Here’s a quick question for you…can you name one of the fastest growing tech hubs in the country? One with super affordable cost of living and lot’s of fun things to do outdoors? Or maybe the city with the highest concentration of Ph.D’s per capita? Well, if you were to say Huntsville, Alabama…you’d be right. And if you were to say, “Huh?” you’d be in the majority!
As I usually tell people, I was born here, raised here, left twice and came back twice! No, really. At this point in my life I’ve lived or worked on four different continents and Huntsville, Alabama is where I call home. Oh sure, you may have to drive a little bit to…well, um…actually you don’t have to drive that far for just about anything.
The Secret Is Out!
Not long ago I was working with a fella that moved to Huntsville from New York. He told me the story of telling his wife about this opportunity and moving here and she had no idea where Huntsville was. Truth be told, depending on the circles you run in and things that interest you, you may not have heard of Huntsville, Alabama either. That’s okay…let me get you up to speed.
Huntsville was founded way back 1811 but it’s namesake, John Hunt landed here about 1805. The little town grew fast and became a hub for the cotton trade before and after the Civil War. Leading up to WWII textiles were the name of the game with no less than 5 cotton mills humming around the city.
These cotton mills were like their own little cities Dallas, Lincoln, Merrimack… complete with company stores and housing for their workers. They even included their own entertainment in the form of baseball teams. Each mill would hire players and field teams to keep the spirits high around town. My grandfather Jim Tom Gentry was one of those players.
Then, All Hell Breaks Lose
The run up to WWII changed everything for Huntsville, Alabama! The Army bought a big patch of land (35k acres) on the south side of town to build the Redstone Arsenal, a facility that is still in use today! Chemical munitions were the order of the day…but that would change soon enough.
More later…