About Decatur, Alabama

Known as The River City, Decatur is located along the banks of the Tennessee River. The city is rich in history getting it’s start as a port city a railroad hub. Decatur was a very strategic location during the Civil War. Most of the buildings in town were destroyed during that time period. The city of Decatur became a combination of several small towns as it grew. Albany, New Decatur, Moulton Heights, Austinville, and Flint all eventually merged to add to the population of Decatur.

Decatur is known for a lot of other things, including the Point Mallard Aquatic Center (the first wave pool in the US), it’s historic downtown area, the Highway 31 bridge (which once was a drawbridge), Princess Theatre, Historic Depot and Railroad Museum, Cook Museum of Natural Science, Carnegie Visual Arts Center, the Old State Bank, and Wheeler Wildlife Refuge. It is also the home of the historic Big Bob Gibson BBQ as well as the birthplace of white sauce. A popular local evernt, Decatur is host of the well known Alabama Jubilee Hot Air Balloon Classic.

Many Decatur residents commute to Huntsville and Madison for employment. However, Decatur has it’s own large industrial workforce which draws from neighboring counties such as Lawrence County. Some of the large employers in Decatur are United Launch Alliance (a collaboration between Lockheed-Martin and Boeing where rockets are built and shipped to Cape Cannaveral), General Electric, 3M, Wayne Farms, Nucor, Bunge, Daikin, Hyosung, Ascend Performance Materials, among others.

One popular area in Decatur is Burningtree. Burningtree is home to Burningtree Country Club, Decatur’s only remaining golf course and is located between Decatur and Priceville.

Home prices are more affordable than in neighboring Madison County where demand is much higher.