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Alabama is a beautiful state and home to millions of people who enjoy its diversity, landscape, and culture. The state has undergone a huge transformation, leading to some interesting and fun Alabama facts.
Alabama has progressed for over two centuries, leaving a history filled with interesting facts and changes that make it one of the best states to visit and even call home.
This article contains fun facts about Alabama you never knew about the state and its residents.
After exploring some Alabama facts, I realized this state is rich in culture but has had some hardships and idiotic moments in its history.
As I dived into its history, one thing stuck out: the state is packed with exciting and heartwarming facts that will put a smile on your face.
23 Fun Alabama Facts You Might Not Know Yet
1. The First Mardi Gras Celebration Was Held In Alabama
Celebrating Mardi Gras is one of the biggest events in the U.S., and it is mostly associated with Louisiana and New Orleans, where millions gather yearly for the festivities.
A great Alabama fact was in 1702, Frenchman Nicholas Langlois started Mardi Gras as a French Catholic tradition and was first celebrated in Mobile, Alabama.
Mardi Gras is the oldest festival in the U.S. today; millions participate in the parades where thousands of floats and masked participants dance for days.
2. It Rained Eels In Alabama
One of the strangest rainstorms ever recorded happened on May 20th, 1892, in a town called Coalburg, Alabama.
Just before sunset, a dark cloud formed and hovered above the town until 11 o’clock before providing a light shower, causing everyone to move inside.
As the inhabitants sat in their homes waiting for the rain to pass, many caught the rain sounding different, causing them to investigate.
To everyone’s amazement, small snakes seemed to rain, but later, it was concluded that the cloud produced small eels.
According to the New York Sun, which reported on the phenomena, most of the eels were small, but one was recorded to be nearly a foot.
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3. Alabama’s Name Has Native American Roots
One of the interesting facts about Alabama is the name it originated from the native Chickasaw, Creek, Choctaw, and Cherokee tribes who lived there until 1832, when the Creek National Council ceded it to the United States
In the 1500s, the state belonged to an American native tribe called the Alibamu, Alibamo, and Alabamon, from which the name Alabama derives.
According to a Choctaw scholar, Alabama translated means “thicket clearers.” Alabama is a compound word, and the first part, “Alba,” means “a mass of vegetation,” and the second part, “Amo,” means “to clear something up.”
4. The Hottest Temperature Ever Recorded In Alabama
Alabama always provides some of the best summer weather and averages about 64°F, with the northern parts reaching up to 67°F.
In 1925, the state experienced a heat wave that took the lives of more than 60 people. From June through September, they experienced temperatures above 100°F and almost no rain to provide some relief.
The hot summer of 1925 is well recorded, and the Alabama city of Centerville, got the worst of it when, on September 5, the temperature reached a high of 112°F.
5. Alabama Has An Alcoholic Beverage As Its Official Drink
One must be of age to enjoy Alabama’s official drink; many swear by its pureness and taste.
Since 2004, Alabama has stepped up to the bar and made an alcoholic beverage called Clyde May’s Conecuh Ridge Whiskey its official drink.
An interesting history surrounding the state’s official drink involves family pride, entrepreneurial drive, independence, tradition, innovation, and craftsmanship.
If you ask the locals why Clyde May’s Conecuh Ridge Whiskey is their official drink, they will say it is because it is made from pure Alabama water.
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6. Alabama Is Famous For Its Lane Cake And Barbecue
Alabama is famous for its barbecues, especially its unique White BBQ Sauce with apple cider vinegar and mayonnaise base with mustard, honey, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, and black pepper.
Every Alabamian knows that a barbeque must end with a good dessert. Desert is so important that they have an official state dessert called “Lane Cake” and the Blackberry as its state fruit.
7. Alabama Once Had Wooden Roads
For many who traveled in Alabama during the 1800s, the uneven and muddy clay roads slowed everything down until the Pratt Cotton Gin Factory decided to do something about it.
In the 1840s, the Pratt’s factory transported Cotton gin to Washington and sped things up by constructing a wooden road.
The Pratt Cotton Gin Factory built a four-mile road constructed of pine timbers that cost them between $ 8,000 and $10,000.
The wooden road was a great success for the company, and they are still the largest cotton gin manufacturer in the world.
8. Famous People From Alabama
It must be the air or water, but Alabama seems to produce some of the world’s greatest and most famous people.
Women like humanitarian Helen Keller, writer Harper Lee, and soccer player Mia Hamm are just a few who have paved the road for Alabama women to reach greater heights.
The legendary boxer Evander Holyfield and Four-time Olympic track winner Jesse Owens showed that Alabama has sports talent that rivals some of the best worldwide.
Other famous Alabamians include Courtney Cox, Channing Tatum, and Lionel Richie, to name a few.
9. Alabama Is Home To The World’s Largest Office Chair
There is no record of giants ever roaming Alabama, but the owner of Miller’s Office Supply thought it a good idea to build a chair if a giant happened to visit.
In 1981, Leonard “Sonny” Miller started to build the world’s largest office chair modeled after an office chair made by The HON Company.
The chair is 19 feet 7 inches wide, 33 feet 1 inch high, and built with 15 tons of cement and 10 tons of steel.
Until a giant can sit on the world’s largest office chair, visitors use a spiral staircase to get onto the 15-foot square seat.
10. Illegal Things In Alabama
Every state has quirky restrictions, but none as over the top as this Alabama fun fact.
In Montgomery, it is illegal to open an umbrella. Funny right? But the reason is not as trivial as you may think.
Montgomery has many horses that get spooked by umbrellas, and a law was made to protect the animals.
Going to church on Sunday is something Alabamians take seriously, and anything that hinders those from going is harshly rebuked.
One such thing is Dominoes. Families love playing Dominoes, and a law preventing it from being played on Sundays was enforced out of fear that people would not attend church.
This law no longer exists, although some keep it out of tradition.
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11. Alabama Erected A Monument To An Insect
Being a pest is never good unless you are a Boll Weevil in Alabama.
In 1909, the cotton farmers struggled with the cotton-chewing bug and eventually diversified to other crops, leading to the state’s prosperity.
An Alabama fun fact is the Boll Weevil’s influence on farming progress; it was given a noble tribute from 1919 until 1949 when it was honored through an immortalized sculpture.
The Boll Weevil is hailed as a herald of prosperity and the only agricultural pest to receive this honor.
12. Interesting Facts About Alabama’s Geography And Landforms
Alabama’s highest peak, the 2,407-foot Cheaha Mountain, is in the central-eastern part of Piedmont, and its largest river is 314 miles long.
The Black Belt Prairie divides the northeastern and southern Coastal Plain and is covered with beautiful flatland and hills.
The Black Belt Prairie provided farmers in the 1800s with good soil and the opportunity to establish large plantations.
Most of Alabama’s soil is black and sticky, ideal for planting cotton, and the cotton plantations are what first established the state.
13. Magnolia Springs Is An All-Water Mail Route In Alabama
It is hard to imagine that corresponding to others over a long distance existed before the internet; for those who lived in Magnolia Springs, Alabama, a hundred years ago, the mail service was essential.
The community struggled to reach the post office, especially with muddy clay roads on horseback.
The community saw an opportunity to use the river as a mail delivery system, and in 1915, the Star River Route became the first continental United States post-water delivery system.
Since the Star River Route’s inception, other summer water mail routes have followed, but Alabama’s is the only one that works year-round.
14. The Neversink Pit Is A Natural Wonder In Fackler, Alabama
Alabama is filled with beauty, but none as amazing as the Neversink Pit. The vertical cave or sinkhole is a natural wonder and draws climbers and visitors from around the globe.
The Neversink Pit is one, if not the most photographed sinkhole in the world.
At the top, the state’s geological wonder, the Neversink Pit, is 40 feet wide and drops 162 feet to the bottom.
The Neversink Pit is a marvel, especially after the rain; it produces a waterfall rushing through thousands of ferns or in the winter when packed with glistening ice sheets.
15. An Exhibit Dedicated To “To Kill A Mockingbird” In Alabama
The famous 1960 novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” made writer Harper Lee a nationwide sensation.
Harper’s fame skyrocketed when it was made into a film in 1963 starring Gregory Peck and Mary Badham.
The book portrays the courthouse where Harper’s father practiced law, and since her fame exploded, the Monroeville courthouse was made a museum and exhibited Harper Lee’s book and life story.
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16. Jimmy Rane Is Alabama’s Richest Person
One of many Alabama facts is it is no stranger to wealth; many people have become extremely rich by utilizing its resources.
Jimmy Rane, the richest person in the Yellowhammer state, saw an opportunity to take the best Alabama can offer and turn it into wealth.
In 1970, founder and CEO of Great Southern Wood Preserving, Jimmy Rane, started manufacturing pressure-treated lumber for the construction industry and expanded to fences and decks.
Today, Rane is the wealthiest person in Alabama, with a net worth of $900 million.
17. The World’s First Electric Streetcar System Was In Alabama
During the 1800s, the fastest means of transport was the horse and carriage, which worked well until inventor Charles Joseph Van Depoele developed the Capital City Street Railway.
One of Alabama’s Facts is on April 15th, 1886, the street railway known as the Lightning Route became Montgomery, Alabama’s fastest form of public transport.
The horse-drawn system faded into a distant memory as the public quickly accepted the new and futuristic technology.
The Lightning Route serviced Montgomery, Alabama, for fifty years to the date when it was replaced by the bus.
18. The Largest Cast-Iron Statue In The World Is In Alabama
In the early 1900s, the industrial age exploded in Alabama, and the city of Birmingham wanted to show the manufacturing industry that Alabama could compete with the best in the world.
An astonishing Alabama fact was in 1904, the city made a giant, cast-iron statue 56-foot tall, modeled after the Vulcan, the Roman god of fire.
The statue was sent to the World Fair in 1904, weighing 120,000 pounds, where it won the grand prize and astonished all who saw it in all its glory.
Today, the 56-foot Vulcan statue sits on top of a 123-foot pedestal at Vulcan Park and Museum.
Alabama Doctor Was First To Suture A Wounded Heart
Operating in the early 1900s was left to a few with extraordinary medical skills, and the heart was the one organ no one considered touching because of its delicate nature.
Only when 13-year-old Henry Myrick from Montgomery, Alabama, was stabbed in the heart in 1902.
Dr. Luther Leonidas Hill took little Henry, laid him on a kitchen table, and proceeded to do the first successful open-heart surgery in the U.S. Luther saw the cut in the left ventricle and, within 45 minutes successfully stitched it with catgut thread and a few weeks later Henry Myrick recovered.
The World’s Fastest Home Building Was In Alabama
An Alabama fact is that the residents love to push boundaries and break records, and one of its best is claiming the title for the fastest house built.
On December 17th, 2002, the County Habitat for Humanity showed the world how to build and complete a house in 3 hours, 26 minutes, and 34 seconds.
The house walls took only 16 minutes to complete, and a 200-ton crane placed the roof assembly on the wall panels.
The record is for a complete house, including plumbing, wiring, insulation, carpet, tiles, appliances, light fixtures, vinyl siding, and a full paint job. The house also included a back and front porch and a garden.
Alabama Has The Longest State Constitution In The World
Every citizen looks towards their state’s constitution to keep its laws, but that would mean you must at least read it once to get the gist of it.
If you live in the Cotton State, reading through its constitution is a feat on its own; it will take you more than two days to read through the 388,882-word document.
Another one of the many Alabama facts is that they have the longest constitution document in the world because of its 892 amendments that lay out everything from mosquito control, prostitution, how to deal with dead farm animals, and bingo.
The constitution deprived local people of their rights to home rule and added amendments, eventually producing the longest constitution in the world.
19. The Former Capital Of Alabama Is A Ghost Town
In the early 1800s, Governor William Wyatt Bibb found the ruins of a three-hundred-year-old Indian mound where Alabama and the Cahaba rivers merged and decided to erect the first state house.
Cahaba, also spelled Cahawba, became the first capital of Alabama in 1819, but misfortune led to the town being abandoned five years later.
In 1825, the capital was moved to Tuscaloosa due to frequent flooding, and only a few people still roamed the streets of the soon-to-be ghost town.
A sad Alabama fact is the last of Cahawba’s residents left by 1865, and by 1880, the first capital of Alabama received complete ghost town status when it was removed from the U.S census roll.
20. Alabama Boasts The Longest Oval Track In NASCAR
Racing is as old as time and likely started with two people running against each other.
As time and technology progressed, racing evolved into horse and chariot races, eventually leading to cars competing to see who was the fastest.
An extraordinary Alabama fact is that NASCAR is one of, if not the most popular sport in the U.S., and in 1969 Talladega, Alabama, opened the gates to the longest oval racetrack in America.
Originally, the oval track was called “Alabama International Motor Speedway” and later changed to “Talladega Superspeedway.” The track is 2.66 miles long, and NASCAR events produce up to 200 mph speeds.
21. The Monkey Called Miss Baker Is Buried In Alabama
The U.S. is known as the first nation to put a man on the moon, but before such a monumental task was considered, a squirrel monkey called Miss Baker was the first to survive a space trip.
In 1959, Miss Baker returned from space and was honored as a hero in Huntsville.
Miss Baker lived 27 years and died in 1984 of kidney failure; she was buried outside the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Alabama.
Miss Baker’s grave gets regular visitors who remember her courage and often leave a banana on her grave.
22. $14.9M Mansion Is Alabama’s Most Expensive Home
Muscle Shoals is home to a luxurious and the most expensive property in Alabama, with a staggering price tag of $14.9 million.
The 81-acre lakefront property boasts an 18,093-square-foot mansion and is the biggest in Lake Wilson.
The beautifully designed home known as The Landing is exposed to 865 feet of lakefront, and its long driveway with large trees hides the house for privacy.
23. There Are 8 Official State Animals Of Alabama
Most states and even some countries only have one state animal, not Alabama!
The Heart of Dixie is filled with wonderful animals, and they are all significant; an amazing Alabama fact is that they love animals so much that they have eight state animals.
Alabama believes that some of its animals are a symbol, and they best reflect the state’s individuality and divine the region.
Alabama’s eight official state animals include the Red Hills Salamander, Alabama Red-Bellied Turtle, Atlantic Tarpon, American Black Bear, Yellowhammer, Largemouth Bass, Wild Turkey, and Monarch Butterfly.
Quick Fun Facts About Alabama
During the first half of the 19th century, cotton and slave labor were central to Alabama’s economy.
The Civil Rights Movement began in Alabama with Rosa Parks’ refusal to give up her bus seat, leading to the bus boycott in Montgomery. Believe it or not, Local laws dictated that African Americans sat at the back of the bus while whites sat in front.
Alabama is bordered by Tennessee in the north, Georgia in the east, Florida and Mobile Bay in the south, and Mississippi in the west.
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