Tuscaloosa County, Alabama

Tuscaloosa ( TUS-kə-LOO-sə) is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west-central Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal and Piedmont plains meet. Alabama's fifth-most populous city, it had an estimated population of 110,602 in 2023. It was known as Tuskaloosa until the early 20th century. It is also known as "the Druid City" because of the numerous water oaks planted in its downtown streets since the 1840s.Incorporated on December 13, 1819, it was named after Tuskaloosa, the chief of a band of Muskogean-speaking people defeated by the forces of Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto in 1540 in the Battle of Mabila, in what is now central Alabama. It served as Alabama's capital city from 1826 to 1846, where in 1846 it was moved to its present location in Montgomery. Tuscaloosa is the regional center of industry, commerce, healthcare and education for the area of west-central Alabama known as West Alabama. It is the principal city of the Tuscaloosa Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Tuscaloosa, Hale and Pickens counties. It is the home of the University of Alabama, Stillman College and Shelton State Community College. While it attracted international attention when Mercedes-Benz announced on September 30, 1993 that it would build its first North American automotive assembly plant in Tuscaloosa County, the University of Alabama remains the city's dominant economic and cultural engine, making it a college town. City leaders adopted the moniker "The City of Champions" after the Alabama Crimson Tide football team won the College Football National Championship in their 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017 and 2020 seasons. In 2008, Tuscaloosa hosted the USA Olympic Triathlon trials for the Beijing Games.

The Paul W. Bryant Museum is located on the campus of the University of Alabama, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Founded in 1985, the museum was opened in 1988 to "house the history of Alabama football, with special emphasis on the legendary coach" Bear Bryant.

The Alabama Soccer Stadium was built in 2004. The complex features covered bench areas for both teams and a press box with seating for 1,500 spectators and standing room for many more. The University of Alabama soccer field was the first home of Alabama soccer and it saw its first action on Oct. 2, 1994, as Alabama played Furman University. The Tide has compiled a 109-56-11 overall record on campus and a 36-29-4 ledger since playing at the Alabama Soccer Complex. Upon the renovation of Bryant–Denny Stadium the soccer field received a new high definition scoreboard, which was previously housed in Bryant-Denny. The scoreboard is the biggest in the nation for a college soccer field.

Coleman Coliseum is a 15,383-seat multi-purpose arena in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on the campus of the University of Alabama. It is the current home of the Alabama Crimson Tide men's and women's basketball and women's gymnastics teams, and previously served as the home of the women's volleyball program. Opened in 1968 as Memorial Coliseum as a replacement for Foster Auditorium (the current name was adopted in 1988), the coliseum is located at the center of the University of Alabama's athletic complex, which also includes Sewell-Thomas Stadium, Sam Bailey Track & Field Stadium, the Hank Crisp Indoor Facility, the Mal M. Moore Athletic Facility and the football building and practice fields. In addition to its primary duties as an athletic facility, the coliseum has on numerous occasions served as a venue for artistic performances, musical concerts, and presidential appearances.

DCH Regional Medical Center, originally known as Druid City Hospital and generally referred to as DCH, is a public, not-for-profit hospital and medical complex located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama that serves the West Alabama region. DCH is operated by the DCH Health System, which also runs the Northport Medical Center and the Fayette Medical Center in Northport, Alabama and Fayette, Alabama, respectively. As of 2014, DCH employed 3,481 persons, making it the second highest employer in Tuscaloosa County.

Foster Auditorium is a multi-purpose facility at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. It was built in 1939 as a Works Progress Administration project and has been used for Alabama basketball, women's sports (in the 1970s and 1980s), graduations, lectures, concerts, and other large gatherings, including registration. Its status as the largest indoor building on campus came to an end in 1968 with the opening of the Memorial Coliseum. The building housed the Department of Kinesiology until 2006. In April 2009, the University announced a major renovation for the auditorium. After the renovation, the Crimson Tide women's basketball and volleyball programs moved back to Foster Auditorium, their original home.The facility is named for Richard Clarke Foster, president of the University of Alabama from 1937 to 1941. The building was declared a National Historic Landmark on April 5, 2005, for its role as the site of Governor George Wallace's "Stand in the Schoolhouse Door" opposing actions to desegregate the university.

The Stand in the Schoolhouse Door took place at Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama on June 11, 1963. George Wallace, the Governor of Alabama, in a symbolic attempt to keep his inaugural promise of "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever" and stop the desegregation of schools, stood at the door of the auditorium as if to block the entry of two African American students: Vivian Malone and James Hood.In response, President John F. Kennedy issued Executive Order 11111, which federalized the Alabama National Guard, and Guard General Henry V. Graham then commanded Wallace to step aside. Wallace spoke further, but eventually moved, and Malone and Hood completed their registration. The incident brought Wallace into the national spotlight.

The University of Alabama Observatory is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The new domed observatory was built atop Gallalee Hall, completed in 1949. It replaced the Old Observatory, which had been in use from 1849 until the 1890s. Initially equipped with a 10-inch (0.25 m) refracting telescope, this was the university's primary telescope from 1950 until 2004. The old telescope was removed and then sold to an antique telescope collector to make way for the new instrument. A new 16-inch (0.41 m) Ritchey-Chrétien reflector, manufactured by DFM Engineering, was installed in 2005.The observatory and its instruments are made available for free public viewing one night per month, weather permitting. The schedule for public viewing is available on the observatory's official website and is updated on a semesterly basis.

Bryce Hospital opened in 1861 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. It is Alabama's oldest and largest inpatient psychiatric facility. First known as the Alabama State Hospital for the Insane and later as the Alabama Insane Hospital, the building is considered an architectural model. The hospital houses 268 beds for acute care, treatment and rehabilitation of full-time (committed) patients. The Mary Starke Harper Geriatric Psychiatry Hospital, a separate facility on the same campus, provides an additional 100 beds for inpatient geriatric care. The main facility was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.

The Alabama Museum of Natural History is the state's natural history museum, located in Smith Hall at the University of Alabama campus in Tuscaloosa. The oldest museum in the state, it was founded in 1831. The exhibits depict the natural diversity of Alabama from the Age of Dinosaurs, the Coal Age, and the Ice Age. Collections include items relating to geology, zoology, mineralogy, paleontology, ethnology, history, and photography. The Grand Gallery Exhibition Hall houses a replica of a Basilosaurus cetoides, an Eocene whale that has been designated as the State Fossil. Exhibits of special interest include the skull of an American mastodon dredged from the Tombigbee River near Demopolis and the Hodges meteorite. The latter hit a woman as it fell to earth near Sylacauga on November 30, 1954. The museum sponsors expeditions throughout the year, as it has since 1979.

Little Hall is a historic building on the campus of the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa, Alabama. It was built in 1915 and designed by Frank Lockwood of Montgomery as the university's first stand-alone gymnasium. The gymnasium was named for William Gray "Bill" Little (1873–1938), the student credited with introducing football to the university. It was in use by the Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball from 1915 to 1939, when Foster Auditorium opened nearby. The gym received an expansion in 1935 (now known as Archie Wade Hall), and has been converted twice; once in the 1950s for the School of Nursing, and again in 1967 to host the School of Social Work, its current tenant.

Denny Field was located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and served as the home field for the University of Alabama football team from 1915 through the 1928 seasons, excluding 1918 when a team was not fielded due to World War I. The field was located at the intersection of 10th Street and 7th Avenue at the southern edge of the University of Alabama campus. At present, its former location is the site of portions of the new sorority row along Judy Bonner Drive and a parking lot.The venue opened in 1915, and was originally named University Field. It was rededicated as Denny Field on October 9, 1920, prior to the third game of the 1920 season against Birmingham–Southern. Named in honor of former Alabama president George H. Denny, at that time official Denny Field signage was unveiled and it was noted that the name was selected due to Dr. Denny's continued support of the growth of the athletic program at Alabama.During its tenure as the team's home field, Alabama amassed an overall record of 43 wins to only 2 losses. It was replaced by Denny Stadium, now known as Bryant–Denny Stadium, in 1929.