statehood. The recreated 1819 Alabama
Constitution Village, a block from the courthouse square, commemorates the
historic events through tours given by costumed guides. Huntsville
was the cotton trading center of the Tennessee Valley during the 1840s and
'50s when planters and merchants originally from Virginia and the
Carolinas built impressive town homes. LeRoy Pope, who purchased land at
auction and donated land for t he town, originally picked the name
Twickenham. He wanted to honor the London suburb which was home to poet
Alexander Pope, a relative. However, following the War of 1812, the name
reverted to Huntsville to honor the first white man who settled here. Walking
tours of the Twickenham historic district, with the state's largest
collection of pre-Civil War homes, are popular year-round. Because many
wealthy businessmen remained loyal to the Union at the start of the Civil
War, the town was spared the destruction by occupying armies. Plan also to
visit the 1819 Weeden House Museum and the 1860 Huntsville Depot Museum. A
unique shopping opportunity is offered at the 1879 Harrison Brothers
Hardware Store. Restored 19th century cabins and farm buildings are
displayed at the mountaintop Burritt Museum and Park.
Huntsville
was still a cotton market town of 16,437 people in 1950 when U.S. Sen.
John Sparkman (who lived in Huntsville's historic Twickenham neighborhood)
brought a band of German rocket scientists to Redstone Arsenal to develop
rockets for the U.S. Army. By the end of the decade, Wernher von Braun's
team had developed the rocket which orbited America's first satellite.
They eventually put the first American in space and transported the first
astronauts to the Moon. Redstone
Arsenal is one of the U.S. Army's most important strategic posts. It is
responsible for research, development, production and worldwide support of
missiles, aviation, rockets and related programs The
world's largest space attraction features dozens of interactive exhibits
The
Burritt Museum and Park is a unique museum of regional history housed in
the mountaintop home of Dr. William Henry Burritt. The remarkable 14-room
mansion built in the shape of an X in the 1930's is insulated with 2,200
bales of wheat straw. The Historic Park contains restored farm buildings
which interpret rural life during 1850 and 1900. Many nature trails wind
through heavily wooded forest. The grounds, open year round, offer a
breathtaking panoramic view of Huntsville and the Tennessee Valley. On a
clear day you can see the Tennessee River and the towering NASA rocket
test stands.
|
|
|
|
|
|
© Copyright 2000 - 2004 AMERICAtravelling.net POWERED BY wORLDTRAVELGATE.NET |
|
surrounding
Apollo, Mercury and Space Shuttle spacecraft. Rockets developed in
Huntsville range from the Army boosters that put America's first satellite
and astronauts in orbit to NASA's Saturn V moon rocket and the Space
Shuttle. See the U.S. Space Camp Training Center where youngsters of all
ages (and adults) conduct simulated missions.
