Q 01/05

Which Revolutionary War veteran settled beside the Big Spring in 1805 and gave the city its name?

A) John Hunt

B) LeRoy Pope

C) Walker Allen

D) Ormsby Mitchel

Answer · why

A) John Hunt

Hunt built his cabin next to the spring that supplied the town's water for the next century and a half.

Q 02/05

Before its 1812 renaming, Huntsville was briefly named after which English village linked to Alexander Pope?

A) Chiswick

B) Richmond

C) Twickenham

D) Windsor

Answer · why

C) Twickenham

LeRoy Pope, who bought the land, chose the name to honor his distant kinsman; the name survives today in a downtown historic district.

Q 03/05

In 1819, 44 delegates met in Walker Allen's cabinet-making shop in Huntsville to do what?

A) Charter the state's first railroad

B) Ratify the U.S. Bill of Rights

C) Found the state's first university

D) Write Alabama's first state constitution

Answer · why

D) Write Alabama's first state constitution

The city then served as the state's first capital when Alabama entered the Union, before the seat moved south.

Q 04/05

Huntsville is the county seat of which Alabama county?

A) Limestone

B) Morgan

C) Marshall

D) Madison

Answer · why

D) Madison

The city limits also spill over into Limestone, Marshall and Morgan counties.

Q 05/05

During the Great Depression, Huntsville was known as the world capital of which crop?

A) Watercress

B) Peanuts

C) Cotton

D) Pecans

Answer · why

A) Watercress

The leafy green thrived in the area's spring-fed streams and was shipped to markets around the country.