NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, the United States Army Aviation and Missile Command, and most recently the FBI's operational support headquarters, all were sited at Redstone Arsenal.

[20] Due to settlement pressures after the United States gained independence, this area had become largely empty of indigenous peoples by the turn of the 19th century.

Given anti-British sentiment during this period after the Revolution and with tensions leading to the War of 1812, in 1811 the town name was changed to "Huntsville" to honor pioneer John Hunt.

[28] Huntsville's initial growth was based on wealth generated by the sale of cotton from plantations, for which there was international demand, and trade associated with railroad industries.

[36] The 4th Alabama Infantry Regiment, led by Col. Egbert J. Jones of Huntsville, distinguished itself at the Battle of Manassas/Bull Run, the first major encounter of the American Civil War.

[38] On the morning of April 11, 1862, Union troops led by General Ormsby M. Mitchel seized Huntsville in order to sever the Confederacy's rail communications and gain access to the Memphis & Charleston Railroad.

According to the journal of a nearby resident, Union troops burned many homes and villages in the surrounding countryside in retaliation for the active guerrilla warfare in the area.

[40] During the Reconstruction era, three delegates from Huntsville attended the 1867 Constitutional Convention including Andrew J. Applegate, originally from Ohio, who went on to serve as Alabama's first Lieutenant Governor.

With the encouragement of US Senator John Sparkman (D-AL), the U.S. Army Air Force considered this for a major testing facility, but selected another site.

Redstone Arsenal was prepared for disposal, but Sparkman used his considerable Southern Democratic influence (the Solid South controlled numerous powerful chairmanships of congressional committees) to persuade the Army to choose it as a site for rocket and missile development.

Central to this was a group of about 200 German scientists and engineers, led by Wernher von Braun; they had been brought from Nazi Germany to the United States by Colonel Holger Toftoy under Operation Paperclip following World War II.

[49] On July 1, 1960, 4,670 civilian employees, associated buildings and equipment, and 1,840 acres (7.4 km2) of land were transferred from ABMA to form NASA's George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC).

[50] Huntsville was selected as the permanent home of the United States Space Operations Command in 2020, but in 2023 the Pentagon announced that the temporary headquarters would be expanded and remain in Colorado.

[53][54] In April 1962, a committee was formed by the city to "address the concerns of the African American community,"[55] and eight lunch counters, as well as a number of other public spaces, were desegregated.

[59] Alabama's opposition to desegregation at this time caused concern from the NASA Administrator James E. Webb, who investigated equal employment opportunities for Black people in Huntsville.

This investigation into employment caused MSFC to open their engineering education programs to Black students at Alabama A&M and Oakwood College, as well as for local contractors to "work for progress in race relations".

Huntsville also borders the cities of Decatur, Athens, Owens Cross Roads, the town of Mooresville as well as the census-designated places of Moores Mill, Meridianville, Laceys Spring, and Redstone Arsenal.

[117][118] Huntsville Museum of Art in Big Spring International Park offers permanent displays, traveling exhibitions, and educational programs.

The Huntsville Havoc are a professional ice hockey team with the SPHL that play home games at the Von Braun Center.

[176] The Alabama–Huntsville Chargers (University of Alabama in Huntsville) Men's and Women's Basketball teams are part of NCAA D-II and play at Spragins Hall.

[180] Toyota Field is a baseball park with a capacity of about 7,500, in nearby Madison that is home to the AA-minor league Rocket City Trash Pandas team.

[196] The Alabama Hammers, which played at the Von Braun Center, were an indoor football team established in 2010 and folded in 2016 due to the collapse of the league.

[203][204][205][206] The Huntsville Botanical Garden's 112 acres (45 ha) site features educational programs, woodland paths, grassy meadows, and vast floral collections.

[209] Monte Sano State Park has over 2,000 acres (8.1 km2) and features hiking and bicycling trails, rentable cabins, campsites, full RV hookups, and a lodge.

[264] Major stations include WHNT 19 (CBS, with The CW via Florence-licensed WHDF on DT2), WHIQ 25 (PBS/Alabama Public Television), WAAY 31 (ABC), WAFF 48 (NBC), and WZDX 54 (FOX, with MyNetworkTV on DT2).

[267] Columbia Pictures filmed Ravagers (1979) in The Land Trust's Historic Three Caves Quarry, at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, and at an antebellum home.

[273] The Huntsville Orbit runs 11 fixed routes throughout the city, mainly around downtown and major shopping areas like Memorial Parkway and University Drive and has recently expanded some of the buses to include bike racks on the front for a trial program.

The depot was once the smallest union station in the United States when it served the NC&StL and Memphis and Charleston Railroad, the predecessor to the Norfolk Southern.

[307] The Huntsville Police Department has three precincts and one downtown headquarters, over 500 sworn officers,[308] 200 civilian personnel, and patrols an area of approximately 220 square miles.

Beginning in August 2021, all shootings that result in death that occur by Huntsville Police are to be investigated by the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency instead.