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changed to Huntsville, in honor of John Hunt who had been an early settler at the Big Spring. On December 9, 1811, the town of Huntsville was incorporated.
When first laid out by John Coffee, the town contained sixty acres in blocks of two acres each subdivided into four lots. Half of the lots were sold to the commissioners at $23.50 per acre and the remaining portion of the town was retained for sale by LeRoy Pope and his associates. The commissioners then sold their holdings at auction and the proceeds were used to construct a courthouse and jail on the Public Square.
Huntsville’s growth was very rapid during the period from 1810 to 1819. The land office moved from Nashville to Huntsville in 1811, and people from all of the eastern states flocked here to purchase lands in the Tennessee Valley. The moderate climate, rich soil, and abundant water made this area an excellent location for growing cotton and other crops. The town had all the signs of becoming a thriving commercial center in the heart of a rich agricultural area. Madison County’s population increase, the desire of its citizens to govern themselves, and its influence in Congress led to the creation of the new Alabama Territory. On March 3, 1817, an act of Congress designated the eastern section of the Mississippi Territory as the Alabama Territory and the western portion became the State of Mississippi. By the end of the decade, Huntsville’s Public Square had become the hub of extensive activity. A two-story brick courthouse had been completed, and stores and craft shops were numerous. The community also had a weekly newspaper, a bank, a library, a Masonic Lodge, a school, num erous churches, and a num ber o f cultural organizations.
Because of its political leadership and its attractive accommodations, Huntsville was chosen as the temporary capital of Alabama as it moved from territorial status to statehood during the summer and autumn of 1819. On July 5, 1819, Alabama’s first Constitutional Convention met in Huntsville. The first session of the state legislature convened in Huntsville on November 9, 1819, and on this same day William Wyatt Bibb was inaugurated Alabama’s first state governor. The Congress of the United States formally recognized Alabama as a state on December 14, 1819. Three days later, the legislature adjourned to meet next at Cahaba, then designated as the permanent capital of the state.
Throughout the antebellum period, Huntsville and Madison County continued to furnish political leadership to the state and nation. The president of the first Constitutional Convention, many governors, United States Senators and Representatives were all citizens of Huntsville and Madison County. Huntsville also remained a commercial, social, educational, and cultural center in the heart of a rich agricultural hinterland. The area also drew some of its wealth from the manufacture of cotton goods, flour, shoes, lumber, copper stills, pumps, and various other products of early times.
Transportation for Huntsville and Madison County kept pace with the early development of the area. The Indian Creek Canal connected the Big Spring Creek with the Tennessee River by way of Indian Creek. Flint and Paint Rock Rivers were developed for transportation of cotton barges to the Tennessee. Toll roads were constructed and many stage coach lines connected Huntsville with other parts of the South. In 1851, the city government of Huntsville aided in financing the construction of a division of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad which greatly improved transportation facilities in the county.