Gadsden, AL
| Gadsden, Alabama | |
|---|---|
| City | |
Aerial photo of downtown Gadsden
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| Motto: "City of Champions" | |
 Location in Etowah County and the state of Alabama |
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| Coordinates: 34°0′36″N 86°0′37″W / 34.01000°N 86.01028°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Alabama |
| County | Etowah |
| Government | |
| • Type | Mayor-Council (w. seven councilmen) |
| • Mayor | Sherman Guyton |
| Area | |
| • City | 38.3 sq mi (99.2 km2) |
| • Land | 37.1 sq mi (96.2 km2) |
| • Water | 1.1 sq mi (2.9 km2) |
| Elevation | 541 ft (165 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • City | 36,856 |
| • Estimate (2014) | 36,295 |
| • Density | 977/sq mi (377.1/km2) |
| • Metro | 103,931 (US: 345th) |
| Time zone | Central Time (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| ZIP code | 35901-35907 |
| Area code(s) | 256, 938 |
| FIPS code | 01-28696 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0157961 |
| Website | www |
Gadsden is a city in and the county seat of Etowah County in the U.S. state of Alabama. It is located on the Coosa River about 56 miles (90 km) northeast of Birmingham and 90 miles (140 km) southwest of Chattanooga, Tennessee. It is the primary city of the Gadsden Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a population of 103,931. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city was 36,856, with an estimated population of 36,295 in 2014. Gadsden and Rome, Georgia, are the largest cities in the triangular area defined by the Interstate highways between Atlanta, Birmingham, and Chattanooga.
Gadsden was at one time in the 19th century Alabama's second most important center of commerce and industry, trailing only the seaport of Mobile. The two cities were important shipping centers: Gadsden for riverboats and Mobile for international trade. Through the 1980s, Gadsden was a center of heavy industry, including the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company and the Republic Steel Corporation.
More than a decade after the sharp decline in industry, in 1991 Gadsden was awarded the honor of All-America City by the National Civic League, an award that honored the way Gadsden's citizens, government, businesses, and voluntary organizations work together to address critical local issues.
The first substantial white settlement in what is now Gadsden was a village called "Double Springs". It was founded in about 1825 by John Riley, a mixed-race American Indian and European-American settler who built his house near two springs. Riley used his house for a stagecoach stop on the Huntsville-to-Rome route. The original building still stands as the oldest in Gadsden.
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