[4] Pell City was revived in 1902 when Sumter Cogswell built the Pell City Manufacturing Company, which subsequently became Avondale Mills, a major landmark of the town until Thunder Enterprises, a Tennessee company, bought the building and began dismantling the factory in 2008.

The water tower remains, but the smoke stack was destroyed by workers after cracking in the cement made it a hazard.

The residences of Sumter Cogswell and Green Evans (Pell City's first mayor) are two of the earliest structures, dating from the late nineteenth century.

Both county seats remain operational to this day although Pell City has far surpassed Ashville in growth in large part due to I-20 and Logan Martin Lake.

The construction of Logan Martin Dam in 1964 created the lake and a large recreational area, which brought new businesses, temporary summer residents and tourists, and hundreds of new permanent residents building new homes along the new lake.

The Bethel Baptist Church in Odenville was destroyed a few minutes after its members left an Easter pageant rehearsal that had been cancelled because of the storm.

At the time, Thunder Enterprises, a Tennessee firm, had completed almost half of the work in dismantling the building for materials.

[6] In November 2015, Pell City made global news when a video of the Avondale Mills smokestack went viral on the internet.

During a demolition of the smokestack, the 133-year-old structure collapsed on top of construction worker, Tim Philfer.

The city is surrounded by the unincorporated communities of Wattsville to the north, Cropwell to the south, Seddon to the east, and Chulavista to the west.

The city is located along Interstate 20, which runs west to east through the northern part of the city, leading east 114 mi (183 km) to Atlanta and west 35 mi (56 km) to Birmingham.

These neighborhoods constitute a sizable population and income level, but are not reflected in official city census data.

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 12,939 people, 5,801 households, and 3,698 families residing in the city.

[13] In 2015, Pell City residents were given the opportunity to vote on the legalization of Sunday alcohol sales.

Likely due to the passage of this referendum, several corporate entities immediately entered into negotiations to open new restaurants and sports bars within the city.

[16] Buffalo Wild Wings announced its intention to build a brand new restaurant in late 2015.

[16] The city announced in June 2016 that it had entered into an agreement with Premiere Cinemas to develop a new 40,000 sq ft entertainment center which would include seven movie screens, a 10-lane bowling alley, a cafe, arcade and event rooms.

The veterans home is a 280-bed facility built in a neighborhood-style of several small cottage clusters, instead of one large institution.

[20] The veterans home is named for Alabama native and Medal of Honor recipient Colonel Robert L.

[23] The system also operates a trade school as an alternative to college preparation courses.

[26] Pell City, and all of St. Clair County, is located in Birmingham's designated market area for local news and weather coverage.

[citation needed] Pell City is served by two daily and two weekly newspapers.