Wetumpka, Alabama Wetumpka, Alabama Location in Elmore County and the state of Alabama Location in Elmore County and the state of Alabama Wetumpka is a town/city in and the governmental center of county of Elmore County, Alabama, United States.
At the 2010 census the populace was 6,528. In the early 21st century, Elmore County, long a non-urban area, became one of the fastest-growing counties in the state. The town/city is considered part of the Montgomery Metropolitan Area.
Wetumpka identifies as "The City of Natural Beauty".
Historic downtown Wetumpka was advanced on both sides of the Coosa River, and Fort Toulouse was assembled near it.
The word Wetumpka is derived from the Native American phrase "we-wau" "tum=cau".
The Name Wetumpka is a historic Creek place word meaning "rumbling waters", supposedly a description of the sound of the close-by Coosa River as the water falls over the rapids of the Devil's Staircase.
It could be heard for miles before the assembly of Walter Bouldin Dam, and Jordan Damn. The Creek titled Wetumka, Oklahoma, after their historic village after being forced west to Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma), by United States soldiers under the Indian Removal Act of 1830. The region around Wetumpka was the heart of the Upper Creek lands, whose biggest towns were positioned on the banks of the Coosa and at its confluence with the Tallapoosa River, at Wetumpka and Talisi (now Tallassee), in the order given.
After moving the 1702 settlement of Mobile to Mobile Bay in 1711, Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville sent an expedition up the Alabama River to establish a fort in the interior of New France, both to stop the encroachment of the British and to foster trade and goodwill with the Creek.
He had Fort Toulouse constructed on the Coosa River in 1714, 4 miles (6 km) above the confluence of the Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers at the Creek village of Taskigi.
The French interchanged at Wetumpka and garrisoned Fort Toulouse until 1763, when they ceded the territory to the British following defeat in the Seven Years' War (known as the French and Indian War in North America).
After Britain was defeated in the American Revolutionary War, it ceded the territory east of the Mississippi River to the United States in 1783.
By the early 19th century, there were tensions among the Creek, with young men of the Upper Creek promoting a revival of religion and culture, and the Lower Creek, more influenced by settlement and trade with European Americans in Georgia, becoming more assimilated.
Declared war on Britain in June 1812, the Upper Creek lost the assistance of the British, but they persisted with war against American pioneer in the area.
1814: Chief Red Eagle (William Weatherford) surrenders to General Andrew Jackson at Fort Jackson in Wetumpka.
The defeated Creek were forced to sign the Treaty of Fort Jackson (1814), which ceded to the United States 23,000,000 acres (36,000 sq mi; 93,000 km2) of Creek lands: much of the remainder of their territory in Georgia and most of central Alabama.
With its strategic locale at the river confluence, Wetumpka quickly became an meaningful center of agricultural trade.
Cotton was the commodity crop of the new state of Alabama, with cultivation of short-staple cotton in the upland areas made possible by Eli Whitney's invention of the cotton gin, which reduced the workforce of processing.
From the scattered fields and large plantations worked by slave workforce in the interior, cotton was carted overland to Wetumpka.
The west bank looking athwart the Coosa River toward two Wetumpka landmarks, the Bibb Graves Bridge (1936) and First Presbyterian Church (1856).
Wetumpka became a cotton boom town.
The part of the town/city on the easterly bank of the river was commercial, with banks, stores, and hotels, and was positioned in Coosa County.
New York's Harper's Weekly declared that "Wetumpka, Alabama and Chicago, Illinois are the most promising two metros/cities of the West." The town/city commissioned a steamboat, The Coosa Belle, to ferry passengers and cotton between Wetumpka and Mobile.
The same forces contributing to Wetumpka's expansion were shifting the balance of power inside Alabama.
The lead contenders were Wetumpka and the newer town/city of Montgomery, a several miles south.
That same year, a fire broke out in Wetumpka, burning warehouses and many commercial buildings.
In February 1861, delegates from seven Southern states met in close-by Montgomery to form the Confederate government, inaugurating Jefferson Davis as their president on the steps of the Alabama state capitol.
The same year saw the majority of the male populace of Wetumpka going off to war.
In 1866, a Reconstruction government drew up a new plan of counties for the state, and Elmore County was created out of parts of Coosa, Autauga, and Montgomery counties, with Wetumpka as its county seat.
Before the war (in 1850), the populace had reached 3,824 to turn into the 3rd biggest city in the state (behind Mobile and Montgomery).
The bridge connecting the city's two halves was washed away, and more than a year passed before Wetumpka was able to replace the bridge.
The Lexington Kentucky Morning Herald of October 3, 1900, had a rather grim addition to Wetumpka's history:"Negro Burned At Stake" Winfield Townsend, alias Floyd, a negro, was burned at the stake in the little town of Eclectic, 15 miles from Wetumpka, Ala.
The first paved road linking Wetumpka with Montgomery was instead of in 1924.
By the 1950s, the ubiquity of the automobile allowed Wetumpka's inhabitants to commute daily to Montgomery for work.
Wetumpka is positioned southwest of the center of Elmore County at 32 32 27 N 86 12 28 W (32.540972, 86.207726), and sits on both sides of the Coosa River 5 miles (8 km) northeast of its confluence with the Tallapoosa River, where they merge to turn into the Alabama River.
Downtown Wetumpka covers two town/city blocks, and is bordered on the northwest by the Coosa River.
Enumeration Bureau, the town/city has a total region of 10.5 square miles (27.2 km2), of which 10.1 square miles (26.2 km2) is territory and 0.39 square miles (1.0 km2), or 3.66%, is water. There were 2,139 housing units at an average density of 212 per square mile (81.7/km2). The ethnic makeup of the town/city was 64.88% White, 32.83% Black or African American, 0.40% Native American, 0.40% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 1.38% from other competitions, and 0.94% from two or more competitions.
Wetumpka in movies Three primary films have been filmed on locale in downtown Wetumpka.
Wetumpka is the home of "Alabama's greatest natural disaster".
The hills just east of downtown showcase the eroded remains of a 5-mile-wide (8 km) impact crater that was blasted into the bedrock, with the region labeled the Wetumpka crater or astrobleme ("star-wound") for the concentric rings of fractures and zones of shattered modern that can be found beneath the surface. In 2002, Auburn University researchers presented evidence and established the site as an internationally recognized impact crater. Wetumpka and the Coosa River annually play host to the Coosa River Challenge, which began in 2003 and regularly draws 150 to 200 participants.
The race, a modified triathlon, starts at the Swayback Bridge Trail with a cross nation run, a mountain bike leg, and paddling on the Coosa River to finish at Goldstar Park in downtown Wetumpka.
The town/city hosts the annual Coosa River Whitewater Festival, and was the site of the 2005 U.S.
The Coosa River Paddling Club has constructed Corn Creek Park, which offers enhance access to the river, along with nature and walking trails.
A host of affairs proceeds the river show such as Miss Christmas on the Coosa Pageant, Pictures with Santa, tree lighting, and other affairs centralized around the city's Gold State Park. The United States Postal Service operates the Wetumpka Post Office. The Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women of the Alabama Department of Corrections is positioned in Wetumpka.
The prison homes Alabama's female death row. Wetumpka was previously the site of the Wetumpka State Penitentiary. The town/city is inside the Elmore County Public School System.
Public schools include Wetumpka Elementary School, Wetumpka Middle School, Wetumpka High School, and Redland Elementary School. Wetumpka Middle School was formed by a consolidation of Wetumpka Intermediate School and Wetumpka Junior High School. Channing Tatum, born in Cullman, spent some childhood in Wetumpka, and has family in the area.
Wetumpka City Hall is positioned at 212 S.
The Wetumpka Post Office is positioned at 216 W.
First United Methodist Church of Wetumpka.
The Wetumpka L&N Depot was assembled in 1906 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 1, 1975.
American Fast Facts- Wedumpka city, Alabama.
"Enumeration Info Shows Growth Rate of Two Alabama Rural Counties Exceeds National Average".
"Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Wetumpka city, Alabama".
American Fast Facts- Wedumpka city, Alabama.
"Wetumpka Impact Crater" Wetumpka Public Library, accessed August 21, 2007.
"The Wetumpka Astrobleme" by John C.
Wetumpka Library Wetumpka Elementary School.
Wetumpka Middle School.
Wetumpka High School.
"Montgomery and Elmore County Schools Moving Forward with Building Plans." Climate Summary for Wetumpka, Alabama Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wetumpka, Alabama.
City of Wetumpka official website Wetumpka City Pages Municipalities and communities of Elmore County, Alabama, United States County seat: Wetumpka Cities in Alabama - Cities in Elmore County, Alabama - County seats in Alabama - Montgomery urbane region - Populated places established in 1834 - French-American culture in Alabama
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