Trussville

Trussville is a municipality encompassing 22.24 square miles directly northeast of Birmingham. It adjoins Clay to the west and Argo to the north and is traversed by I-59 and Highway 11. Additionally the northern terminus of I-459 is located within the city. Trussville was established in 1820 and was incorporated in 1947.

Downtown Trussville is located along Highway 11 which is locally Main Street or Gadsden Highway at its intersection with Jefferson County Road 10 or Chalkville Mountain Road and west of its crossing with the Norfolk-Southern Railroad. The Cahaba Village is located west of downtown between Highway 11 and near I-59.

History

The first European settler to establish residence in the area that would later become Trussville was its namesake Warren Truss in 1821. It was here that he established a grist mill along the Cahaba River. Trussville would remain an agricultural community until after the Civil War when the Alabama-Chattanooga Railway was built through the city. By 1886 a blast furnace was built where the current Hewitt-Trussville Middle School now stands.

During the 1930s, Franklin D. Roosevelt's Government Resettlement Administration constructed the Cahaba Village or as it was locally called the "Slagheap Village" in the area directly west of downtown. This project took place from 1936-1938 and resulted in the construction of 243 houses and 44 duplex units at an overall cost of $2,661,981.26. Each of these residences was leased by the federal government until being sold to private landowners in 1947. [1]

On June 10, 1947, Trussville was incorporated as a town, and on May 31, 1957, the town officially became a city. It was on this date the City of Trussville was adopted as the official name.

Today Trussville is one of the Birmingham regions most rapidly growing areas. The city has seen much residential and retail construction with two major shopping centers being built within the city during the early 2000s, the Colonial Promenade at Trussville on its western side and the Colonial Promenade Tutwiler Farm along Highway 11.

Demographics

The 2005 census estimate indicated a population of 16,760, or an increase of 18.1% in five years.

As of the census of 2000, there were 13,721 people, 4,939 households, and 4,096 families residing in Trussville. The population density was 616.9/mi². There were 4,994 housing units at an average density of 224.6/mi². The racial makeup of the city was 96.8% White, 1.5% Black or African American, 0.30% Native American, 0.40% Asian, .40% from other races, and .60% from two or more races. .80% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 4,588 households out of which 44.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 73.3% were married couples living together, 7.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 16.8% were non-families. 15.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.79 and the average family size was 3.11.

In the city the population was spread out with 27.4% under the age of 18, 6.2% from 18 to 24, 28.5% from 25 to 44, 26.1% from 45 to 64, and 11.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38.5 years.

The median income for a household in the city was $66,943, and the median income for a family was $71,111. Males had a median income of $48,921 versus $31,806 for females. The per capita income for the city was $27,235. About 2.5% of families and 3.5% of the population were below the poverty line.

Government

Trussville's mayor is Gene Melton. As of 2004 the five-member City Council consisted of Jane Bailey, Buddy Aydelette, Wayne Taylor, Brian Plant, and Jim Robinson.

The city operates its own police and fire department.

Hewitt-Trussville High School, Hewitt-Trussville Middle School, Paine Intermediate School and Paine Primary School are part of the Trussville City Schools.

References

• City of Trussville History. 7 Jul 2006 [2].

External links

• Trussville website