Tuscaloosa

Sister cities

• Schorndorf
• Techiman
• Sunyani
• Narashino

History

Reportedly the name Tuscaloosa is a compound Choctaw Indian word; "tusko" meaning "warrior" and "loosa" meaning "black". The Black Warrior River flows through the north portion of the city. In 1809 Creek chief Occechemolta established a settlement at the falls of the river. (US-T125/Alabama: A Guide to the Deep South/p 244). County seat of Tuscaloosa County 1818 to 1822 and 1826 to the present. State capital from 1826 to 1846. Jackson abandoned the policy of his predecessors of treating different Indian groups as separate nations. 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 16th-century Chief Tuskaloosa of a Muskogean-speaking tribecombining the Choctaw words "tushka" or "tashka" ("warrior") and "lusa" ("black"). In 1817, Alabama became a territory. On December 13, 1819, the territorial legislature incorporated the town of Tuskaloosa, one day before Congress admitted Alabama to the Union as a U.S. state. From 1826 to 1846, Tuskaloosa was the capital of Alabama. The State House was built at the corner of 6th Street and 28th Avenue (now the site of Capitol Park). The larger town was also damaged in the battle, and its White population suffered economically. Its Black population was emancipated from slavery. In the 1890s the construction of a system of locks and dams on the Black Warrior River by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers improved navigation to such an extent that Tuscaloosa was effectively connected to the Gulf Coast seaport of Mobile. This stimulated the economy and trade, and mining and metallurgical industries were developed in the region. By the onset of the 20th century, the growth of the University of Alabama and the mental health-care facilities in…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and , is water as of 2023. approximately southwest of Birmingham. It lies on the fall line of the Black Warrior River, approximately upriver from the river's confluence with the Tombigbee River at Demopolis. Because of its location on the boundary between the Appalachian Highland and the Gulf Coastal Plain, the geography of the area around Tuscaloosa is diverse, varying from heavily forested hills to the northeast to a low-lying, marshy plain to the southwest. Major areas of Tuscaloosa city proper include: * Alberta * Central/Midtown Tuscaloosa * Downtown Tuscaloosa * East Tuscaloosa * Hillcrest * North River * University of Alabama main campus * West Tuscaloosa Typical of the Deep South, Tuscaloosa experiences a humid subtropical climate (Köppen: Cfa). The Gulf of Mexico heavily influences the climate by supplying the region with warm, moist air. During the fall, winter, and spring seasons, the interaction of this warm, moist air with cooler, drier air from the North along fronts creates precipitation. These fronts usually move from west to east as they track along the jet stream. Notable exceptions occur during hurricane season, where storms may move from due south to due north or even from east to west during land-falling hurricanes. The interaction between low- and high-pressure air masses is most pronounced during the severe weather seasons in the spring and fall. During the summer, the jet stream flows well to the north of the southeastern U.S., and most precipitation is consequently convectional, i.e., caused by the warm surface heating the air above. Severe thunderstorms can bring damaging winds, large hail, and occasionally tornadoes. An F4 tornado struck…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  7,073
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  5,390
• Northern Mockingbird

  Mimus polyglottos (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  5,317
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  4,428
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  4,293
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  4,273
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  4,117
• Carolina Chickadee

  Poecile carolinensis (Audubon, 1834) · Aves
  3,985

Largest nearby schools

• Tuscaloosa County High School
  High · Northport · 1,545 students · 17.2:1 ratio
• Hillcrest High School
  High · Tuscaloosa · 1,356 students · 19.1:1 ratio
• Northridge High School
  High · Tuscaloosa · 1,145 students · 22.5:1 ratio
• Paul W Bryant High School
  High · Cottondale · 1,042 students · 20.4:1 ratio
• Echols Middle School
  Middle · Northport · 878 students · 20.9:1 ratio
• Central High School
  High · Tuscaloosa · 783 students · 17:1 ratio
• Eastwood Middle School
  Middle · Cottondale · 758 students · 21.1:1 ratio
• Northridge Middle School
  Middle · Tuscaloosa · 740 students · 15.7:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 3.1 — 2021-12-22
  10 km E of Maplesville, Alabama
• M 2.55 — 2020-10-15
  1 km W of Belk, Alabama
• M 2.87 — 2020-06-25
  4 km NNW of Berry, Alabama
• M 2.59 — 2019-04-23
  11 km WSW of Union, Alabama
• M 2.7 — 2017-02-17
  22 km S of Oakman, Alabama
• M 2.6 — 2017-02-17
  16 km S of Oakman, Alabama