Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Montgomery County.[9] Named for Continental Army Major General Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River, on the coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. The population was 200,603 at the 2020 census.[6] It is now the third most populous city in the state, after Huntsville and Birmingham, and is the 128th most populous in the United States. The Montgomery Metropolitan Statistical Area's population in 2022 was 385,460; it is the fourth largest in the state and 142nd among United States metropolitan areas.
For the county, see Montgomery County, Alabama.
Montgomery, Alabama
United States
District 1 - Ed Grimes
District 2 - Julie T. Beard
District 3 - Marche Johnson
District 4 - Franetta Riley
District 5 - Cornelius Calhoun
District 6 - Oronde Mitchell
District 7 - Andrew Szymanski
District 8 - Glen O. Pruitt, Jr.
District 9 - Charles W. Jinright
162.27 sq mi (420.28 km2)
159.86 sq mi (414.03 km2)
2.41 sq mi (6.25 km2)
240 ft (73 m)
200,603
196,986
1,232/sq mi (475.8/km2)
254,348 (US: 159th)
1,752.9/sq mi (676.8/km2)
385,460 (US: 142nd)
142.0/sq mi (54.83/km2)
UTC–5 (CDT)
01-51000
0165344[5]
The city was incorporated in 1819 as a merger of two towns situated along the Alabama River. It became the state capital in 1846, representing the shift of power to the south-central area of Alabama with the growth of cotton as a commodity crop of the Black Belt and the rise of Mobile as a mercantile port on the Gulf Coast. In February 1861, Montgomery was chosen the first capital of the Confederate States of America, which it remained until the Confederate seat of government moved to Richmond, Virginia, in May of that year. In the middle of the 20th century, Montgomery was a major center of events and protests in the Civil Rights Movement,[10] including the Montgomery bus boycott and the Selma to Montgomery marches.
In addition to housing many Alabama government agencies, Montgomery has a large military presence, due to Maxwell Air Force Base. It has three public universities (Alabama State University, Troy University (Montgomery campus), and Auburn University at Montgomery), two private post-secondary institutions (Faulkner University and Huntingdon College), high-tech manufacturing (particularly Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama), and many cultural attractions, such as the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice.
Montgomery has also been recognized nationally for its downtown revitalization and new urbanism projects. It was one of the first cities in the nation to implement SmartCode Zoning.
Health care[edit]
Montgomery serves as a hub for healthcare in the central Alabama and Black Belt region. Hospitals located in the city include Baptist Medical Center South on South East Boulevard, Baptist Medical Center East next to the campus of Auburn University Montgomery on Taylor Road, and Jackson Hospital, which is located next to Oak Park off interstate 85. Montgomery is also home to two medical school campuses: Baptist Medical Center South (run by University of Alabama at Birmingham) and Jackson Hospital (run by Alabama Medical Education Consortium).
Montgomery
18
9
141
354
522
562
1,773
301
0
2,636
Recreation[edit]
Montgomery has more than 1,600 acres of parkland, which are maintained and operated by the City of Montgomery Parks and Recreation Department. The department also operates 24 community centers, a skate park, two golf courses (Lagoon Park and Gateway Park), Cramton Bowl Stadium and Multiplex, two tennis centers (Lagoon Park and O'Conner), 65 playgrounds, 90 baseball/softball fields, 24 soccer fields including the Emory Folmar Soccer Facility, and one riverboat.[74]
Transportation[edit]
Two interstate highways run through Montgomery. Interstate 65 is the primary north–south freeway through the city leading between Birmingham and Huntsville to the north and Mobile to the south. Montgomery is the southern terminus of Interstate 85, another north–south freeway (though running east–west in the city), which leads northeast to Atlanta and Charlotte. The major surface street thoroughfare is a loop consisting of State Route 152 in the north, U.S. Highway 231 and U.S. Highway 80 in the east, U.S. Highway 82 in the south, and U.S. Highway 31 along the west of the city. The Alabama Department of Transportation is planning the Outer Montgomery Loop to ease traffic congestion in the city. It is planned to connect Interstate 85 near Mt. Meigs to U.S. Highway 80 southwest of the city.[112] Upon completion of the loop, it will carry the I-85 designation while the original I-85 into the city center will be redesignated I-685.
Montgomery Area Transit System (The M) provides public transportation with buses serving the city. The system has 32 buses providing an average of 4500 passenger trips daily.[113] The M's ridership has shown steady growth since the system was revamped in 2000; the system served over 1 million passenger trips in 2008.[114] Greyhound Lines operates a terminal in Montgomery for intercity bus travel in the downtown Intermodal Transit Facility.[115]
Montgomery Regional Airport, also known as Dannelly Field, is the major airport serving Montgomery. It serves primarily as an Air National Guard base and for general aviation, but commercial airlines fly to regional connections to Atlanta, Dallas–Fort Worth and Charlotte.[116]
Passenger rail service to Montgomery was enhanced in 1898 with the opening of Union Station. Service continued until 1979, when Amtrak terminated its Floridian route.[117] Amtrak returned from 1989 until 1995 with the Gulf Breeze, an extension of the Crescent line.[118]
According to the 2016 American Community Survey, 84.3% of working city of Montgomery residents commuted by driving alone, 8.8% carpooled, 0.4% used public transportation, and 0.6% walked. About 3.5% used all other forms of transportation, including taxicab, motorcycle, and bicycle. About 5.9% of working city of Montgomery residents worked at home.[119] Despite the high level of commuting by automobile, 8.5% of city of Montgomery households were without a car in 2015, which increased to 11% in 2016. The national average was 8.7 percent in 2016. Montgomery averaged 1.62 cars per household in 2016, compared to a national average of 1.8 per household.[120]
Montgomery has one sister city: