659 Area Code 🌍☎️

Birmingham is a city in north central Alabama that serves as the county seat of Jefferson County and the third-most populous city in the state, with a population of 196,357 as of 2024, and a metropolitan area exceeding 1.19 million residents. Founded on June 1, 1871, by the Elyton Land Company as a planned industrial center and named after Birmingham, England, the city experienced explosive growth from 1881 to 1920, earning nicknames "The Magic City" and "The Pittsburgh of the South" due to its dominance in mining and steel production, supported by unique deposits of iron ore, coal, and limestone in close proximity. Though heavy industry declined in the late 20th century, Birmingham remains a significant manufacturing hub and serves as headquarters for Fortune 500 companies Regions Financial and Vulcan Materials Company, along with multiple Fortune 1000 firms. The city functions as a major regional economic, medical, and educational center, anchored by the University of Alabama at Birmingham's prominent medical and dental schools established in 1969, alongside Samford University, Miles College, and two community colleges. Birmingham also hosts the headquarters of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC), reinforcing its cultural and athletic influence across the Deep South, Piedmont, and Appalachian regions. Tuscaloosa, Alabama's fifth-most populous city with 99,600 residents at the 2020 census and an estimated 114,288 in 2025, is located in west-central Alabama on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal and Piedmont plains meet. Incorporated on December 13, 1819, and named after Chief Tuskaloosa, a 16th-century Muskogean leader defeated by Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto in 1540, the city served as Alabama's capital from 1826 to 1846 before the capital relocated to Montgomery. Known as "the Druid City" for its numerous water oaks planted downtown since the 1840s, Tuscaloosa is the home of the University of Alabama, Stillman College, and Shelton State Community College, making it the regional center of industry, commerce, healthcare, and education for West Alabama. The city's economy was boosted when Mercedes-Benz announced on September 30, 1993, plans to build its first North American automotive assembly plant in Tuscaloosa County, though the University of Alabama remains its dominant economic and cultural engine. City leaders adopted the moniker "The City of Champions" after the Alabama Crimson Tide football team won National Championships in the 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017, and 2020 seasons, and in 2008 Tuscaloosa hosted the USA Olympic Triathlon trials for the Beijing Games. Alabaster is the 16th largest city in Alabama with a 2020 population of 33,284, located in Shelby County as a southern suburb of Birmingham situated 23 miles north via U.S. Route 31 and Interstate 65. The city was officially incorporated on February 23, 1953, with 427 residents and was named after the high-calcium limestone mined by George L. Scott Sr.'s Alabaster Lime Co., which originally shipped from "Scott Rock." Alabaster merged with the neighboring town of Siluria in 1971 and has since developed a "Main Street Medical Mile" along Highway 31, with major retail expansion projects including the 350,000 square-foot District 31 complex announced in 2017. The city spans 25.6 square miles across the Cahaba and Opossum valleys with a humid subtropical climate, featuring a median household age of 37.7 years and predominantly urban residential character with 60.5% married-couple households.