On this day in Alabama history: Alberta City annexed into Tuscaloosa
President Obama giving his remarks to the press corps on April 29, 2011, in the Alberta City area of Tuscaloosa following the April 2011 tornado outbreak. Pictured include the President and first lady, Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley, U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, Tuscaloosa Mayor Walter Maddox and members of the Tuscaloosa City Council. (Pete Souza, White House, Bhamwiki)
Sept. 21, 1948
It was the early 1900s when folks began settling in a heavily wooded area east of Tuscaloosa and the Huntsville Road (now University Boulevard) and south of the Black Warrior River. At first, the area was known as Holt Junction, but in 1914 it took on the name Alberta, after the wife of a prominent local landowner. Development increased after the Birmingham Highway was improved and in the mid-1920s when a water line was installed. In 1925, Alberta City School opened, consolidating several smaller schools. Discussions about incorporating Alberta City into Tuscaloosa began in the 1930s, but it wasn’t until 1946 that Tuscaloosa officials agreed to the idea, pending the outcome of a community referendum. The first vote later that year failed, but a second attempt in 1948 was successful. The community was severely damaged during the deadly tornadoes of April 2011 but has gone through significant restoration and development since then. In 2015, the new K-8 Alberta School for the Performing Arts, part of Tuscaloosa City Schools, opened to great fanfare.
Read more at Bhamwiki.
Alabama State Route 215 in Alberta City, Tuscaloosa, 2003. (Patriarca12, Wikipedia)
For more on Alabama’s Bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.
