Morris

Morris is located in north-central Jefferson County in the north-central part of Alabama above Birmingham. It has a mayor/council form of government.

History

Snow Rogers House Settlers had already arrived in the area around present-day Morris by the time Alabama became a state in 1819, and a Baptist church was constructed soon after. The area was known variously as Shad Town, Kennedysville, and Kennelsville, according to some sources.

Morris proper was one of a number of towns that arose in the 1870s and 1880s following the arrival of the South and North Railroad (later the Louisville & Nashville Railroad) and the development of neighboring coal fields. The Jefferson Coal Company, owned by Truman Aldrich, Marshall Morris, and S. D. Holt, was incorporated at Morris in 1876. Coal from this venture fueled successful tests to determine the feasibility of creating coke pig iron at the Oxmoor furnace. Morris was incorporated on September 19, 1885, and was possibly named for a railroad official, for George Lafayette Morris, a founder of the Morris Mining Company, or for the aforementioned Marshall Morris. The town was again incorporated on again July 11, 1950.

Demographics

According to 2020 Census estimates, Morris recorded a population of 1,999. Of that number, 98.4 percent of respondents identified themselves as white, 1.4 percent as two or more races, and 0.2 percent as Asian. The town’s median household income was $97,917, and the per capita income was $40,553.

Employment

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

  • Educational services and health care and social assistance (22.0 percent)
  • Construction (13.6 percent)
  • Professional, scientific, and management, and administrative and waste management services (12.7 percent)
  • Wholesale trade (9.8 percent)
  • Retail trade (8.6 percent)
  • Manufacturing (7.6 percent)
  • Other services, except public administration (7.3 percent)
  • Finance and insurance, and real estate and rental and leasing (6.5 percent)
  • Transportation and warehousing, and utilities (5.2 percent)
  • Public administration (2.4 percent)
  • Arts, entertainment, and recreation, and accommodation and food services (2.1 percent)
  • Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, and extraction (1.8 percent)
  • Information (0.4 percent)

Education

Public education in Morris is administered by Jefferson County, which oversees one elementary school and a school for the disabled in the town.

Transportation

Morris is accessed by U.S. Highway 31 that runs north-south and lies just east of Interstate 65. It is approximately 20 miles from the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport.

Events and Places of Interest

The city supports several parks, including a sports park with several baseball/softball diamonds. Listed on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage is the Snow-Rogers House (ca. 1898). The 18-hole public Green Briar Golf Course is located nearby.

External Links

Share this Article