The theatre was renovated as a performing arts center in 1976 and housed the Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra and Theatre Tuscaloosa troupe until those groups moved into their own facilities. Tuscaloosa was the seat of Alabama State government from 1826 to 1846 when the state legislature met in a building here in Capitol Park. The Tuscaloosa National Airport (TCL) has played an important role throughout the history of Tuscaloosa. In addition to the customary offices associated with the county courthouse, namely two District Court Judges, six Circuit Court Judges, the District Attorney and the Public Defender, several Alabama state government agencies have regional offices in Tuscaloosa, such as the Alabama Department of Transportation and the Alabama State Troopers (the state police). The Tuscaloosa Public Library is a joint city-county agency with nearly 200,000 items on catalog. The name is from the Choctaw words, tusca, warrior, loosa, black, hence Black-warrior. The median age was 28 years. [50] Bentley—himself a Tuscaloosa native—pledged additional national guard troops. Tuscaloosa was struck by an F2 tornado in January 1997, which resulted in the death of one person. The Tuscaloosa County Preservation Society hopes you will find this site both useful and entertaining. The racial makeup of the city was 54.09% White, 42.73% Black or African American, 0.16% Native American, 1.49% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.63% from other races, and 0.87% from two or more races. DCH Regional Medical Center is the main medical facility in Tuscaloosa. In addition, Alabama's senior senator, Richard Shelby (R), is a resident of Tuscaloosa. These teams play in athletics facilities on the university campus, including Bryant–Denny Stadium (capacity of 102,000+), Coleman Coliseum (formerly Memorial Coliseum), Sewell-Thomas Stadium, Rhoads Stadium, Foster Auditorium and the Ol' Colony Golf Complex. The pace of white settlement increased greatly after the War of 1812, and a small assortment of log cabins soon arose near the large Creek tribe village at the Fall Line of the river. Tuscaloosa also contains one toll road on the Black Warrior Parkway (I-20/I-59), charging $1.25 for automobiles, and one toll bridge (Black Warrior Parkway bridge). There is a courthouse in Tuscaloosa simply called the Federal Courthouse. [17] A small assortment of log cabins soon arose near the large Creek village at the fall line of the river, which the new settlers named in honor of the sixteenth-century Chief Tuskaloosa of a Muskogean-speaking tribe—combining the Choctaw words "tushka" or "tashka" ("warrior") and "lusa" ("black").[18][19]. The town is named after Tuskaloosa, leader of the Mississippian town of Mabila (also known as Mauvila) who was executed by Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto's men in 1540. His main duty is to oversee the day-to-day operation of city departments pursuant to executing policy enacted by the city council or, in the absence of any council policy, his own discretion. In 1850, the slave census was also separate from the free census, but in earlier years it was a part of the free census. The City of Tuscaloosa was incorporated on December 13, 1819, one day before Alabama was officially declared a state. Norfolk Southern Railway and Alabama Southern Railroad provide freight services to the area. Tuscaloosa is the regional center of industry, commerce, healthcare, and education for the area of west-central Alabama known as West Alabama. Tuscaloosa, as the largest county seat in western Alabama, serves a hub of state and federal government agencies. It was created to ensure that Tuscaloosa’s historic resources are maintained in a … Previous professional teams calling Tuscaloosa home included the World Basketball Association's Druid City Dragons in 2006, and Tuscaloosa Warriors football team in 1963, with both folding after one season. [22] The larger town was also damaged in the battle and shared fully in the South's economic sufferings which followed the defeat. Hood dies at 70; fought segregation at University of Alabama", "Teaching About the Unsung Heroes of Black History", "George Wallace, segregationist Alabama governor, loses university honor", "Tuscaloosa County death toll from tornado increases to 43", "Twister outbreak is 2nd deadliest in US history - Weather | NBC News", "Tuscaloosa-Birmingham EF-4 Tornado April 27, 2011", "Tuscaloosa tornadoes: Death toll at 36, Mayor Walt Maddox says | AL.com", "Tornadoes inflict grim toll on Alabama children", "Twister debris searched; nearly 300 dead - Weather | NBC News", "The 10 Costliest U.S. Tornadoes since 1950", "2011 Top Ten National Weather/Climate Events", "On This Day: 2011 Tornado Super Outbreak", "President Obama promises aid, resources", "Posthumous degrees given to Ala. students killed in tornadoes - US news - Life | NBC News", "Tuscaloosa dedicates bicentennial statue", "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990", "George Van Tassel,1913-2007, Mayor of Tuscaloosa from 1956 to 1969", "C. Snow Hinton, Jr., 1919-1976, Mayor of Tuscaloosa from 1969 to 1976", "Ernest W. "Rainy" Collins, 1911-2004, Mayor of Tuscaloosa from 1976 to 1981", "Former Tuscaloosa Mayor Al DuPont is running again", "Construction begins on new federal courthouse", "The Arts & Humanities Council of Tuscaloosa, Alabama", "Druid City Arts Festival attracts students, community", "Alabama Capitals, Alabama Department of Archives and History", "TuscaloosaNews.com: Latest Alabama news, sports, weather | The Tuscaloosa News | Tuscaloosa, AL", "Nielsen Media Research Local Universe Estimates (US)", Arbitron Radio Market Rankings: Spring 2007, "Tuscaloosa, Alabama (AL) profile: population, maps, real estate, averages, homes, statistics, relocation, travel, jobs, hospitals, schools, crime, moving, houses, news, sex offenders", "Kansas City Southern Railway leases five of its branch lines", "Port of Tuscaloosa Accidents | Offshore Injury Attorney", "Black Warrior River Watershed Management Plan", Alabama Department of Environmental Management, "Sister Cities delegates gather in Tuscaloosa to mark friendship", "Actress who grew up in Tuscaloosa buried with her parents in Evergreen Cemetery", "Truant officer was Olympic hero Emerson High has gold medalist in midst", "A truant officer...and an Olympian Two-time gold medalist inspires students to achieve", Bibliography of the history of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Tuscaloosa Convention and Visitor's Bureau, City of Tuscaloosa, Encyclopedia of Alabama, College of Communication and Information Sciences, Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama v. Garrett, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tuscaloosa,_Alabama&oldid=1010417587, Former state capitals in the United States, Pages with non-numeric formatnum arguments, Articles with dead external links from May 2016, Articles with dead external links from December 2017, Articles with permanently dead external links, Short description is different from Wikidata, Pages using infobox settlement with possible nickname list, Articles needing additional references from May 2008, All articles needing additional references, Wikipedia external links cleanup from May 2016, Wikipedia articles with MusicBrainz area identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Obediah Berry, 1864–1865, 1873, 1877–1878, This page was last edited on 5 March 2021, at 10:23.