Montgomery, Alabama’s capital, has a long and interesting history, beginning with the Creek Indian tribes and extending all the way through the American Civil Rights Movement.
In the early 1800s, European settlers began to establish themselves in the area. The city of Montgomery was incorporated on Dec. 3, 1819.
Situated in the central part of the state, it was selected as capital in 1846; it also was once the capital of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War years.
Do you know these other five facts about the Alabama’s state capital?
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1. The city is named after Richard Montgomery, who fought in the American Revolution and died during the Benedict Arnold’s expedition against Quebec. However, Europeans encountered the region that would become Montgomery much earlier, before the first American colonies. Spanish explorers entered the region as early as 1540.
2. The first open heart surgery was performed in Montgomery in 1902 by Dr. Luther Leonidas Hill, who was a native of the city. Hill had never actually operated on a living heart before this time, but his patient survived both a stab wound and the surgery.
3. Montgomery was home to the first U.S. flight school, established by Orville and Wilbur Wright in 1910. The site is now Maxwell Air Force Base, one of the largest employers in the state of Alabama.
4. The family median income in Montgomery is $54,443, compared to the U.S. family median income of $64,585.
5. Montgomery itself has 35 different ZIP codes.
USA Today readers recently ranked Montgomery as the “Best Historic City in the USA.” It beat out Annapolis, Maryland; Williamsburg, Virginia; and New Orleans to take the title.
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