HUNTSVILLE

city, seat (1810) of Madison county, northern Alabama, U.S., near the Tennessee River. It was originally called Twickenham by Leroy Pope after the home of his kinsman, Alexander Pope, the English poet. It was the first community in Alabama to be granted a city charter (1811) by the territorial government and was renamed for John Hunt of Virginia, a Revolutionary War veteran who first settled the area in 1805 around Big Spring (still used for water supply). Huntsville was the site (1819) of Alabama's first constitutional convention and served briefly as the state capital. After the Civil War, its former position as a commercial centre for hay, cotton, corn, and tobacco was restored. The Redstone Arsenal complex including the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (developed after 1950) and related industries and research projects greatly stimulated the city's growth. The University of Alabama in Huntsville (1950) is located there, as is Oakwood College (1896). Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University (1875) is in suburban Normal. Monte Sano State Park is nearby. Pop. (1990) city, 159,789; Huntsville MSA, 238,912. city, seat (1846) of Walker county, southeastern Texas, U.S., 72 mi (116 km) north of Houston. It was founded (1830) as a trading post by Pleasant Gray and named for his hometown in Alabama. Gen. Sam Houston, first president of the Republic of Texas, took up residence at Raven Hill in 1847; his last two homes (including Steamboat House, where he died in 1863), his personal effects, and historic relics have been preserved in a memorial park on the campus of Sam Houston State University (1879). His tomb is in Oakwood Cemetery. Farming and stock raising are economically significant, but lumbering, based on vast tracts of pine trees that cover much of the county, has become a major activity. The city is the headquarters of the Texas Department of Corrections, and inmates of the Huntsville Unit stage an annual Prison Rodeo in October. Huntsville State Park is 6 mi south, and the Sam Houston National Forest is nearby. Inc. 1845. Pop. (1990) 27,925.