History/More Stats – on Selma, Dallas County, and Alabama

Dallas County
Selma is the County Seat
Formed: 1819
Zip Code of Selma: 36701
Time Zone: Central
Current Total Population: 46,365
Total Population of all counties that touch: 191,202

Dallas County was created by the Alabama Territorial legislature on Feb. 9, 1818. It was named for Alexander J. Dallas of Pennsylvania, U.S. Treasury Secretary. Dallas County is located in the Black Belt region of the west-central portion of the state, and is traversed by the Alabama River. Dallas is bordered by Perry, Chilton, Autauga, Lowndes, Wilcox, and Marengo counties. Originally, the county seat was at Cahaba, which also served as the state capital for a brief period. In 1865, the county seat was transferred to Selma.

Selma means “high seat or throne” and is based from word Anselm, which is derived from the Germanic elements and "god" and helm "helmet, protection." Saint Anselm was a 12th-century archbishop of Canterbury and a Doctor of the Church. Selma was supposedly the name chosen for our community by our principal founder, Rufus King, a US Senator, Minister to France, and US Vice-President to President Pierce in 1853.

County Seat Benefits & Unhurried Living in your own Shangri-La!

Mixing history with modern living and the convenience of having county services within minutes –
Mark’s Mart Chicken Pinwheels made them famous, and lunch shoulder to shoulder with good friends

Ever need to take a number while getting your license renewed or wait weeks or months for building or business permits? Those days are over should you choose Selma as we are the County Seat of Dallas County. And there are also no commutes to keep you from work or from time with your family when the working day ends – you can even choose to have lunch with your child at their school!

And with the Internet available to connect you to anyone or any place, consider Selma your Shangri-La; we’re drenched in history and sincere friendliness, and offer this kind of unhurried living, in a community filled with the Arts, recreation, with close access to the beach and major cities. Welcome to the life you want!

Selma’s Amazing History:

“The Movement” monument at the foot of “The Bridge” at the corner of Broad Street and Water Ave

We have a compelling past unlike any city in America. From a recorded history dating back to French occupation in 1702, we grew into a significant circa-1800 mercantile and trade city. Selma was one of the most powerful Confederate cities and a Civil War armory and outpost – we were known as “The Queen City” of the South. Much of Selma was destroyed in one of Civil War’s final battles – “The Battle of Selma” on April 5, 1865. The next week Union troops destroyed Selma’s arsenal and naval foundry. The Union troops would leave and reach Macon, GA on Easter Sunday when they learned of the war’s end.

The highest-ranking US Official in Alabama’s History, Vice-President William Rufus King (to President Pierce in 1853), was one of Selma’s founders and is buried in our Live Oak Cemetery.

Our National Voting Rights Museum, our 2011 Interpretive Center on the corner of Water Ave. and Broad Street, as well as the Selma to Montgomery March Interpretive Center, commemorate the Civil Rights Movement in their own way – the latter is a federal landmark in Lowndes County about 20 minutes east of Selma on SR 80 while those in Selma have compelling local artifacts, photos and memorabilia.

Few people know about our multi-cultural past which includes a 100+ year-old Synagogue and former Jewish mayors through the turn of the 20th Century. Geronimo was here and one of his arrow quivers is on display the Old Depot Museum.

At the height of the Vietnam War, Craig Field, now our main Industrial Park was the busiest air-traffic port and a training site in the nation – most of its officers, airmen, and employees lived in Selma.

There may be no community in the United States of our size with the number of museums, along with the largest Historical District in its state with more than 1200 structures on the historic register.

The base of the historic Edmund Pettus Bridge at the corner of Water Ave. and Broad Street –
Here are commemorations of the Voters Rights Marches and stairs to the Alabama River

McNair Ramsey, PhD
(Running time 4:57 minutes)
Click Here to Play
Apple/iPad
Concordia College – Selma
Meet a man who participated in the Civil
Rights march as a college student here

Nancy Smith, President
(Running time 8:19 minutes)
Click Here to Play
Apple/iPad
Historical Society
Nancy previews our four museums
and their histories, and welcomes you!

Old Depot Museum
Louisville & Nashville Railroad Depot,
late 1800s on Historic Water Avenue.
on the National Register of
Historic Places

Vaughan-Smitherman Museum
1848, used as a school, a hospital, the
County Courthouse, and now museum.
on the National Register of
Historic Places

National Voting Rights Museum
Exhibits that remind everyone of the
struggle for right for all Americans to vote
on the National Register of
Historic Places

The St. James Hotel
On Historic Waters Ave., the 1837
St. James has been restored

Sturdivant Hall Museum
The finest Greek Revival Neo-Classical antebellum (1852)
mansion in the Southeast by the builder of the White House

Live Oak Cemetery
One of the few cemeteries in the
South on the National Register

Images by permission from the Interpretive Center

The March to Montgomery Interpretive Center
The epicenter of the Civil Rights Movement was in Selma
A welcome from Federal Park Ranger Anthony Bates

Seventh Generation Home of Catesby Jones’ Family
His namesake was the Captain of the ironclad Merrimack during the Civil War
then moved to Selma to oversee our Naval Foundry – he lived here
(Running time 10:42 minutes)
Click Here to Play
Apple/iPad

By permission

Tourism & Conventions Bureau Video
(Running time 4:50 minutes)
Click Here to Play
Apple/iPad

The Black Belt of America

Ms. Windham

First Settlement

The rich soil of America’s Black Belt, the famous storyteller, and plaque
on Arsenal Street which overlooks the Alabama River

Interesting Additional Facts about Selma:

• William Rufus King was the only Vice-President (no President) to take the oath of office outside the United States – he was in Cuba, where he was recovering from tuberculosis. King is the only Alabamian elected to executive office in US history.
• Alabama's first permanent state capitol was "Old Cahawba," just outside Selma.
• Richard Scrushy, founder of HealthSouth corporation was born in Selma, and in his youth, worked as a soda jerk here.
• Kathryn Tucker Windham, a well-known storyteller and National Public Radio legend, is featured in our presentation!
• Mia Hamm, one of the most famous women athletes and professional soccer player, was born in Selma at what is now Vaughan RMC.
• In its heyday Selma was the cotton capital of Alabama and a cultural center for the state.
• Selma was also called the "Queen City of the Black Belt” because of its rich, dark soil – the Black Belt region stretches from East Texas eastward to west Georgia.
• Selma is the 2nd oldest city in the state, after Mobile
• Selma boasts the state's largest historic district – over 1,200 structures.

Alabama enjoys year-round mild conditions with average temperatures near 80º in summer, and above 45º in winter. Highs do reach the mid 90s. Northern parts of the state receive occasional short-lived snowfalls, and rainfall is spread somewhat evenly throughout the year. March is the rainiest month, while October is the driest.

Weather

Drive From Home to:
Montgomery: 35 miles
Tuscaloosa (University of Alabama): 83 miles
Birmingham: 89 miles
Auburn (Auburn University): 103 miles
Mobile (Beaches): 163 miles
Atlanta: 199 miles
Commercial Airports

Cost of Living Comparison
(Closest cities in this service area is Montgomery. The cost of living, housing and taxes,
are considered much less in Dallas County than Montgomery or any of the cities listed here.)

State of Alabama Flag & Seal

Capital City: Montgomery
Area: Alabama is the 30th largest state in size the United States with 52,423 square miles (135,775 km²) of total area. 3.19% of that is water. Shoreline of 607 miles.
Rivers: Alabama contains over 1,350 miles of navigable rivers, more than any other U.S. State.
Highest Elevation: Mount Cheaha; 2,408 ft on the Cumberland Plateau (The Appalachian Mountains begin here, and include the Lookout, Raccoon, Sand and Talladega ranges.)
Lowest Elevation: Gulf coasts; Sea level
2009 Population: 4,708,708 Ranked 23rd in US

The present Alabama State Flag was authorized by the Alabama Legislature on February 16, 1895. The act says the flag must be a crimson cross of St. Andrew on a field of white. The act does not designate a square or a rectangular flag.

Alabama: 22nd state in 1819
Name: From the Choctaw Indian word Alibamu, meaning "I clear the thicket."
Nickname: “The Yellowhammer State” and “The Heart of Dixie”
State Flower: Camellia
State Tree: The longleaf pine
State Bird: Yellowhammer

Our Seal was designed in 1817 by William Wyatt Bibb, the governor of the Alabama Territory and the subsequent first governor of the state. When Alabama became a state in 1819, the state legislature adopted the design as the official state seal. The seal prominently features a map showing one of the state's most valuable resources—its major rivers.

The historic Alabama River flows into Montgomery from Selma. Our state contains over 1,350 miles of navigable rivers – more than any other U.S. State, and our Cahaba River and Barton’s Beach (featured in Life in Selma/Recreation) is an undisturbed riverbank paradise to be one with nature – bring a picnic lunch! If you enjoy leisurely kayaking and canoeing, we’re the best spot in America! The Cahawba is free-flowing with no dams!

No superfund EPA sites in Dallas or any surrounding counties.

(Washington, D.C. - April 18, 2006) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is adding six new hazardous waste sites that pose risks to human health and the environment to the National Priorities List of Superfund sites. That brings the total of final sites on the list to 1,244. Contaminants found at these final and proposed sites include benzene, carbon tetrachloride, chromium, creosote, mercury, N-nitrosodimethylamine (NMDA), carcinogenic polyaromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) compounds, toluene, trichloroethene (TCE), tetrachloroethene (PCE), vinyl chloride, and other volatile organic compounds.

Got pollution? We don’t! We also boast a clean living and landscape to get the most of our outdoors! When comparing Selma to other locales you may be considering for your career and family, don’t forget to consider this!

Resources and Credit:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_R._King
www.selmaalabama.com
www.alabamascenicrivertrail.com
www.epa.gov/superfund/
35th Historic Selma Pilgrimage - PDF Brochure
Selma African American Pioneers - PDF Brochure
Selma Alabama Historic places - PDF Brochure
St. James - PDF Brochure

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