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Photo by Ron Burkett.
Homes in the Stockton subdivision.
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Photos by Erin Nelson.
Jack Cravens shows Kinley Ratliff the crawfish he caught in a water bottle while fishing along the Cahaba River off Cherokee Drive during a summer camp in July 2019 led by Verna Gates, founder of the Fresh Air Family.
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Staff photo.
Members of the Trussville Senior Center enjoy the many activities they offer, including exercise classes and games.
The Magic 8-Ball was invented in 1946.
A year later, three men from here must have been asking a question about Trussville’s future while shaking one.
In a May 1, 1947, letter from Cahaba Community Association President Alton Williams, Treasurer Rowland Long and Trussville representative Horace Norrell to Federal Public Housing Authority Assistant Director for Real Estate Arthur Taylor, the three men wrote, “We have observed the growth of communities such as ours and have noticed the many times that the city fathers have erred in not allocating sufficient space for parks and playgrounds. We anticipate a healthy growth in this community and hope to avoid some of these mistakes by giving much forethought and long range planning.”
Their anticipation was spot-on.
When Trussville incorporated as a town on June 10, 1947, the population was 1,443 people. At the start of the 2021-22 school year, 1,325 students attended Paine Elementary School. What a difference 75 years makes.
“This is a result of families moving into the new subdivisions,” Trussville City Schools Superintendent Pattie Neill said at the time of Stockton, Longmeadow, Winslow Parc and Carrington subdivisions.
When Trussville became a city in 1957, the population had increased to 2,161 people. For the next two decades, the population here slowly ticked upward: 2,510 people in 1960, 2,984 in 1970 and 3,507 folks in 1980. The 1980s were dominated by annexations in Trussville. In 1985, the city expanded in all directions during a frenzied period. The city of Birmingham had attempted to annex the high school on Trussville-Clay Road, now Hewitt-Trussville Middle School, which was less than a year old, and more of eastern Jefferson County, prompting Trussville’s own plan to annex. From the middle of May 1985 through the year’s end, the Trussville City Council held annexation meetings several times per week.
In 1985, Trussville annexed land for 80 houses to be built on property owned by Coy Simmons, 18 to 20 houses to be built on property belonging to Roy Stackhouse on U.S. 11, and for new homes and office warehouse buildings on about 80 acres off of South Chalkville Road. The city also annexed 1,950 acres of land on what was known as the Deerfoot property.
In May 1986, the Trussville City Council approved Autrey-Cole Development Co. to build almost 200 homes, an office building and a small shopping center in Trussville over the next few years. The new subdivision was known as Calumet Downs. The property had been annexed into the city just two months prior to the approval of the development. In June of that same year, the Trussville City Council annexed the Cahaba Valley Golf and Country Club, now known as Trussville Country Club, extending the city’s boarders into St. Clair County near present-day Moody.
By 1990, the city’s population had swelled to 8,266 people. By March 1995, Trussville was still expanding its borders to create new homes for incoming residents. The Maplewood subdivision, consisting originally of 102 homes, including 37 garden homes, was annexed into Trussville. Two months later, the now Colonial Village at Trussville was approved. The complex originally included 376 apartments in 20 buildings on 27 acres on the south end of the city.
The Trussville Crossings shopping center, which includes the Walmart Super Center, opened in 2000. Later that same year, the Colonial Promenade at Tutwiler Farm’s two anchor stores, Super Target and The Home Depot, opened. Trussville’s population stood at 12,924 by 2000. Ten years later, the population reached 19,933.
Trussville exceeded most prognostications for the 2020 Census and topped 26,123 residents. Mayor Buddy Choat has said “it’s almost hard to believe,” but based on trends over the past few decades and projections, Trussville could top 35,000 residents by 2040. Trussville is now the 22nd largest city in Alabama. Of the largest 22 cities in Alabama, only Auburn (43%), Madison (33%) and Northport (33%) had greater percentage increases in population from 2010 to 2020.
“The numbers that were released were a little higher than I thought they would be but not surprising,” Choat said in 2021. “We all realize that Trussville has been and continues to be a destination choice for a lot of people and businesses. Our investment in public safety, quality of life, schools, and infrastructure makes Trussville appealing for people to live, work, and raise their families. As we continue to plan for the future, we have to recognize the fact that we now have an expectation to live up to, and I know myself and our [City Council] realize it.”
