Anniston, Alabama

Anniston, Alabama
Rivers Langley; SaveRivers · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Name	Anniston, Alabama
Settlement type	City
Nickname	The Model City
Pushpin label	Anniston
Coordinates	33, 39, 47, N...
Subdivision type	Country
Subdivision name	United States
Subdivision type1	State
Subdivision name1	Alabama
Subdivision type2	County
Subdivision name2	Calhoun
Established title	Founded
Established date	1872
Established title2	Incorporated
Established date2	1879
Government type	Mayor–Council
Leader title	Mayor
Leader name	Jack Draper
Area total km2	118.50
Area total sq mi	45.75
Area land km2	118.27
Area land sq mi	45.66
Area water km2	0.23
Area water sq mi	0.09
Elevation m	219
Elevation ft	719
Population total	21464
Population as of	2020
Population density km2	181.48
Population density sq mi	470.10
Timezone	Central (CST)
Utc offset	−6
Timezone DST	CDT
Utc offset DST	−5
Postal code type	ZIP Codes
Postal code	36201–36207
Area code	256
Blank name	FIPS code
Blank info	01-01852
Blank1 name	GNIS feature ID
Blank1 info	0159296
Website	www.annistonal.gov

Contents

History and Early Development
Civil Rights Movement and the Freedom Rides
Economic and Industrial Base
Demographics and Geography

Anniston, Alabama. Anniston, Alabama is a city in and the county seat of Calhoun County, Alabama. Founded in the late 19th century as a planned industrial community, it became a significant site during the Civil Rights Movement due to the violent attack on the Freedom Riders in 1961, an event that galvanized national support for desegregation and federal intervention.

History and Early Development

Anniston was founded in 1872 by the Woodstock Iron Company, an organization led by industrialists Samuel Noble and Daniel Tyler. It was conceived as a "model city" for workers, with planned streets, utilities, and housing, distinct from the typical unplanned mill towns of the era. The city's early economy was dominated by iron production, with the Anniston Iron Works becoming a major employer. The city was officially incorporated in 1879. For much of its early history, Anniston was a company town, with the Noble family wielding considerable influence over its development and civic life. The city's growth was tied to the industrial expansion of the New South, and it later became a center for textile manufacturing and military production, particularly during the Second World War.

Civil Rights Movement and the Freedom Rides

Anniston occupies a pivotal, though somber, place in the history of the American Civil Rights Movement. On May 14, 1961, a Greyhound bus carrying an interracial group of Freedom Riders organized by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) was attacked by a white mob at the Anniston Greyhound bus station. The bus was firebombed and the riders were assaulted as they escaped the burning vehicle. This event, known as the Anniston bus bombing, was followed by another attack on a second group of Freedom Riders in Birmingham. The violence, which included the complicity of local law enforcement under figures like Eugene "Bull" Connor, was widely reported in national media, shocking the American public. The events in Anniston directly prompted the administration of President John F. Kennedy and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy to intervene more forcefully, leading to the dispatch of federal marshals and increasing pressure on the Interstate Commerce Commission to enforce desegregation rulings. The attack underscored the deep-seated resistance to racial integration in the Jim Crow South and demonstrated the courage of activists who challenged it.

Economic and Industrial Base

Historically, Anniston's economy was built on heavy industry, including iron foundries and textile mills. In the 20th century, it became a center for chemical weapons storage and disposal with the establishment of the Anniston Army Depot and the Anniston Chemical Activity facility. The Department of Defense remains a major employer. The city has faced significant economic challenges due to the decline of traditional manufacturing, similar to other communities in the Rust Belt. Efforts at economic diversification have included the development of the Anniston Metropolitan Airport and associated industrial park. The closure of the chemical weapons incinerator in 2011 marked the end of a major chapter, and the city continues to seek new industrial and commercial investment to stabilize its economic foundation.

Demographics and Geography