Talladega, Alabama

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"Talladega" redirects here. For the racetrack, see Talladega Superspeedway.

Talladega is a city in Talladega County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 15,143. The city is the county seat of Talladega County^GR6. Talladega is approximately 50 miles east of Birmingham, Alabama. The name is correctly pronounced "tallaDIGuh", not "tallaDEEguh".

The city is home to the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind, Talladega Superspeedway and the International Motorsports Hall of Fame.

1 Geography
2 Demographics
3 Famous people from Talladega
4 Colleges and universities
5 External links

[edit] Geography

Talladega is located at 33°26′5″N, 86°6′5″W (33.434728, -86.101299)^GR1.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 62.0 km² (23.9 mi²). 61.8 km² (23.9 mi²) of it is land and 0.2 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (0.29%) is water.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 15,143 people, 5,836 households, and 3,962 families residing in the city. The population density was 244.9/km² (634.4/mi²). There were 6,457 housing units at an average density of 104.4/km² (270.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 56.15% White, 42.28% Black or African American, 0.18% Native American, 0.30% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.37% from other races, and 0.70% from two or more races. 0.90% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 5,836 households out of which 30.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.7% were married couples living together, 19.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.1% were non-families. 29.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 2.97.

In the city the population was spread out with 25.6% under the age of 18, 10.6% from 18 to 24, 25.2% from 25 to 44, 22.8% from 45 to 64, and 15.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 85.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 79.0 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $29,617, and the median income for a family was $36,296. Males had a median income of $27,951 versus $21,326 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,733. About 14.1% of families and 19.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 28.4% of those under age 18 and 17.5% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Famous people from Talladega

Tinsley R. Harrison, founding editor of Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine
The Talledega Municipal Airport was renamed Boswell field in honor of Eastaboga resident Lewis Archer Boswell. Local legend states that Boswell actually made the first successful flight before the Wright Brothers.
Lee De Forest was not a native of Talladega but he spent most of his young life there. De Forest, who invented the vacuum tube and held over 300 patents, was the son of a president of Talladega College.

[edit] Colleges and universities

Talladega College, founded in 1865, is a historically black liberal arts college located in Talladega, Alabama. The Slavery Library holds the Amistad murals, painted by Hale Woodruff in 1939.