Anniston is a city and the county seat of Calhoun County in Alabama, United States, and is one of two urban centers/principal cities of and included in the Anniston–Oxford Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census, Anniston had a population of 21,564. Named the "Model City" by Atlanta newspaperman Henry W. Grady for its careful planning in the late nineteenth century, the city is situated on the slope of Blue Mountain.
History
Pre-founding The first white settlers of the area were James Jefferson Teague and Martha Golden. They settled the area in 1828 near what would become known as Woodstock spring with other settlers soon arriving and building around Teague. By the Civil War, the Confederate States of America operated an iron furnace near present-day downtown, until it was destroyed by the Union Army in 1865.
Woodstock Iron Company
In 1872 the Woodstock Iron Company, organized by Samuel Noble and Union Gen. Daniel Tyler, founded a larger-scale furnace on the same grounds. Anniston was chartered as a city in 1879 and opened to the public in 1883, named as a combination of Daniel's daughter-in-law Annie and -ton for iron ore.
Though the roots of the town's economy were in iron, steel, and clay pipe, planners touted it as a health resort, and several hotels began operating. Schools also appeared, including the Noble Institute, a school for girls established in 1886, and the Alabama Presbyterian College for Men, founded in 1905. Careful planning and easy access to rail transportation helped grow Anniston. In 1882, Anniston was the first city in Alabama to be lit by electricity. By 1941, Anniston was Alabama's fifth largest city.Writer's Program. The WPA Guide to Alabama. New York: Hastings House, 1941. p. 159. Republished in 2013 by Trinity University Press, San Antonio, TX.
World War I and II In 1917, at the start of World War I, the United States Army established a training camp at Fort McClellan. On the other side of town, the Anniston Army Depot opened during World War II as a major weapons storage and maintenance site, a role it continues to serve as munitions-incineration progresses. Most of the site of Fort McClellan was incorporated into Anniston in the late 1990s, and the Army closed the fort in 1999 following the Base Realignment and Closure round of 1995.
Civil rights era
Anniston was the center of national controversy in 1961 when a mob bombed a bus filled with civilian Freedom Riders during the American civil rights movement. As two freedom buses were setting out to travel the south in protest of their civil rights following the Supreme Court case saying segregation in interstate bus travel was unconstitutional, one headed to Anniston, and one to Birmingham, Alabama, before finishing in New Orleans. The Freedom Riders were riding an integrated bus to protest Alabama's Jim Crow segregation laws that denied African Americans their civil rights. One of the buses was attacked and firebombed by a mob outside Anniston on Mother's Day, Sunday, May 14, 1961. Prior to the bus being firebombed, attackers broke windows, and slashed tires, using metal pipes, clubs, chains and crowbars, before the police came to escort the bus away. The bus was forced to a stop just outside of Anniston, in front of Forsyth and Sons grocery, by more mob members. As more windows were broken, rocks and eventually a firebomb were thrown into the bus. As the bus burned, the mob held the doors shut, intent on burning the riders to death. An exploding fuel tank caused the mob to retreat, allowing the riders to escape the bus. The riders were viciously beaten as they tried to flee, where warning shots fired into the air by highway patrolmen prevented the riders from being lynched on the spot. A twelve-year-old girl, Janie Forsyth, set out against the mob with a bucket of water and cups to help the riders, first tending to the one who had looked like her own nanny. Forsyth and Son grocery is located along Alabama Highway 202 about west of downtown. The site today is home to a historic marker and was designated Freedom Riders National Monument by President Barack Obama in January 2017.
In response to the violence, the city formed a bi-racial Human Relations Council (HRC) made up of prominent white business and religious leaders, but when they attempted to integrate the "whites-only" public library on Sunday afternoon, September 15, 1963 (the same day as the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham), further violence ensued and two black ministers, N.Q. Reynolds and Bob McClain, were severely beaten by a mob. The HRC chairman, white Presbyterian minister Rev. Phil Noble, worked with an elder of his church, Anniston City Commissioner Miller Sproull, to avoid KKK mob domination of the city. In a telephone conference with President John F. Kennedy, the President informed the HRC that after the Birmingham church bombing he had stationed additional federal troops at Fort McClellan. On September 16, 1963, with city police present, Noble and Sproull escorted black ministers into the library.Beyond the Burning Bus: The Civil Rights Revolution in a Southern Town by Phil Noble, p. 123 In February 1964, Anniston Hardware, owned by the Sproull family, was bombed, presumably in retaliation for Commissioner Sproull's integration efforts.
On the night of July 15, 1965, a white racist rally was held in Anniston, after which Willie Brewster, a black foundry worker, was shot and killed while driving home from work. A $20,000 reward was raised by Anniston civic leaders, and resulted in the apprehension, trial and conviction of the accused killer, Damon Strange, who worked for a leader of the Ku Klux Klan. Historian Taylor Branch called the conviction of Damon Strange a "breakthrough verdict" on p. 391 of his Pulitzer Prize-winning book, At Canaan's Edge. Strange was convicted by an all-white Calhoun County jury to the surprise of many people, including civil rights leaders who had planned to protest an acquittal. This was the first conviction of a white person for killing a black person in civil rights era Alabama.
Anniston was a 1978 winner of the All-America City Award, presented by the National Civic League.
PCB contamination PCBs were produced in Anniston from 1929 to 1935 by the Swann Chemical Company. In 1935 Monsanto Industrial Chemicals Co. bought the plant and took over production, which continued until 1971. In 1969, the plant was discharging about of the chemicals into Snow Creek per day, according to internal company documents.
In 2002, an investigation by 60 Minutes revealed Anniston had been among the most toxic cities in the country. The primary source of local contamination was a Monsanto chemical factory, which had already been closed. The EPA description of the site reads in part: The Anniston PCB site consists of residential, commercial, and public properties located in and around Anniston, Calhoun County, Alabama, that contain or may contain hazardous substances, including polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) impacted media. The Site is not listed on the NPL, but is considered to be a NPL-caliber site.
21st century In 2016, attorney Jack Draper was elected mayor of Anniston, and he was reelected to a second term in 2020. After a law was passed in Alabama extending mayoral terms by one year, Draper resigned in 2025, citing the effects of the extended incumbency, in addition to focusing on his health and family. Vice mayor Ciara Smith (later Ciara Smith-Roston) succeeded Draper via appointment, and she became the youngest and first African-American person to hold the office of mayor. Smith was elected to a full term as mayor in her own right during the 2025 municipal elections, also becoming the first elected mayor to hold these distinctions.
Geography At the southernmost length of the Blue Ridge, part of the Appalachian Mountains, Anniston is home to diverse species of birds, reptiles and mammals. Part of the former Fort McClellan is now operating as Mountain Longleaf National Wildlife Refuge to protect endangered southern longleaf pine species.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and , or 0.15%, is water.
In 2003, part of the town of Blue Mountain was annexed into the city of Anniston, while the remaining portion of the town reverted to unincorporated Calhoun County.
Part of the city limits extend down to Interstate 20, with access from exit 188. Via I-20, Birmingham is 65 mi (105 km) west, and Atlanta is 91 mi (146 km) east.
Climate The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Anniston has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.
Demographics
Anniston first appeared on the 1880 U.S. Census as an incorporated town.
Racial and ethnic composition +Anniston city, Alabama – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 1980Pop 1990Pop 2000Pop 2010 Pop 2020% 1980% 1990% 2000% 2010% 2020White alone (NH)17,21614,41811,63010,0659,01258.31%54.16%47.91%43.56%41.79%Black or African American alone (NH)11,82511,76911,77011,83010,56540.05%44.21%48.48%51.20%48.99%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)32475664520.11%0.18%0.23%0.28%0.24%Asian alone (NH)1061751851832450.36%0.66%0.76%0.79%1.14%Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)x included in the Asian category in the 1980 Censusx included in the Asian category in the 1990 Census171110xx0.07%0.05%0.05%Other race alone (NH)022024790.00%0.01%0.08%0.10%0.37%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)x not an option in the 1980 Censusx not an option in the 1990 Census189316689xx0.78%1.37%3.20%Hispanic or Latino (any race)3442124096139121.17%0.80%1.68%2.65%4.23%Total29,52326,62324,27623,10621,564 100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%
2020 census As of the 2020 census, Anniston had a population of 21,564 and 9,221 households; there were 5,455 families. The median age was 43.0 years, with 19.4% of residents under the age of 18 and 21.5% 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 82.3 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 78.4 males age 18 and over.
Of these households, 23.8% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 29.8% were married-couple households, 22.3% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 41.9% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 39.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 11,155 housing units, of which 17.3% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 3.2% and the rental vacancy rate was 14.6%.
96.5% of residents lived in urban areas, while 3.5% lived in rural areas.
2010 census data As of the census of 2010, there were 23,106 people living in the city. The population density was . There were 11,599 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 51.5% Black or African American, 43.6% Non-Hispanic White, 0.3% Native American, 0.8% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, and 1.7% from two or more races. 2.7% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 9,603 households, out of which 20.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.0% were married couples living together, 21.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.6% were non-families. 34.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 2.91.