GADSDEN

city, seat (1866) of Etowah county (then Baines county), northeastern Alabama, U.S., on the Coosa River (there dammed to form an 8,000-ac lake), in the Appalachian foothills. The original farming settlement, founded in 1846 as Double Springs, was renamed for James Gadsden, who negotiated the Gadsden Purchase (1853) of territory from Mexico. Adjacent Alabama City was annexed by Gadsden in 1932. A diversified economy developed with hydropower and the exploitation of local resources (iron, coal, manganese, limestone, and timber). Gadsden is the site of Gadsden State Community College (1985). Noccalula Falls in a city park drops 95 ft (29 m) over a ridge of Lookout Mountain into a valley pool. Inc. city, 1871. Pop. (1990) city, 42,523; Gadsden MSA, 99,840.