Sylacauga

City of Sylacauga
Incorporated	1887
Population	12,616
Mayor	Jim Heigle (acting)
School district	Sylacauga City Schools
Government	Sylacauga City Council Sylacauga Fire Department Sylacauga Police Department
Web site	sylacauga.net
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Sylacauga is a city in Talladega County. At the 2000 census the population was 12,616.

The first documented case of an object from outer space hitting a person happened in Sylacauga. On November 30, 1954, a 4 kg meteorite crashed through the roof of a house, bounced off a radio, and badly bruised Ann Hodges.

It is the birthplace of actor and singer Jim Nabors, writer Van Allen Plexico and actor Jonathan Bearden.

History

The first settlers in the Coosa River Valley were the Creek Indians. Sylacauga was first mentioned in Fernando DeSoto's records in 1540. The name Sylacauga is made up of two Indian words - "Chalaka-ge" meaning "The place of the Chalaka Tribe". The city was first incorporated as Syllacoga in 1838 and again in 1887 as Sylacauga. Sylacauga, "The Marble City", is constructed on a solid deposit of the hardest, whitest marble in the world. The bed is approximately 32 miles long by one and one half miles wide and 400 feet deep.[1]

Government

Sylacauga is governed via the mayor-council system. The city council consists of five members each elected from one of five districts. The mayor is elected in a citywide vote to a four year term. The current acting mayor is Jim Heigl, who assumed the office in August 2012 at the death of two-term mayor Sam Wright.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 48.3 km² (18.6 mi²). 48.0 km² (18.5 mi²) of it is land and 0.3 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (0.59%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 12,616 people, 5,215 households, and 3,421 families residing in the city. The population density was 681.0/mi². There were 5,748 housing units at an average density of 310.3/mi². The racial makeup of the city was 69% White and 29% Black or African American

There were 5,215 households out of which 30.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.3% were married couples living together, 16.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.4% were non-families. 31.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 3.00.

In the city the population was spread out with 25.0% under the age of 18, 8.3% from 18 to 24, 25.9% from 25 to 44, 22.2% from 45 to 64, and 18.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 81.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 77.0 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $29,533, and the median income for a family was $40,275. Males had a median income of $32,092 versus $21,990 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,209. About 16.6% of families and 21.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 33.6% of those under age 18 and 16.7% of those age 65 or over.

References

• Sylacauga, Alabama. (2007, August 2). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 14:51, August 21, 2007 [2]

External links

• Sylacauga, Alabama website
• E-Village profile