 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2011) |
Muscle Shoals | |
|---|---|
City | |
 Flag  Seal | |
 Location of Muscle Shoals in Colbert County, Alabama | |
| Coordinates: 34°45′3″N 87°39′1″W / 34.75083°N 87.65028°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Alabama |
| County | Colbert |
| Established | April 23, 1923[1] |
| Incorporated | April 24, 1923[1] |
| Government | |
| • Type | Mayor/Council |
| • Mayor | Mike Lockhart (R) |
| Area | |
| • City | 16.82 sq mi (43.57 km2) |
| • Land | 16.80 sq mi (43.52 km2) |
| • Water | 0.02 sq mi (0.05 km2) |
| Elevation | 525 ft (160 m) |
| Population (2020) | |
| • City | 16,275 |
| • Density | 968.58/sq mi (373.96/km2) |
| • Metro | 147,317 (US: 281st) |
| Time zone | UTC−6 (Central Time Zone) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−5 (CDT) |
| ZIP codes | 35660(obsolete), 35661, 35662 |
| Area codes | 256, 938 |
| FIPS code | 01-53016 |
| GNIS feature ID | 2404345[3] |
| Website | www |
Muscle Shoals is the largest city in Colbert County, Alabama, United States. It is located on the left bank of the Tennessee River in the northern part of the state and, as of the 2010 census, its population was 13,146.[4] The estimated population in 2019 was 14,575.[5]
Both the city and the Florence-Muscle Shoals Metropolitan Area (including four cities in Colbert and Lauderdale counties) are commonly called "The Shoals".[6] Northwest Alabama Regional Airport serves the Shoals region, located in the northwest section of the state in Muscle Shoals.
Due to its strategic location along the Tennessee River, Muscle Shoals had long been territory of Native American tribes.[clarification needed] In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, as Europeans entered the area in greater number, it became a center of historic land disputes. The new state of Georgia had ambitions to anchor its western claims (to the Mississippi River) by encouraging development here, but that project did not succeed.
Under President Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration during the Great Depression, the Tennessee Valley Authority was established to create infrastructure and jobs, resulting in electrification of a large rural area along the river. The Ford Motor Company did build and operate a plant for many years in the Listerhill community, three miles east of Muscle Shoals; it closed in 1982 as part of industrial restructuring when jobs moved out of the country.[7][8]
Since the 1960s, the city has been known for music. Local studios and artists developed the "Muscle Shoals Sound", including FAME Studios in the late 1950s and Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in 1969.
- ^ a b Official web site of the City of Muscle Shoals. Retrieved December 20, 2008
- ^ "2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
- ^ a b U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Muscle Shoals, Alabama
- ^ "Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Muscle Shoals city, Alabama". U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder. Archived from the original on February 12, 2020. Retrieved June 6, 2014.
- ^ "Population and Housing Unit Estimates". United States Census Bureau. May 24, 2020. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
- ^ "Welcome to the Shoals!". Shoals Chamber of Commerce. Archived from the original on April 6, 2013. Retrieved March 7, 2013.
- ^ Kaetz, James P. "Muscle Shoals". Encyclopedia of Alabama. Retrieved March 7, 2013.
- ^ Elliott, Debbie (September 20, 2003). "The legendary Muscle Shoals sound". Weekend Edition Saturday. NPR.