The Huntsville–Decatur, AL Combined Statistical Area is the most populated sub-region of

North Alabama North Alabama is a region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Several geographic definitions for the area exist, with all descriptions including the nine counties of Alabama's Tennessee Valley region. The North Alabama Industrial Development Associ ...

, and is the second fastest growing region in the State of

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...

, with 659,486 living within the CSA. It is also currently the 57th largest CSA in the country. The CSA is situated along the

Tennessee River The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately 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 name ...

, and is made up of two separate metropolitan areas ( Decatur and Huntsville) that are usually referred to as one. The Decatur MSA lies south of the Tennessee River and the Huntsville MSA lies north of it. Significant cities included in the CSA include

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, Decatur, Hartselle, Huntsville, and Madison, as well as

Lawrence Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...

Limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

, Madison, and Morgan counties. Huntsville is the largest city in the area with a population of 215,006 people, and a metro population of 502,728. Decatur is the second largest city with a population of 57,938 people, and a metro population of 156,758.

Counties

* Madison * Morgan

Metropolitan areas included

* Decatur Metropolitan Area * Huntsville Metropolitan Area

Cities

Core cities

* Huntsville * Decatur

Cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants

* Madison

Cities with 10,000–25,000 inhabitants

* Hartselle

Cities with 5,000–9,999 inhabitants

* Harvest * Meridianville *

Monrovia Monrovia () is the capital city of the West African country of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic coast and as of the 2008 census had 1,010,970 residents, home to 29% of Liberia’s total population. As th ...

* Moores Mill

Cities, and towns with less than 4,999 inhabitants

Education

K–12 education

School systems by county: Madison * Huntsville City Schools
Madison County Schools

Madison City Schools
Limestone
Athens City Schools

Limestone County Schools
Morgan *

Decatur City Schools The Decatur City Schools is a school system located in the city of Decatur, Alabama, and is home to seven of Alabama's International Baccalaureate schools. The school system is also the second largest employer in Decatur. Basic Overview Decatur ...

Hartselle City Schools

Morgan County Schools
Lawrence
Lawrence County Schools

Institutions of higher education

* Calhoun Community College System ** Calhoun Decatur Campus ** Calhoun Redstone Arsenal Campus ** Calhoun Huntsville/Cummings Research Park Campus *

University of Alabama in Huntsville The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) is a public research university in Huntsville, Alabama. The university is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and comprises nine colleges: arts, humanities & social scienc ...

Alabama A&M University Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University (Alabama A&M) is a public historically black land-grant university in Normal, Huntsville, Alabama. Founded in 1875, it took its present name in 1969. AAMU is a member-school of the Thurgood Marsh ...

Oakwood University Oakwood University is a private, historically black Seventh-day Adventist university in Huntsville, Alabama. It is the only HBCU owned and operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Oakwood University is accredited by the Southern Associati ...

* Huntsville Regional Medical Campus of the

University of Alabama at Birmingham The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is a public research university in Birmingham, Alabama. Developed from an academic extension center established in 1936, the institution became a four-year campus in 1966 and a fully autonomous univ ...

School of Medicine; *

Athens State University Athens State University is a public upper-division university in Athens, Alabama. Its academics are housed in three colleges: Education, Arts and Sciences, and Business. History Athens State University is Alabama's oldest educational institutio ...

; * Georgia Institute of Technology's two site
Huntsville
*

Faulkner University Faulkner University is a private Christian university in Montgomery, Alabama. It is affiliated with the Churches of Christ. History The university was founded in 1942 by Dr. Rex Turner, Dr. Leonard Johnson and Joe Greer as Montgomery Bible S ...

; * Columbia College; *

Virginia College Virginia College was a private for-profit college located primarily in the southeastern United States. It offered classes, certificates, diplomas, and degrees related to specific professions such as health sciences, information technology, busines ...

br>Huntsville
*

Florida Institute of Technology The Florida Institute of Technology (Florida Tech or FIT) is a private research university in Melbourne, Florida. The university comprises four academic colleges: Engineering & Science, Aeronautics, Psychology & Liberal Arts, and Business. App ...

, and * Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

Geography

The geography of the Huntsville-Decatur Metro Area ranges from the tall peaks of the southern

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They ...

, to the low valleys formed by the Tennessee River. Decatur sits on the southern shore of the Tennessee River, while Huntsville lies about 10 miles from the Tennessee River, and sits at the base of Monte Sano Mountain. *

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 north Alabama and from northeast Mississippi to the mountains of Virginia and North Car ...

Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge The Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge is a 35,000 acre (142 km2) National Wildlife Refuge located along the Tennessee River near Decatur, Alabama. Named after Major General Joseph Wheeler, it was established to provide a habitat for wintering ...

* Monte Sano State Park * Joe Wheeler State Park

Infrastructure

Roadways

The heart of the Huntsville–Decatur Metro Area (Huntsville, Decatur, and Madison) is linked together by the 22 mile strip of

Interstate 565 Interstate 565 (I-565) is a Interstate spur that connects I-65 in Decatur with U.S. Route 72 (US 72) in Huntsville in the US state of Alabama. I-565 serves the cities of Decatur, Madison, and downtown Huntsville. It also pro ...

. Interstate 565 begins at the very edge of the Decatur City Limits at a major interchange with Interstate 65. At the interchange, Alternate US 72 and State Route 20 turn into a controlled access highway taking up the name Interstate 565 as it passes under Interstate 65 receiving traffic from the north – ( Nashville), and south – (

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

/ Decatur / Hartselle) on top of the nearly 40,000-51,000 vehicles per day driving from Decatur to Huntsville on the Alternate US 72 Corridor. Plans are underway to extend Interstate 565 from the Interstate 65/Alternate US 72/State Route 20 interchange to the

US 31 U.S. Route 31 or U.S. Highway 31 (US 31) is a major north–south U.S. highway connecting southern Alabama to northern Michigan. Its southern terminus is at an intersection with US 90/ US 98 in Spanish Fort, Alabama. It ...

/State Route 20/Alternate US 72 interchange in Decatur's Limestone County limits. Eventually the extended Interstate Highway will cross the Tennessee River's

Wheeler Lake Wheeler Lake is located in the northern part of the state of Alabama in the United States, between Rogersville and Huntsville. Created by Wheeler Dam along the Tennessee River, it stretches from Wheeler Dam to Guntersville Dam. It is Alabama's ...

connecting with the proposed Memphis to Atlanta Highway.

Huntsville/Madison roadways

exits the northern portion of the

, Madison Boulevard (formerly State Route 20) branches off of the interstate leading into Madison. After Madison Boulevard converges with Interstate 565 nine miles down the road, Research Park Boulevard, an important north/south expressway serving Cummings Research Park, MidCity (a mixed used development at the location of the former Madison Square Mall), and Redstone Arsenal, bypasses the northern section of Huntsville's busier Memorial Parkway. I-565 at Space and Rocket Center

Interstate 565 winds past the

US Space and Rocket Center The U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama is a museum operated by the government of Alabama, showcasing rockets, achievements, and artifacts of the U.S. space program. Sometimes billed as "Earth's largest space museum", astronaut O ...

. As it approaches downtown, the interstate becomes elevated. About a after the elevated portion of the interstate begins is the largest interchange in Huntsville. The I-565/Memorial Parkway interchange carries over 150,000 vehicles a day. Memorial Parkway stretches from the Tennessee River to

Normal Normal(s) or The Normal(s) may refer to: Film and television * ''Normal'' (2003 film), starring Jessica Lange and Tom Wilkinson * ''Normal'' (2007 film), starring Carrie-Anne Moss, Kevin Zegers, Callum Keith Rennie, and Andrew Airlie * ''Norma ...

. The Parkway feeds the 7-lane University Drive, also known as

US 72 U.S. Route 72 (US 72) is an east–west United States highway that travels for from southwestern Tennessee, throughout North Mississippi, North Alabama, and southeastern Tennessee. The highway's western terminus is in Memphis, Tennessee an ...

. Also intersecting the Parkway is the 5-lane Governors Drive (

US 431 U.S. Route 431 (US 431) is a spur of U.S. Route 31. It currently travels for approximately from US 231/Alabama State Route 210 and US 231 Business (US 231 Bus.) and US 431 Bus. in Dothan, Alabama, to Owensboro, ...

) that serves southeast Huntsville, Hampton Cove, and Huntsville Hospital.Huntsville Hospital
/ref> Interstate 565 ascends Chapman Mountain, and descends the other side towards Gurley as US 72.

Decatur roadways

Decatur's main roadways are 6th Avenue – ( U.S. Route 31), and Beltline Road – State Route 67. 6th Avenue, part of U.S. Route 31, begins as both State Route 20/ Alternate US 72, and US 31 are carved out of the "Steamboat Bill" Hudson Memorial Bridge that crosses the Tennessee River at the north central part of town. AL 20/Alt US 72 continues west towards

The Shoals ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

, after The Beltline begins in the vicinity of the Solutia plant. After the Tennessee River bridges 6th Avenue continues southward where it eventually intersects with The Beltline. After that intersection, 6th Avenue continues southward now under the name of

Decatur Highway Decatur may refer to a number of places, streets, military establishments, schools, and others mostly named after Stephen Decatur: Places in the United States * Decatur, Alabama, county seat of Morgan County ** Decatur metropolitan area, Alabama ...

towards Hartselle and

. The Beltline was built as a western bypass to cure 6th Avenue of its congestion problem. The area around the Beltline experienced rapid growth, causing even worse traffic problems. The city's approach to this was to widen the road to six lanes, which was to be completed by 2010.

Economy

The economy of the Huntsville-Decatur Area is made up mostly of Technical, Aerospace, Manufacturing, and Defensive jobs, and companies. Huntsville is also home to the second largest research park in the country, Cummings Research Park. The Huntsville–Decatur Metro Area is the second fastest growing region/metro area in the state of Alabama because of the ample job opportunities being instilled in the area. Both ports in the metro area are two of the busiest in the state.

Huntsville International Airport Huntsville International Airport (Carl T. Jones Field) is a public airport and spaceport ten miles southwest of downtown Huntsville, in Madison County, Alabama, United States. The airport is part of the Port of Huntsville (along with the Inte ...

is the second busiest in Alabama, and still growing, trailing

Birmingham International Airport Birmingham Airport , formerly ''Birmingham International Airport'', is an international airport located east-southeast of Birmingham city centre, west-northwest of Coventry slightly north of Bickenhill village, in the Metropolitan Boroug ...

. The Port of Decatur, along the Tennessee River, has grown to be the largest/busiest along the Tennessee River.

Tennessee Valley Authority

The

Tennessee Valley Authority The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolin ...

(TVA) was established by President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

's New Deal plan, creating numerous

dams A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

locks Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

, nuclear power plants, coal power plants, along with many others, to create jobs along one of the most poverty ridden regions in the United States. The TVA has turned many tired North Alabama towns into some of the most technologically advanced cities in the country. A high quality of living, has helped to fuel the Huntsville and Decatur area's explosion into the

aerospace Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astr ...

, bio-technical, and other research market areas of the U.S. The Tennessee Valley Authority has grown to be the largest public utility provider in the United States.

TVA links

TVA home page

WPA Photographs of TVA Archaeological Projects

Major employers

ADTRAN Adtran, Inc. is a leading global provider of open, disaggregated networking and communications solutions. Adtran Is headquartered in Huntsville, Alabama. The company is ISO 9001 and TL9000, ISO 14001, and ISO 27001 certified. History ADTRAN ...

* Athens Limestone Hospital – Athens/Limestone County *

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and p ...

– Decatur/Huntsville *

United Launch Alliance United Launch Alliance (ULA), legally United Launch Alliance, LLC, is an American spacecraft launch service provider that manufactures and operates a number of rocket vehicles that are capable of launching spacecraft into orbits around Earth, ...

– Decatur * Calhoun Community College System – Decatur/Huntsville *

Cinram Cinram International was a Toronto, Canada-based manufacturer of pre-recorded Blu-ray Discs, DVDs, CD-Audio, CD-ROMs, VHS tapes and audio cassettes. It was an affiliate of the Arizona-based Najafi Companies. History Cinram was established ...

– Huntsville * Cummings Research Park * Decatur General Hospital system – Decatur * Huntsville Hospital System – Huntsville *

Intergraph Intergraph Corporation was an American software development and services company, which now forms part of Hexagon AB. It provides enterprise engineering and geospatially powered software to businesses, governments, and organizations around the w ...

– Madison * Marshall Space Flight Center – Huntsville/Madison County *

Meow Mix Meow Mix is a variety of dry and wet cat food known for its advertising jingle. It is a product of The J.M. Smucker Company as of March 23, 2015. Meow Mix was introduced in 1974 and sells many flavors, including Original Choice and Seafood Medl ...

– Decatur *

Nucor Corporation Nucor Corporation is an American producer of steel and related products based in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is the largest steel producer in the United States, the largest "mini-mill" steelmaker (i.e. it uses electric arc furnaces to melt sc ...

– Decatur * Parkway Medical Center – Decatur * Redstone Arsenal – Huntsville/Madison County * SAIC – Huntsville * Teledyne Brown Engineering – Huntsville *

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

– Huntsville *

TVA The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a Federal government of the United States, federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, an ...

– Decatur/Limestone County *

– Huntsville * Vulcan Materials Company – Trinity, Huntsville

References

External links

Huntsville links

City of Huntsville

Convention and Visitors Bureau

Chamber of Commerce

The Arts Council, Inc.

The Huntsville Times

Decatur links

* Official City Website
DigitalDecatur

Official Decatur-Morgan County Website

''The Decatur Daily''

Decatur Convention & Visitor's Bureau

Decatur Morgan County Chamber of Commerce

Decatur City Schools

Decatur Sports

Alabama Jubilee – Hot Air Balloon Classic

Decatur Parks and Recreation

{{Alabama Geography of Lawrence County, Alabama Geography of Limestone County, Alabama Geography of Madison County, Alabama Geography of Morgan County, Alabama Combined statistical areas of the United States