Scottsboro, Alabama
Encyclopedia
Scottsboro is a city in Jackson County
, Alabama
, United States
. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city is 14,770. Named for its founder Robert Scott, the city is the county seat
of Jackson County.
It is located 30 miles each from the state boundaries of Georgia
to the east (Dade County) and Tennessee
to the north, about 45 miles from Huntsville, Alabama
to the west and about 55 miles from Chattanooga, Tennessee
to the northeast.
. While the Tennessee Valley
did not have large Native American settlements at the time of the first white settlers, there was a Cherokee town named "Crow Town" near where Scottsboro is located today.
As settlers began pouring into the Tennessee
region, they found the Tennessee River
to be an excellent source of food, water, and a way of shipping goods to the big cities. John Hunt, in 1805, decided to migrate to the area and built a small log cabin in the woods near the river. More people settled in the area and Huntsville
was formally incorporated in 1811.
More settlers moved into the Mississippi Territory
, resulting in the statehood of Mississippi
, and the creation of the Alabama Territory
in 1818. Delegates from Tennessee and the newly formed Madison County
met in Sauta Cave and decided to admit a new county.
On December 13, 1819, Jackson County was formed. Then, only one day later, the State of Alabama was admitted into the Union as the 22nd state on December 14, 1819.
The first county seat of Jackson County was at Sauta Cave, in the Northern part of the county, nowhere near the Tennessee River. Sauta did not survive after the courthouse was moved to Bellefonte in 1821.
Since Bellefonte
is closer to the Tennessee River than Sauta, and closer to the future site of Scottsboro, more settlers started moving to the area, since they wanted to be near the county seat.
Scottsboro’s founder, Robert Thomas Scott, served in the Alabama Legislature for almost 20 years and later ran a hotel in Bellefonte. Since he and his wife, Elizabeth, wanted a place to call their own and were not very fond of Bellefonte, they moved to Scottsboro around 1850-53. The town was called Scottsville, Scott's Mill, or Sage Town until 1868. In 1853, the newly formed Memphis and Charleston Railroad
(a stretch of railroad that starts at Memphis, TN, and ends in Charleston, SC) decided to build a station at Scottsboro and did so in 1857. In the same year, passengers started disembarking at Scott’s Station. On January 20, 1870, Scottsboro was incorporated by the Alabama Legislature. A. Snodgrass was the first mayor. Scottsboro got its first telegraph office in 1872.
Bellefonte citizens rejected the railroad because they did not want train travel to interfere with the town’s thriving river trade.
In 1861/1863, the Bellefonte courthouse was set ablaze and charred. The area was heavily damaged during the U.S. Civil War.
Selection of the new county seat began in 1860 by having a contest to see which towns were suitable.
Many of the county’s towns pushed for their selection, but the leading candidates were Hollywood
, Stevenson
, Larkinsville, and Scotts-borough (Scottsboro). To narrow the nominees, the county council decided that:
The second requirement eliminated Stevenson and Larkinsville, and the County Commissioners ultimately selected Scottsboro as the county seat. Courthouse construction began in 1868 with the jail following two years later. County commissioners sited the courthouse at its current location in the public square.
The 20th century would bring great changes to Scottsboro. In 1902, two cases of smallpox were found but fortunately the disease did not spread more widely. In 1903, the first car that came to the town drove through the square en route from Ohio to Florida. In 1906, local blacksmith H.C. Payne built Scottsboro’s first homemade automobile, which was made with a wooden frame, four sprocket wheels, and hand-powered cranks. In 1911, the courthouse was set ablaze and was rebuilt. In 1912, the courthouse was demolished and an election was held to determine whether the courthouse would be moved to Stevenson or stay in Scottsboro (some Stevenson residents did not think Scottsboro deserved the role of county seat). Scottsboro won the vote and the present courthouse was built (before the renovation and expansion in 1954.)
on March 25, 1931, which just happened to stop in Jackson County, Alabama
where these women made their accusations to the local officials against these black youths. The defendants were brought to Scottsboro for trial, because it was the county seat of Jackson County.
The four trials, during the course of which most of the youths were convicted and sentenced to death by all-white juries despite the weak and contradictory testimonies of the witnesses, are now widely regarded (including in Scottsboro) as one of the worst travesties of justice perpetrated against blacks in the post-Reconstruction South. Only the first trials were held in Scottsboro. The case was, in reality, many cases that were tried only in the first instance in Depression
era Scottsboro, Alabama in 1931. Of the original nine young black defendants (some of them minors), accused of gang raping two fellow hobo white women on a freight train, eight were quickly convicted in quick succeesion trials in a mob atmosphere in Scottsboro by all white juries and sentenced to death. The only two attorneys who were willing to take the cases had few qualifications for criminal defense work. They were unable to put up much of a defense when the judge gave them no time to prepare their defenses before the trials. He started the first trial as soon as they agreed to take the cases and then began each next case as soon the jury went out on the previous one.
Fortunately, the Scottsboro defendants benefitted from their two landmark triumphs in the United States Supreme Court mostly from the fact that they were all relieved from their death sentences they received at their first trial in Scottsboro. The Supreme Court ruled both times only that the way their convictions were obtained was improper and not that they were innocent. Those convicted spent no less than six years and as many as nineteen years incarcerated in harsh jails and prisons. The Scottsboro Boys had served long prison sentences when the arch segregationist Alabama Governor George Wallace
, in one of history's ironies, partially mitigated this widely construed injustice (after the United States Supreme Court had failed to do so twice) by issuing a pardon in 1976 for the one remaining Scottsboro defendant still subject to the Alabama penal system.
Most residents of Scottsboro, as citizens of the "New South
", today acknowledge the injustice that started in their community and almost all, when the case is mentioned to them, are quick to express the wish that that fateful train had stopped a few miles short or a few miles beyond the Jackson County line. They suggest that the "Huntsville
Boys" case sounds much better to their ears. "In January 2004, amidst television cameras and radio and newspaper reporters, a crowd gathered near the Jackson County Court House in Scottsboro to dedicate a historical marker commemorating the Scottsboro Boys' trial and their struggle for justice." "An 87 year old black man who attended the ceremony, one of the few who could remember the cases firsthand, recalled that the mob scene following the Boys' arrest 'was frightening' and that death threats were leveled against the jailed suspects. He applauded the town's move to install the plaque on the courthouse yard. 'I think it will bring the races closer together', he said, 'to understand each other better.'"
The Scottsboro Boys Museum was opened in February, 2010.
Beginning in 1908, a ferry began transporting passengers and automobiles to and from Sand Mountain. In 1928-1931, the Kansas City Bridge Company built the B.B. Comer Bridge, a long steel bridge that now connects the county seat to Sand Mountain
, almost tripling the town’s population. The bridge entered use in July, 1930. By 2007, the aging structure was classified by the Alabama Department of Transportation as being a structurally deficient bridge with an overall rating of 7.7 out of 100. Construction of a replacement bridge commenced in October 2007, and is expected to be complete by 2012. In 1932, a couple were wed on top of the bridge. The newlywed wife commented “I wanted to be married where the light-blue water touches and meets with the light-blue sky…”
In the 1980s, a second bridge was built to increase travel and reduce traffic on the B.B. Comer bridge.
In 1913 the city purchased approximately 30 acres (121,405.8 m²) for a water system on Sand Mountain. The first electric lights in Scottsboro became operational on January 21, 1916. Scottsboro's first hospital was established in 1923.
In 1927, aviator Charles Lindbergh
performed stunts in his famous plane the Spirit of St. Louis. In 1932, Scottsboro officially became a "city" when an act of the Alabama Legislature bestowed that title on towns with more than 2000 inhabitants. Scottsboro's population at the time was about 2304.
In 1954, the courthouse was starting to deteriorate, so it was renovated and all the wooden walls were replaced with marble. Because of the growth in population and demand, more rooms were added to expand offices for services such as automobile tags and land records.
Since the early 1980s to the late 2000s, Scottsboro has seen substantial population growth and an economy moved away from its rural agrarian post to a more diversified one. Real estate in a small town environment and competitive state business tax rates both appealed to newcomers who bought homes and/or commute to jobs in Chattanooga, Huntsville and Atlanta.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 51.7 square miles (133.9 km²), of which, 47.3 square miles (122.5 km²) of it is land and 4.4 square miles (11.4 km²) of it (8.47%) is water. The water areas are the Tennessee River and its backwaters.
The section of the Tennessee River Valley that includes Scottsboro is geologically related to the Sequatchie Valley
.
of 2000, there were 14,762 people, 6,224 households, and 4,201 families residing in the city. The population density
was 311.8 people per square mile (120.4/km²). There were 6,848 housing units at an average density of 144.6 per square mile (55.8/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 91.11% White
, 5.34% African American
, 1.02% Native American
, 0.54% Asian
, 0.03% Pacific Islander
, 0.56% from other races
, and 1.42% from two or more races. 1.50% of the population were Hispanic
or Latino
of any race.
There were 6,224 households out of which 28.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.5% were married couples
living together, 12.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.5% were non-families. 29.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.32 and the average family size was 2.85.
In the city the population was spread out with 22.8% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 27.8% from 25 to 44, 25.9% from 45 to 64, and 15.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 88.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $32,654, and the median income for a family was $42,509. Males had a median income of $32,318 versus $21,965 for females. The per capita income
for the city was $18,430. About 9.9% of families and 14.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.1% of those under age 18 and 20.5% of those age 65 or over.
. This center sells articles of unclaimed and undeliverable airline luggage whose owners the air lines cannot locate. The Center ends up with such items as electronics, clothing, and any other item that might be found in lost airline luggage. The prices are low and the offerings eclectic enough to attract visitors from other states, and even from other parts of the world who make their way to Scottsboro to see what others have lost. The Unclaimed Baggage Center has been featured several times in the media, including in The Wall Street Journal
, Vogue Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, Good Morning America
, The Washington Post, The Dallas Morning News
, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
, The Baltimore Sun
, The Seattle Times
and the travel/adventure television series Globe Trekker
.
Also, on the old Memphis and Charleston Railroad
near the public square, the freight depot still stands. Built in 1856, it is considered the oldest standing structure in the original city limits. During the Civil War, Union raiders and Confederate soldiers fought in a skirmish, which ended up with bullet holes in the brick walls and wooden cargo doors. The structure is currently being restored.
First Monday has been a major draw for over one hundred years, perhaps since 1870. In the old Southern style, First Monday is a trade day (or flea market
) in which people set up stalls, sell homemade wares, and generally have a good time.
Payne's Soda Shop, located on the Courthouse Square, has been in business since 1869. The small, yet elegant, shop shows off a 1950s-themed design, offering the classic malt, and it even sports rare photographs of Scottsboro's past.
King Caldwell Park is situated near downtown Scottsboro, right next to the Library and across the street from the Police Department. It is largely wooded, with several nature trails running through it. It offers picnic tables, a pavilion with rest rooms and a playground. It is the home of Art Sunday, which is an arts and crafts festival that Scottsboro holds the Sunday before Labor Day each year. Many exhibitors and thousands of people attend this festival each year. The King Caldwell Park is named after Scottsboro native and philanthropist, David King Caldwell, who went by the name "King Caldwell". He moved to Tyler, Texas, where he became an oil tycoon and founded the Caldwell Zoo
. However, he never forgot his Scottsboro roots. He constantly gave generously to local causes in Scottsboro and paid for the higher education of many Scottsboro school children. He is still fondly remembered in Scottsboro for having gone to his namesake Caldwell School in Scottsboro and giving every child in the school a shiny new quarter, at a time when that was a lot of money for a child to receive.
The Scottsboro Daily Sentinel daily newspaper
Jackson County, Alabama
Jackson County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama. Its name is in honor of Andrew Jackson, general in the United States Army and President of the United States of America. As of 2010, the population was 53,227. The county seat is Scottsboro. Jackson County is a prohibition or dry county,...
, Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city is 14,770. Named for its founder Robert Scott, the city is the county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
of Jackson County.
It is located 30 miles each from the state boundaries of Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
to the east (Dade County) and Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
to the north, about 45 miles from Huntsville, Alabama
Huntsville, Alabama
Huntsville is a city located primarily in Madison County in the central part of the far northern region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Huntsville is the county seat of Madison County. The city extends west into neighboring Limestone County. Huntsville's population was 180,105 as of the 2010 Census....
to the west and about 55 miles from Chattanooga, Tennessee
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Chattanooga is the fourth-largest city in the US state of Tennessee , with a population of 169,887. It is the seat of Hamilton County...
to the northeast.
Early history
Prior to Scottsboro's founding, the area surrounding the present-day city was inhabited by the Cherokee IndiansCherokee
The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...
. While the Tennessee Valley
Tennessee Valley
The Tennessee Valley is the drainage basin of the Tennessee River and is largely within the U.S. state of Tennessee. It stretches from southwest Kentucky to northwest Georgia and from northeast Mississippi to the mountains of Virginia and North Carolina...
did not have large Native American settlements at the time of the first white settlers, there was a Cherokee town named "Crow Town" near where Scottsboro is located today.
As settlers began pouring into the Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
region, they found the Tennessee River
Tennessee River
The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately 652 miles long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other names...
to be an excellent source of food, water, and a way of shipping goods to the big cities. John Hunt, in 1805, decided to migrate to the area and built a small log cabin in the woods near the river. More people settled in the area and Huntsville
Huntsville, Alabama
Huntsville is a city located primarily in Madison County in the central part of the far northern region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Huntsville is the county seat of Madison County. The city extends west into neighboring Limestone County. Huntsville's population was 180,105 as of the 2010 Census....
was formally incorporated in 1811.
More settlers moved into the Mississippi Territory
Mississippi Territory
The Territory of Mississippi was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from April 7, 1798, until December 10, 1817, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Mississippi....
, resulting in the statehood of Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
, and the creation of the Alabama Territory
Alabama Territory
The Territory of Alabama was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 15, 1817, until December 14, 1819, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Alabama.-History:...
in 1818. Delegates from Tennessee and the newly formed Madison County
Madison County, Alabama
Madison County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is a major part of the Huntsville Metropolitan Area.It is also included in the merged Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. The county is named in honor of James Madison, fourth President of the United States of America, and the...
met in Sauta Cave and decided to admit a new county.
On December 13, 1819, Jackson County was formed. Then, only one day later, the State of Alabama was admitted into the Union as the 22nd state on December 14, 1819.
The first county seat of Jackson County was at Sauta Cave, in the Northern part of the county, nowhere near the Tennessee River. Sauta did not survive after the courthouse was moved to Bellefonte in 1821.
Since Bellefonte
Bellefonte, Alabama
Bellefonte is a ghost town in Jackson County, Alabama, United States, near the site of the Bellefonte Nuclear Generating Station. It is located roughly two miles southeast of Hollywood, Alabama.-History:...
is closer to the Tennessee River than Sauta, and closer to the future site of Scottsboro, more settlers started moving to the area, since they wanted to be near the county seat.
Scottsboro’s founder, Robert Thomas Scott, served in the Alabama Legislature for almost 20 years and later ran a hotel in Bellefonte. Since he and his wife, Elizabeth, wanted a place to call their own and were not very fond of Bellefonte, they moved to Scottsboro around 1850-53. The town was called Scottsville, Scott's Mill, or Sage Town until 1868. In 1853, the newly formed Memphis and Charleston Railroad
Memphis and Charleston Railroad
The Memphis and Charleston Railroad, completed in 1857, was the first railroad in the United States to link the Atlantic Ocean with the Mississippi River. Chartered in 1846 the railroad ran from Memphis, Tennessee to Stevenson, Alabama through the towns of Corinth, Mississippi and Huntsville,...
(a stretch of railroad that starts at Memphis, TN, and ends in Charleston, SC) decided to build a station at Scottsboro and did so in 1857. In the same year, passengers started disembarking at Scott’s Station. On January 20, 1870, Scottsboro was incorporated by the Alabama Legislature. A. Snodgrass was the first mayor. Scottsboro got its first telegraph office in 1872.
Bellefonte citizens rejected the railroad because they did not want train travel to interfere with the town’s thriving river trade.
In 1861/1863, the Bellefonte courthouse was set ablaze and charred. The area was heavily damaged during the U.S. Civil War.
Selection of the new county seat began in 1860 by having a contest to see which towns were suitable.
Many of the county’s towns pushed for their selection, but the leading candidates were Hollywood
Hollywood, Alabama
Hollywood is a town in Jackson County, Alabama, United States, and is included in the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. As of the 2000 census, the population of the town is 950.-Geography:Hollywood is located at ....
, Stevenson
Stevenson, Alabama
Stevenson is a city in Jackson County, Alabama, United States, and is included in the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. As of the 2000 census, the population of the city is 1,770.-Geography:Stevenson is located at ....
, Larkinsville, and Scotts-borough (Scottsboro). To narrow the nominees, the county council decided that:
- The town must be within 8 miles (12.9 km) of the Memphis & Charleston Railroad line.
- The town must be near the center of the county.
The second requirement eliminated Stevenson and Larkinsville, and the County Commissioners ultimately selected Scottsboro as the county seat. Courthouse construction began in 1868 with the jail following two years later. County commissioners sited the courthouse at its current location in the public square.
The 20th century would bring great changes to Scottsboro. In 1902, two cases of smallpox were found but fortunately the disease did not spread more widely. In 1903, the first car that came to the town drove through the square en route from Ohio to Florida. In 1906, local blacksmith H.C. Payne built Scottsboro’s first homemade automobile, which was made with a wooden frame, four sprocket wheels, and hand-powered cranks. In 1911, the courthouse was set ablaze and was rebuilt. In 1912, the courthouse was demolished and an election was held to determine whether the courthouse would be moved to Stevenson or stay in Scottsboro (some Stevenson residents did not think Scottsboro deserved the role of county seat). Scottsboro won the vote and the present courthouse was built (before the renovation and expansion in 1954.)
Scottsboro Boys
The Scottsboro Boys case was among the most important cases in the history of American Jurisprudence. It went to the United States Supreme Court twice and established forever the principles that, in the United States, criminal defendants are entitled to effective assistance of counsel and that people may not be de facto excluded from juries due to their race. The case of the Scottsboro Boys arose in Scottsboro in 1931, when nine black youths, ranging in age from twelve to twenty, were accused of raping two white women, Victoria Price and Ruby Bates, one of whom would later recant. The victims and accused alike had all hitched rides on a passing train on the Southern Railroad freight route from Chattanooga to MemphisMemphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
on March 25, 1931, which just happened to stop in Jackson County, Alabama
Jackson County, Alabama
Jackson County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama. Its name is in honor of Andrew Jackson, general in the United States Army and President of the United States of America. As of 2010, the population was 53,227. The county seat is Scottsboro. Jackson County is a prohibition or dry county,...
where these women made their accusations to the local officials against these black youths. The defendants were brought to Scottsboro for trial, because it was the county seat of Jackson County.
The four trials, during the course of which most of the youths were convicted and sentenced to death by all-white juries despite the weak and contradictory testimonies of the witnesses, are now widely regarded (including in Scottsboro) as one of the worst travesties of justice perpetrated against blacks in the post-Reconstruction South. Only the first trials were held in Scottsboro. The case was, in reality, many cases that were tried only in the first instance in Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
era Scottsboro, Alabama in 1931. Of the original nine young black defendants (some of them minors), accused of gang raping two fellow hobo white women on a freight train, eight were quickly convicted in quick succeesion trials in a mob atmosphere in Scottsboro by all white juries and sentenced to death. The only two attorneys who were willing to take the cases had few qualifications for criminal defense work. They were unable to put up much of a defense when the judge gave them no time to prepare their defenses before the trials. He started the first trial as soon as they agreed to take the cases and then began each next case as soon the jury went out on the previous one.
Fortunately, the Scottsboro defendants benefitted from their two landmark triumphs in the United States Supreme Court mostly from the fact that they were all relieved from their death sentences they received at their first trial in Scottsboro. The Supreme Court ruled both times only that the way their convictions were obtained was improper and not that they were innocent. Those convicted spent no less than six years and as many as nineteen years incarcerated in harsh jails and prisons. The Scottsboro Boys had served long prison sentences when the arch segregationist Alabama Governor George Wallace
George Wallace
George Corley Wallace, Jr. was the 45th Governor of Alabama, serving four terms: 1963–1967, 1971–1979 and 1983–1987. "The most influential loser" in 20th-century U.S. politics, according to biographers Dan T. Carter and Stephan Lesher, he ran for U.S...
, in one of history's ironies, partially mitigated this widely construed injustice (after the United States Supreme Court had failed to do so twice) by issuing a pardon in 1976 for the one remaining Scottsboro defendant still subject to the Alabama penal system.
Most residents of Scottsboro, as citizens of the "New South
New South
New South, New South Democracy or New South Creed is a phrase that has been used intermittently since the American Civil War to describe the American South, after 1877. The term "New South" is used in contrast to the Old South of the plantation system of the antebellum period.The term has been used...
", today acknowledge the injustice that started in their community and almost all, when the case is mentioned to them, are quick to express the wish that that fateful train had stopped a few miles short or a few miles beyond the Jackson County line. They suggest that the "Huntsville
Huntsville, Alabama
Huntsville is a city located primarily in Madison County in the central part of the far northern region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Huntsville is the county seat of Madison County. The city extends west into neighboring Limestone County. Huntsville's population was 180,105 as of the 2010 Census....
Boys" case sounds much better to their ears. "In January 2004, amidst television cameras and radio and newspaper reporters, a crowd gathered near the Jackson County Court House in Scottsboro to dedicate a historical marker commemorating the Scottsboro Boys' trial and their struggle for justice." "An 87 year old black man who attended the ceremony, one of the few who could remember the cases firsthand, recalled that the mob scene following the Boys' arrest 'was frightening' and that death threats were leveled against the jailed suspects. He applauded the town's move to install the plaque on the courthouse yard. 'I think it will bring the races closer together', he said, 'to understand each other better.'"
The Scottsboro Boys Museum was opened in February, 2010.
Modern history
In 1900, Scottsboro was home to about 1,000 residents.Beginning in 1908, a ferry began transporting passengers and automobiles to and from Sand Mountain. In 1928-1931, the Kansas City Bridge Company built the B.B. Comer Bridge, a long steel bridge that now connects the county seat to Sand Mountain
Sand Mountain (Alabama)
Sand Mountain is a sandstone plateau in northeastern Alabama and northwestern Georgia. It is part of the southern tip of the Appalachian mountain chain. Geologically a continuation of Walden Ridge, Sand Mountain is part of the Cumberland Plateau, separated from the main portion of the plateau by...
, almost tripling the town’s population. The bridge entered use in July, 1930. By 2007, the aging structure was classified by the Alabama Department of Transportation as being a structurally deficient bridge with an overall rating of 7.7 out of 100. Construction of a replacement bridge commenced in October 2007, and is expected to be complete by 2012. In 1932, a couple were wed on top of the bridge. The newlywed wife commented “I wanted to be married where the light-blue water touches and meets with the light-blue sky…”
In the 1980s, a second bridge was built to increase travel and reduce traffic on the B.B. Comer bridge.
In 1913 the city purchased approximately 30 acres (121,405.8 m²) for a water system on Sand Mountain. The first electric lights in Scottsboro became operational on January 21, 1916. Scottsboro's first hospital was established in 1923.
In 1927, aviator Charles Lindbergh
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Augustus Lindbergh was an American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist.Lindbergh, a 25-year-old U.S...
performed stunts in his famous plane the Spirit of St. Louis. In 1932, Scottsboro officially became a "city" when an act of the Alabama Legislature bestowed that title on towns with more than 2000 inhabitants. Scottsboro's population at the time was about 2304.
In 1954, the courthouse was starting to deteriorate, so it was renovated and all the wooden walls were replaced with marble. Because of the growth in population and demand, more rooms were added to expand offices for services such as automobile tags and land records.
Since the early 1980s to the late 2000s, Scottsboro has seen substantial population growth and an economy moved away from its rural agrarian post to a more diversified one. Real estate in a small town environment and competitive state business tax rates both appealed to newcomers who bought homes and/or commute to jobs in Chattanooga, Huntsville and Atlanta.
Geography
Scottsboro is located at 34°39′5"N 86°2′33"W (34.651368, -86.042570).According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 51.7 square miles (133.9 km²), of which, 47.3 square miles (122.5 km²) of it is land and 4.4 square miles (11.4 km²) of it (8.47%) is water. The water areas are the Tennessee River and its backwaters.
The section of the Tennessee River Valley that includes Scottsboro is geologically related to the Sequatchie Valley
Sequatchie Valley
Sequatchie Valley is a relatively long and narrow valley in the U.S. state of Tennessee and, in some definitions, Alabama. It is generally considered to be part of the Cumberland Plateau region of the Appalachian Mountains; it was probably formed by erosion of a compression anticline, rather than...
.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 14,762 people, 6,224 households, and 4,201 families residing in the city. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 311.8 people per square mile (120.4/km²). There were 6,848 housing units at an average density of 144.6 per square mile (55.8/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 91.11% White
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 5.34% African American
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 1.02% Native American
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 0.54% Asian
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 0.03% Pacific Islander
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 0.56% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 1.42% from two or more races. 1.50% of the population were Hispanic
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
or Latino
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
of any race.
There were 6,224 households out of which 28.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.5% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 12.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.5% were non-families. 29.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.32 and the average family size was 2.85.
In the city the population was spread out with 22.8% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 27.8% from 25 to 44, 25.9% from 45 to 64, and 15.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 88.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $32,654, and the median income for a family was $42,509. Males had a median income of $32,318 versus $21,965 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the city was $18,430. About 9.9% of families and 14.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.1% of those under age 18 and 20.5% of those age 65 or over.
Attractions
Scottsboro is famously the home to the Unclaimed Baggage CenterUnclaimed Baggage Center
The Unclaimed Baggage Center is a retail store located in Scottsboro in Jackson County, Alabama. The store's concept of reselling of lost or unclaimed airline luggage...
. This center sells articles of unclaimed and undeliverable airline luggage whose owners the air lines cannot locate. The Center ends up with such items as electronics, clothing, and any other item that might be found in lost airline luggage. The prices are low and the offerings eclectic enough to attract visitors from other states, and even from other parts of the world who make their way to Scottsboro to see what others have lost. The Unclaimed Baggage Center has been featured several times in the media, including in The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
, Vogue Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
, The Washington Post, The Dallas Morning News
The Dallas Morning News
The Dallas Morning News is the major daily newspaper serving the Dallas, Texas area, with a circulation of 264,459 subscribers, the Audit Bureau of Circulations reported in September 2010...
, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is the only major daily newspaper in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, and its suburbs. The AJC, as it is called, is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is the result of the merger between The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta...
, The Baltimore Sun
The Baltimore Sun
The Baltimore Sun is the U.S. state of Maryland’s largest general circulation daily newspaper and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries....
, The Seattle Times
The Seattle Times
The Seattle Times is a newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, US. It is the largest daily newspaper in the state of Washington. It has been, since the demise in 2009 of the printed version of the rival Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Seattle's only major daily print newspaper.-History:The Seattle Times...
and the travel/adventure television series Globe Trekker
Globe Trekker
Globe Trekker is an adventure tourism television series produced by Pilot Productions. The British-based series was inspired by the Lonely Planet travelbooks and began airing in 1994...
.
Memphis and Charleston Railroad
The Memphis and Charleston Railroad, completed in 1857, was the first railroad in the United States to link the Atlantic Ocean with the Mississippi River. Chartered in 1846 the railroad ran from Memphis, Tennessee to Stevenson, Alabama through the towns of Corinth, Mississippi and Huntsville,...
near the public square, the freight depot still stands. Built in 1856, it is considered the oldest standing structure in the original city limits. During the Civil War, Union raiders and Confederate soldiers fought in a skirmish, which ended up with bullet holes in the brick walls and wooden cargo doors. The structure is currently being restored.
First Monday has been a major draw for over one hundred years, perhaps since 1870. In the old Southern style, First Monday is a trade day (or flea market
Flea market
A flea market or swap meet is a type of bazaar where inexpensive or secondhand goods are sold or bartered. It may be indoors, such as in a warehouse or school gymnasium; or it may be outdoors, such as in a field or under a tent...
) in which people set up stalls, sell homemade wares, and generally have a good time.
Payne's Soda Shop, located on the Courthouse Square, has been in business since 1869. The small, yet elegant, shop shows off a 1950s-themed design, offering the classic malt, and it even sports rare photographs of Scottsboro's past.
King Caldwell Park is situated near downtown Scottsboro, right next to the Library and across the street from the Police Department. It is largely wooded, with several nature trails running through it. It offers picnic tables, a pavilion with rest rooms and a playground. It is the home of Art Sunday, which is an arts and crafts festival that Scottsboro holds the Sunday before Labor Day each year. Many exhibitors and thousands of people attend this festival each year. The King Caldwell Park is named after Scottsboro native and philanthropist, David King Caldwell, who went by the name "King Caldwell". He moved to Tyler, Texas, where he became an oil tycoon and founded the Caldwell Zoo
Caldwell Zoo
The Caldwell Zoo is an zoo located in the city of Tyler, Texas. It features animals from all over the world.The Caldwell Zoo is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and is a member of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums ....
. However, he never forgot his Scottsboro roots. He constantly gave generously to local causes in Scottsboro and paid for the higher education of many Scottsboro school children. He is still fondly remembered in Scottsboro for having gone to his namesake Caldwell School in Scottsboro and giving every child in the school a shiny new quarter, at a time when that was a lot of money for a child to receive.
Development
The attraction of Lake Guntersville has brought in numerous real estate developers. The Goose Pond area of Scottsboro has seen recent development of communities centered around a lake-living lifestyle.Media
The Clarion The Clarion (Weekly Community Newspaper - 15,500 3 County Distribution)The Scottsboro Daily Sentinel daily newspaper
Health care
- Highlands Medical Center 85 bed facility