Selma

History

Before discovery and settlement by Europeans, the area of present-day Selma had been inhabited for thousands of years by various warring tribes of Native Americans. The Europeans encountered the historic Native American people known as the Muscogee (also known as the Creek), who had been in the area for hundreds of years. French explorers and colonists were the first Europeans to explore this area. In 1732, they recorded the site of present-day Selma as Écor Bienville. Later Anglo-Americans called it the Moore's Bluff settlement. Selma was incorporated in 1820. The city was planned and named as Selma by William R. King, a politician and planter from North Carolina who was a future vice president of the United States. The name, meaning 'high seat' or 'throne', came from the Ossianic poem The Songs of Selma by Scottish poet James Macpherson. During the Civil War, Selma was one of the South's main military manufacturing centers, producing many supplies and munitions, and building Confederate warships such as the ironclad Tennessee. The Selma iron works and foundry, where a young William Kehoe made bullets, was considered the second-most important source of weaponry for the South, after the Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond, Virginia. Half the cannon and two thirds of the fixed ammunition used by the Confederacy in the last two years of the war were made there. This strategic concentration of manufacturing capabilities eventually made Selma a target of Union raids into Alabama late in the Civil War. ====Battle of Selma==== On March 30, 1865, Union General James H. Wilson detached Gen. John T. Croxton's brigade to destroy all Confederate property at Tuscaloosa. Wilson's forces captured a Confederate courier, who was found to be carrying dispatches from Confederate General…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of , of which is land and , is water. }}

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  163
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  147
• Northern Mockingbird

  Mimus polyglottos (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  146
• Turkey Vulture

  Cathartes aura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  132
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  118
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  108
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  101
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  98

Largest nearby schools

• Selma High School
  High · Selma · 719 students · 18.9:1 ratio
• Valley Grande Elementary School
  Elementary · Valley Grande · 352 students · 19.6:1 ratio
• The RBHudson STEAM Academy
  Middle · Selma · 349 students · 17.4:1 ratio
• Edgewood Elementary School
  Elementary · Selma · 343 students · 17.1:1 ratio
• Southside High School
  High · Selma · 296 students · 14.1:1 ratio
• Sophia P Kingston Elementary School
  Elementary · Selma · 290 students · 24.2:1 ratio
• Meadowview Elementary School
  Elementary · Selma · 276 students · 19.7:1 ratio
• William R Martin Middle School
  Middle · Valley Grande · 229 students · 20.8:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 3.1 — 2021-12-22
  10 km E of Maplesville, Alabama
• M 2.9 — 2009-04-22
  15 km S of Centreville, Alabama
• M 3.4 — 2009-04-21
  12 km S of Centreville, Alabama
• M 4.3 — 2004-11-07
  4 km W of Forkland, Alabama
• M 2.8 — 2004-08-28
  13 km SSE of Centreville, Alabama
• M 3.6 — 2004-08-19
  8 km W of Brantleyville, Alabama