Alabama is called "The Heart of Dixie" because of the $10 notes issued by the Citizens Bank of Louisiana before the Civil War. The notes bore the French word "dix" meaning 10, and eventually the South became Dixieland, with Alabama serving as the capital of the Confederacy during the Civil War.
Alabama has about one million acres of recreational water.
The first running of an electric streetcar in the United States was in Montgomery.
In 1833, there was a meteor shower over Alabama, and Alabamians called this the "year that stars fell." A popular song was written in 1934 entitled "Stars Fell on Alabama." This popular song has been recorded over the years by well known personalities such as Billie Holliday, Frank Sinatra and Jimmy Buffett.
The first Mardi Gras was started in Mobile some 200 years before the first one was held in New Orleans.
Along a 20-mile stretch of waterfront on the eastern shore of Mobile Bay occurs a strange phenomenon called a Jubilee. For approximately two hours, conditions are such that the supply of oxygen is depleted, sending marine bottom life (crabs, shrimp, fish, etc.) to the surface of the body of water, and ultimately to the shore, seeking oxygen where this marine life can be gathered with ease. Obviously, this is a very popular time for locals and visitors alike.
The Appalachian Mountain Chain begins in Alabama, and the major portion of Lookout Mountain is in Alabama. In Birmingham, you will find "Red Mountain". This is the highest peak in the area and home to Vulcan.
Alabama is the only place in the world where, within a 10-mile radius, you can find all three components for making steel: coal, iron ore, and limestone.
The Birmingham Festival of Arts is the world's oldest continuing arts festival and is also the official State Arts Festival. The present site of the Alabama State Capitol got the name "Goat Hill" because goats grazed there many years ago.
The first statue ever erected to an insect pest, Boll Weevil Monument, is in Enterprise. The Boll Weevil was an enemy of Alabama's king crop, cotton.
Natural Bridge of Alabama is the longest natural rock arch east of the Rocky Mountains. Located in Winston County, it is 148 feet long, 33 feet wide, 8 feet thick, and 60 feet high. The sandstone bridge is topped with the fossil of a tree that has been traced back 4 billion years.
Birmingham's Vulcan Statue is the largest iron figure ever cast. It is one of the few monuments in the world erected to symbolize an industry. Residents of Birmingham look to Vulcan for news of their city. He is equipped with a large beacon held upward toward the sky. When all is well, the beacon burns green. If there has been a traffic fatality, the beacon burns red.
Carrollton Courthouse is a two-story brick building in Carrollton located in my home, Pickens County, where the famous "face in the window" is still visible. The image is that of a prisoner in the 1800's which was purportedly etched into the glass during a lightning storm as he looked at the angry mob advancing for him. A telescope has now been placed across the street just for this purpose and makes this face easily visible.
The Battleship USS Alabama, which now rests in Mobile, was in every major battle of World War II, and neither she nor her crew members were ever injured.
