Albertville

Donald Nailor, Broker/Owner
Nailor Realty One
Phone: 256-878-8484

Alexander City

Amy Clark
Amy Clark Real Estate, Inc
Phone: 256-329-3131

Athens

Jerry Gearhart
Exit Realty Group
Phone: 800-347-1745

Daphne

Bo Blackwell
Coldwell Banker Reehl Properties, Inc.
Phone: 251-454-4825

Decatur

Debbie Nowlin
RE/MAX Platinum
Phone: 888-819-9422

Fairhope

Terryl Reeves
Fairhope Realty Group, LLC
Phone: 251-990-8838

Madison

Phenix City

Mary Beth Childree
ERA Platinum Brokers
Phone: 334-750-0645

Prattville

Jesman Hales
Alfa Realty
Phone: 334-312-5436

Troy

Kenneth King
Troy Land and Farm
Phone: 334-372-1992

Tuscaloosa

Wetumpka

Cornerstone Realty Group
Phone: 334-478-3825

From the early 19th century, Alabama’s economy was dominated by one crop—cotton. After 1915, however, the boll weevil, a beetle that infests cotton plants, so damaged the state’s cotton crop that farmers began to concentrate on raising livestock and crops other than cotton. Manufacturing began to be important to Alabama with the growth of the iron and steel industry during the early 20th century. Beginning in the 1930s low-cost power provided by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), a federal agency, encouraged industrial development. In the late 1990s manufacturing remained the dominant economic sector. Also significantly contributing to Alabama’s gross product were the government and service sectors.

The sale of livestock and livestock products accounted for 75 percent of the income generated on farms in 1998, with sales of crops accounting for the remainder. Alabama’s livestock and animal products include chickens, particularly broilers (young chickens used for food); beef cattle; eggs; hogs; and milk. The state’s chief crops are greenhouse and nursery products, peanuts, and cotton. Other crops raised in the state include hay, soybeans, corn, wheat, potatoes, oats, and sorghum. Some tobacco is grown, which is used in the manufacture of cigars.

The total income from fishing is relatively small in Alabama, just $47 million in 1998. However, the coastal waters yield quantities of shrimps, oysters, crabs, pompano, mullet, snapper, and many other sea fishes. Fishing vessels take their catch to Mobile and to other Alabama ports to be processed in local canneries or to be shipped to markets that are located farther away.

Lumbering has been carried on in Alabama since about 1830, but until the 20th century no effort was made to plan for a continued yield through selective cutting and reforestation. After 1930 the production of wood products expanded rapidly, and pine forests now supply the greater part of Alabama’s lumber, as well as valuable quantities of turpentine, tar, and rosin. Even scrub timber, once regarded as useless, is in demand for wood pulp, and many farmers sell such pulpwood to supplement their income.

Mineral resources have given Alabama a commanding lead among the Southern states in the production of iron and steel. Within a radius of about 25 km (about 15 mi) of the city of Birmingham are found deposits of the three basic raw materials required for steel production: iron ore, limestone, and bituminous coal. By the late 1970s, however, no iron ore was being mined in Alabama, and that used in the steel industry came from outside the state.

Natural gas is Alabama’s most valuable mineral, generating more than one-half of the state’s income from fossil fuels. Large deposits of bituminous coal are found in the northwestern section of the state, while deposits of lower-grade lignite are scattered around the coastal plain. Most of the coal extracted comes from underground mines, some of which are among the deepest in the United States. Tuscaloosa, Walker, and Jefferson are the leading coal-producing counties. Also important is petroleum, which along with natural gas comes mostly from wells in the southwestern counties of Mobile and Choctaw.

By value, principal nonfuel minerals produced in Alabama are cement, crushed and broken stone, lime, and sand and gravel. The state ranks fourth in the nation in lime production, while it is first in common clays and second in kaolin, a high-fire clay. Some of the world’s finest-grained marble is found in the Sylacauga area.

Manufacturing contributes more to personal income and more to the gross state product than any other economic sector in Alabama. In terms of the value added by manufacture, the leading industry in the state in 1996 was the manufacture of paper and associated products, with the leading employers in the sector being paper and pulp mills, producers of sanitary paper products, and firms making corrugated boxes. Other leading industries were chemical manufacturers, including those making chemicals for agriculture and other industries, organic fibers, and paints; primary metal manufacturers, including iron foundries, blast furnaces, and steel mills; firms making aluminum sheets and plates, and copper rolling mills; and textile mills, making woven cloths and yarns. Industries also employing a large number of Alabama residents are meatpackers; manufacturers of men’s and boys’ apparel; makers of vehicle tires; producers of motor vehicle parts; and lumber mills.

The Birmingham area accounts for a significant portion of the manufacturing income and employment in Alabama. The production of iron and steel and the fabrication of cast-iron pipe and of metal valves and fittings are the area’s leading industries. Beginning in the late 1970s, the area’s iron and steel industry, buffeted by national economic recessions and foreign competition, suffered a tremendous decline. Many steel mills were closed permanently, and thousands of workers lost their jobs. However, some of the decline in the iron and steel industry was offset by growth in the fabricated metals industry.

Huntsville has been the center for many developments in U.S. missile manufacturing. The United States Army’s Redstone Arsenal and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s George C. Marshall Space Flight Center are in the Huntsville area. Reduced government spending on aerospace activities in the 1970s led the city to seek economic diversity. By the early 1990s, Huntsville had attracted almost 100 new manufacturing firms, many of them engaged in high-technology areas such as computer electronics.

Mobile is an important center for the manufacture of paper products and chemicals. Its chemical industry produces fertilizer, paint, and varnish. Ship repair is also significant in the Mobile area.

Real Estate: Georgia - Mississippi - Alabama Relocation

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Official Website for the State of Alabama

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