Fultondale

The city of Fultondale is located in central Jefferson County just north of Birmingham. It has a mayor/council form of government.

History

Fultondale was formed by the merger of three formerly autonomous communities: Lewisburg, Glendale, and Fulton Springs. In the 1870s, Bartholomew Boyle, who was also involved in the founding of Helena, Shelby County (named for his wife), bought 2,000 acres in what is now Fultondale and opened several coal mines, which he named for his daughter, Mary Lee. In 1899, the Alabama Consolidated Coal Company purchased the mines. Railroads built in the 1890s connected the mines to Birmingham’s burgeoning steel district. A small settlement grew up at the terminus of the only road to Birmingham, with businesses primarily serving local miners. Electricity came to the area in the 1920s.

In the 1940s, the coal in the mines became depleted. In 1947, the communities of Fulton Springs and Glendale merged and incorporated as Fultondale; the first city hall was built that year as well. Fultondale lies on U.S. Highway 31, and until Interstate Highway 65 was completed, it was a popular stopping point on the route between Nashville and Birmingham. The town boasted a number of hotels by the 1950s, as well as a drive-in theater. When Interstate I-65 opened in the early 1960s, however, the town suffered economically because former visitors could now bypass it and go directly to Birmingham and points south.

Since that time, much of the town’s economy and growth has depended on its proximity to Birmingham. On April 27, 2011, many structures in Fultondale were damaged or destroyed by the massive tornado outbreak between April 25-28 that claimed more than 350 lives in the Southeast.

Demographics

According to 2020 Census estimates, Fultondale recorded a population of 9,247. Of that number, 59.1 percent of respondents identified themselves as white, 28.2 percent as African American, 9.2 percent as Hispanic, 2.7 percent as Asian, 1.2 percent as two or more races, and 0.3 percent as American Indian, and 0.1 as Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander. The town’s median household income was $67,325, and the per capita income was $32,617.

Employment

According to 2020 Census estimates, the workforce in Fultondale was divided among the following industrial categories:

  • Educational services, and health care and social assistance (26.0 percent)
  • Retail trade (10.8 percent)
  • Professional, scientific, and administrative and waste management services (9.8 percent)
  • Manufacturing (9.5 percent)
  • Transportation, warehousing, and utilities (9.5 percent)
  • Construction (9.1 percent)
  • Finance and insurance, and real estate and rental and leasing (6.8 percent)
  • Arts, entertainment, and recreation and accommodation and food services (6.5 percent)
  • Public administration (5.7 percent)
  • Other services, except public administration (2.8 percent)
  • Wholesale trade (2.7 percent)
  • Information (0.8 percent)

Education

The Fultondale schools are overseen by the Jefferson County School System; the town has a high school and an elementary school.

Transportation

Fultondale is served by U.S. Highway 31 and Interstate 65, both of which run north-south through the city. Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport is located 13 miles to the southeast.

Events and Places of Interest

Lassiter Mountain Dragway A. T. Holt Park offers numerous sports facilities, and Black Creek Park has ballfields as well as a walking track, picnic areas, and a bandstand. Black Creek is also home to Black Creek Bridge (c. 1926), which is on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage. Lassiter Mountain Dragway is located just to the west of Fultondale and hosts drag racing during the summer. Fultondale holds a Founders Day celebration in August that includes food and craft vendors, live music, and a car show.

Additional Resources

Jefferson County Heritage Book Committee. The Heritage of Jefferson County, Alabama. Clanton, Ala.: Heritage Publishing Consultants, 2002.

External Links

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