Trussville Alabama

Trussville is a city in Jefferson and St. Clair counties in the State of Alabama. It is a suburb of Birmingham and part of the Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its estimated 2015 population was 21,023.

Trussville has been recognized as one of the most livable cities in the state and country. It was named one of the ten best towns in Alabama for young families, listed among the five best Birmingham suburbs, and included in Money magazine's list of 100 best places to live in America coming in at number 56.

The first European settler to establish residence in the area was Warren Truss, who entered the area with his brothers and constructed a grist mill on the Cahaba River in 1821. Truss was a North Carolina man of English descent. 

Trussville remained an agricultural community until after the Civil War when the Alabama-Chattanooga Railway was built through the city. By 1886 a blast furnace was built on what is now the site of the new Cahaba Elementary School. Trussville was listed as an incorporated community on the 1890 and 1900 U.S. Census rolls. At some point after 1900 until its reincorporation in 1947, it did not appear on census records.

For several decades, Trussville was a rural, rather isolated community, and farming was the major occupation. Although the tiny hamlet sent a contingent of officers and men to fight for the Confederacy, the Civil War directly touched Trussville only toward the end of the conflict. According to Trussville Through the Years, by Carol and Earl Massey, Union Gen. John T. Croxton led a raiding party to Trussville early in 1865 to burn the Confederate storehouse. They succeeded, but the people of Trussville put out the fire and salvaged much of the burned grain and flour.

Formal education was a little slow in coming to Trussville, although the literacy rate was above average for central Alabama in 1860. In 1869, Professor R. G. Hewitt founded Trussville Academy, a log structure housing 100 students. Hewitt made a lasting impression on the community. The middle school and high school in Trussville still carry his name.

Much of Trussville's growth and development came from the Cahaba Project, a planned development of nearly 300 homes constructed by Franklin D. Roosevelt's Government Resettlement Administration during the 1930s. The Cahaba Project was originally planned by staff at the Alabama Polytechnic Institute to be a rural community of small farmsteads raising potatoes and vegetables.  Unofficially, it has been known as the Slagheap Village.  The project was built on "slagheap" land vacated by the old Trussville Iron Furnace, thus the name Slagheap Village.  

During the Depression, part of the government’s economic recovery program was to allocate land suitable for low-rent housing and part-time farms. One such location was to be in the Trussville area, but further investigation showed that the 615 acres of “Slagheap Village” was unsuitable for farming.

However, the land was suitable for suburban housing. Fired by the vision of project manager W. H. Kestler, the “Cahaba Project” went up, opening in April 1938. Homes were sturdily built, with indoor plumbing, running water, electricity, and amenities rare at that time in much of Alabama. The project included 287 residential units – apartments, duplexes and single-family homes. The government also built a high school and cooperative store, interspersing the area with malls, sidewalks, paved streets, and parks.

Slagheap Village/Cahaba Project circa 1937.  Photo's taken by Arthur Rothstein

About 60 existing houses were demolished, with white residents moved to the Roper Hill community and cottages for African-Americans built on a 40-acre tract northwest of the Cahaba Project called "Washington Heights" or, more commonly, "The Forties".

Local landscape architect W. H. Kestler designed a relatively dense suburban layout with many of the houses on 1/2 to 3/4 acre lots encircling a central green space called "The Mall". The design was approved in 1936 and constructed over the following two years. In all, 243 single-family houses and 44 duplexes were constructed at a total cost of $2,661,981.26. They were rented to approved lower-middle-income families for $14-$23 per month. The village featured paved streets, sidewalks, and landscaped park areas. An entrance gateway with a covered gazebo was built at the corner of Main Street and Parkway Drive to serve as the community's "front door".

A special charm of the Project today is the canopy of stately trees that line Chalkville Road and adjacent streets. Many were planned in the 30s and 40s. Most of the Project was originally devoid of trees because the area had been farmland before the government acquired it.

Most of the one- and two-level homes were constructed in the American four-square style with brick and wood siding, pine floors and metal roofs. Each house had electricity, hot-and-cold running water, and a sewer connection. Two oak saplings were given to each household to beautify their yards. During World War II many families planted Victory Gardens to supplement their grocery rations.

Oak furnishings and appliances were also available to renters at a nominal cost from the government. A back porch was supplied with a hose for a wringer-type washer. A communal washer was also available in a separate building on the mall. Other community facilities included a swimming pool, an elementary school and a high school, all built near the mall. A co-op store was erected near the high school, serving as a general store and lending library. Several churches were founded, including the Holy Infant of Prague Catholic Church.

The Cahaba Association, the Village residents' organization, elected community leaders, raised funds for civic projects and published the Cahaba Hub newspaper. Many residents participated in an amateur softball league which made use of a lighted field at the mall. 

Mall at Slagheap Village/Cahaba Project

Resentment over the privileges given to residents of the government-funded Cahaba Project resulted in tensions between them and the "Old Trussville" families, many of whom lacked electricity and indoor plumbing. The presence of so many community facilities within the project limited interactions between the project's residents and their neighbors.

After World War II the government made plans to sell the houses to residents. It also offered undeveloped parcels for sale, giving veterans the first option at 10 percent down. The Cahaba Project was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.

On June 10, 1947, Trussville was incorporated as a town, and on May 31, 1957, the town officially became a city. It was on this date the City of Trussville was adopted as the official name.

Trussville grew fairly slowly in the 50s. General suburban sprawl and the completion of I-59 created more growth during the 60s and 70s. However, Trussville was still a well-kept secret.  However, during 1985 the city expanded in all directions.

“It started when Birmingham was doing a lot of annexing. They tried to annex our new (Hewitt-Trussville) high school, which was less than a year old,” says City Clerk Lynn Porter. Fired by this move, the late Charles Grover, then the mayor, and city council members announced their own plan and policy of annexation. From mid-May through the end of the year, the council held annexation meetings several times weekly. Frequent annexation continued into 1987. When the dust settled, Trussville had tripled its land mass and doubled its population.

Things haven’t slowed down since. From 3,500 residents shown in the 1980 census, Trussville’s population has grown to about 12,500 in 2000. This growth is expected to continue at a fast clip.  According to City-Data.com Trussville has experienced a population growth rate of 60.2% since the year 2000.  Its closest neighbor Birmingham, on the other hand, has seen a population decline of 12.6%.

Attracted by good schools, a safe environment, and friendly atmosphere, Trussville has become a drawing card for young, middle-income families. Many have gravitated to older homes in the Cahaba Project, often upgrading or remodeling them. Numerous subdivisions and residential areas have also sprung up within its boundaries. The city now extends from I-459 northward to the Jefferson County line and takes in a sizable area west of I-59. To meet the needs of Trussville’s growth, restaurants, retail, and service establishments (including two major shopping centers built in 2000) have sprung up. A major, 120-acre complex for youth sports was completed in the mid-1990s. The public library completed a major expansion in 1997, and a senior citizens activity center opened in 1999.

Happy Hollow District Bridge is seen spanning the Cahaba River in Civitan Park in Trussville, Jefferson County.

Today Trussville is one of the Birmingham region's most rapidly growing areas. In the 30-year period between 1980 and 2010, the city grew by over 500%. It has seen much residential and retail construction, with two major shopping centers built during the early 2000s: the Colonial Promenade at Trussville on its western side and both the Colonial Promenade Tutwiler Farm and Pinnacle at Tutwiler Farm along Highway 11 at the I-59/I-459 interchange.

Completed in 2008, the Trussville Civic Center includes a fitness center, walking track, locker rooms and showers for individuals and participants in team sports.  An auditorium accommodates up to 1,000 people for banquets and large meetings.  Six smaller meeting rooms offer audio-visual facilities.  The town sports complex provides playing fields for organized sports such as football, baseball, softball, and soccer.  it also has a tennis club and four miles of hiking/biking trails.  The city also has a public pool and water park, athletic centers for special sports and a senior activity center for citizens aged 60 and up.

The Trussville community activities include a theater group, an art club, a historical society, literary and study clubs and a variety of civic and fraternal organizations.  The Trussville Public Library has one of the highest circulations in Jefferson County and offers many special programs for children, teens, and adults.  Major civic events include the annual Dog Daze Festival, a July 4 Freedom Celebration, the fall Maple Leaf run and a Christmas parade.  

View of the 13th hole at the Trussville Country Club

 View of the Cahaba River

 Girl Scouts at Camp Gertrude Coleman Girl Scout Camp

 Display at the Trussville Historical Society

Playground at the Masonic park

 Trussville kiddie park behind the library

Veterans Monument at the entrance to the Slagheap Village/Cahaba Project

Trussville City Data

The 2014 median family income was $94,875, with 1.1% of families living below the poverty line. The unemployment rate was 5.8%, and the city's future job growth is predicted to be 32.3%. The city's sale tax rate is 10% and the income tax rate is 5%.

Approximately 88% of Trussville residents are employed in white-collar occupations. The most popular jobs in Trussville are in sales and administration, which account for 28% of all positions.  Management, business, and finance positions made up 24% of all jobs, followed by healthcare professionals at 9% and educators at 8%.

Trussville has seen extensive retail development over the past twenty years, especially along Highway 11 by the I-459 exit and along Chalkville Mountain Road by the I-59 exit.

The median home value in the city of Trussville in 2015 was $250,983 while the median home value in the state of Alabama was $134,100.  Median rent in the city is approximately $1,300.

Crime in the city of Trussville is mostly burglary and theft.  According to City-Data.com, there hasn't been a murder in Trussville since at least 2000 (the year the site began keeping track).

The City of Trussville is mere minutes from downtown Birmingham and less than 30 minutes from Hoover.  It's a great location with the best shopping in the area right at your front door.  Merge all of that with the hilly, winding roads and spectacular scenery/views and you've got a winner!

Trussville Alabama is a fantastic place in which to invest.