Alabama - The cotton state
Alabama is a southern state in the United States of America bordering Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, and Mississippi. Native Americans were originally settled in the area, with the first European settlement being established in Mobile in 1702. It was the twenty-second state to be admitted to the union which happened in 1819.
The land in Alabama is mostly plains and some decline towards the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. The northern region of the state is mostly mountainous, with the Tennessee River cutting a large valley creating numerous creeks, streams, rivers, mountains, and lakes. The lowest point east of the Mississippi River lies in Dekalb County along a creek, and creating Buck’s Pocket State Park. A natural wonder in the state is the “Land Bridge”, the longest natural bridge span east of the Mississippi River. The highest point in the state is Mount Cheaha.
Alabama produces agricultural goods including poultry, eggs, cattle, plant nursery items, peanuts, cotton, grains such as corn and sorghum, vegetables, milk, soybeans, and peaches. Although Alabama is known as “The Cotton State,” it ranks between eight and ten in national cotton production.
The industrial outputs of Alabama include iron and steel products (including cast-iron and steel pipe), paper, lumber, wood products, coal, plastic products, cars, trucks and clothing. Also, Alabama produces aerospace and electronic products, mostly in the Huntsville area, which is home of the NASA George C. Marshall Space Flight Center and the United States Army Missile Command. The city of Mobile is a busy seaport on the Gulf of Mexico, and also has inland waterway access to the Midwest via the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway.
National Parks in the state include Horseshoe Bend National Military Park in Daviston; Little River Canyon National Preserve in Fort Payne; Russell Cave National Monument in Bridgeport; Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site in Tuskegee; and Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site near Tuskegee.
The larger cities in the state are Birmingham, Montgomery, Mobile, Huntsville, Tuscaloosa, Decatur, and
Auburn.
Some famous people who hail from the state of Alabama include Hank Aaron, Charles Barkley, Jimmy Buffett, Nat King Cole, Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Condoleezza Rice, and the latest American Idol winner, Taylor Hicks. Helen Keller, also a resident of the state, appears on the state quarter.
If you would like to make plans to travel to Alabama to visit this beautiful state of the south, do some research online. You will also be able to find information about the state’s history, attractions, weather, and maps to assist you in your vacation planning.