Outdoor Advertising Billboards for Rent in Anniston, AL

Anniston is a city in Calhoun County in the state of Alabama, United States. As of the 2000 census, the population of the city is 24,276. According to the 2005 U.S. Census estimates, the city had a population of 23,741.. The city is the county seat of Calhoun County and one of two urban centers/principal cities of and included in the Anniston-Oxford Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Named the The Model City by Atlanta newspaperman Henry W. Grady for its careful planning in the late 1800s, the city is situated on the slope of Blue Mountain, and it has always been a small town.

Demographics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1880	942		—
1890	9,998		961.4%
1900	9,695		−3.0%
1910	12,794		32.0%
1920	17,734		38.6%
1930	22,345		26.0%
1940	25,523		14.2%
1950	31,066		21.7%
1960	33,320		7.3%
1970	31,533		−5.4%
1980	29,135		−7.6%
1990	26,623		−8.6%
2000	24,276		−8.8%
Est. 2007	23,689		−2.4%

As of the census of 2000, there were 24,276 people, 10,447 households, and 6,414 families residing in the city. The population density was 534.4 people per square mile (206.3/km²). There were 12,787 housing units at an average density of 281.5/sq mi (108.7/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 48.71% White, 48.69% Black or African American, 0.27% Native American, 0.78% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 0.61% from other races, and 0.86% from two or more races. 1.68% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 10,447 households out of which 24.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.0% were married couples living together, 20.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.6% were non-families. 34.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 2.91.

In the city the population was spread out with 23.6% under the age of 18, 8.7% from 18 to 24, 25.7% from 25 to 44, 23.3% from 45 to 64, and 18.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 83.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 78.5 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $27,385, and the median income for a family was $36,067. Males had a median income of $31,429 versus $21,614 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,769. About 20.1% of families and 22.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 35.2% of those under age 18 and 16.2% of those age 65 or over.

Culture, events and attractions

In 1899, the county seat of Calhoun County moved from Jacksonville to Anniston. More than 100 years later, the community is a bustling center of industry and commerce with more than 24,000 residents. Over the years, city officials and local citizens have done everything possible not only to retain the environmental beauty of the area while allowing it to thrive economically, but also to preserve its history. The Spirit of Anniston Main Street Program, Inc., a nonprofit organization started in 1993, spearheaded the restoration and revitalization of historic downtown Anniston, with a strong focus on the city's main thoroughfare, Noble Street.

The Noble Streetscape Project encouraged local business owners to refurbish storefront facades, while historic homes throughout the downtown area have been repaired and returned to their former glory. The preservation effort even included the historic Calhoun County Courthouse, located on the corner of 11th Street & Gurnee Avenue since 1900. The original building burned down in 1931, but the courthouse was rebuilt a year later. Thanks to a complete restoration in 1990, the stately structure is still in use today.

Anniston has long been a cultural center for northeastern Alabama. The Alabama Shakespeare Festival was founded in the city in 1972, and has since moved to Montgomery to receive more robust support. The Knox Concert Series regularly brings world-renowned musical and dance productions to the area. The city also is home to the Anniston Museum of Natural History and the Berman Museum of World History. These quaint institutions house mummies, dioramas of wildlife and artifacts from a bygone age in an understandable fashion. The Alabama Symphony Orchestra since 2004 has performed a summer series of outdoor concerts, Music at McClellan, in Anniston at the former Fort McClellan. Organizers have said they hope to make the concerts the center of an arts community.

The city has many examples of Victorian-style homes, some of which have been restored or preserved. Several of the city’s churches are architecturally significant or historic, including the gorgeousChurch of St. Michael and All Angels, Grace Episcopal Church, and Parker Memorial Baptist Church. Temple Beth EL, dedicated in 1893, has the oldest building in the state continuously and currently being used for Jewish worship.

The original main street, Noble Street, is seeing a rebirth as a downtown shopping and dining district in the heart of downtown. All of the large shopping centers in the area are in Oxford, the boom town on Interstate 20 that borders south Anniston. Oxford completed its Western Bypass before federal money ran out, and it houses the Quintard Mall and the toney, upscale Oxford Exchange.

Restaurants

Anniston is home to many restaurants ranging from American, Italian, Greek, Cajun, Mexican, and Chinese cuisines, as well as Barbecue and Southern flavored cuisines. Many locally owned dining establishments are located in the downtown CBD (along Noble Street and Quintard Ave.), as well as Buckner Circle (McClellan), Lenlock, the south Quintard area, and the Golden Springs area.

Media

Anniston is served by two daily newspapers: The Birmingham News statewide edition, and the local 25,000 circulation daily paper, The Anniston Star. Anniston-based Consolidated Publishing Co., publisher of The Anniston Star, also owns and operates advertising-supported newspapers in nearby Jacksonville, Piedmont, Heflin and Talladega.
Commercial radio stations with broadcast facilities in the city include WHMA 95.5-FM, WHMA 1390-AM, WFXO 105.9 and 98.3 and WDNG 1450-AM.
Television station with broadcast facilities - WJXS-TV, is the only station that directly broadcasts from the Anniston area, but many Birmingham stations as have towers and news bureaus here, such as WJSU-TV (WJSU is a local broadcast station for Birmingham-based ABC 33/40), WBRC-TV (FOX), and WVTM-TV (NBC). Alabama Public Television erected its tallest tower atop Mount Cheaha a dozen miles away from Anniston.
Anniston is a part of the Birmingham-Anniston-Tuscaloosa television designated market area. Radio stations are divided up into three sub markets within that market; Anniston is in the Anniston-Gadsden-Talladega radio sub market.

Transportation

The Anniston Metropolitan Airport is a general aviation facility, south of the city proper, in Oxford. Its single asphalt runway is 7,000 feet (2,100 m) long and 150 feet (46 m) wide.

Amtrak's Crescent train connects Anniston with the cities of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Charlotte, Atlanta, Birmingham and New Orleans. The Amtrak station is situated at the Southern Railway Depot (which was built in 1926), located at 126 West 4th Street. The city purchased the station in 2001 for $430,000 from federal grants for the restoration, in hopes of turning the building into a multi modal transportation hub for the city. It will be served by Amtrak (train), Greyhound (bus), and local taxi and bus services if all goes as planned.

Street and Highways

• Noble Street runs through downtown, lined with office buildings, specialty shops and restaurants. A major revitalization effort in 2003 made this street more pedestrian friendly. The old four lane thoroughfare was gutted, and turn-of-the-century trolley tracks were removed to help resurface the street. The road was converted to two lane traffic with wider sidewalks.

• Quintard Avenue runs parallel two blocks east of Noble Street. It serves as the main north/south traffic corridor for Anniston. The road is six lanes from East P street to 18th Street, the rest four lanes. It connects central Oxford to the south and Jacksonville, Gadsden, and the McClellan area of Anniston to the north. Traffic is relatively heavy on this road around downtown and in Oxford as well. Since the early 90’s, bypasses have been planned on both sides of town to alleviate traffic.

• The Western Bypass runs from I-20 in Oxford (the Coldwater exit) and runs north into the present AL 202. It is five lanes wide (handling Anniston Army Depot traffic). Future plans will extend it on the present County road 109 by widening it to connect with US 431.

• The Eastern Bypass was a stalled project of the Alabama Department of Transportation to build a four lane highway in Calhoun County until revived by the 2009 Federal Stimulus Package. It had been the largest influx of federal money into the local economy since Fort McClellan closed. More than $21 million was earmarked for this project in 2005. [1] (See Page 124 of Public Law 109-59-Aug. 10, 2005 as enacted by the US Congress). This funding was spent acquiring rights-of-way and bulldozing a section of the proposed bypass from Oxford to the community of Golden Springs. As of April, 2009, that section now is a level, but undriveable clay dirt road.

Transportation

The Anniston Metropolitan Airport is a general aviation facility, south of the city proper, in Oxford. Its single asphalt runway is 7,000 feet (2,100 m) long and 150 feet (46 m) wide.

Amtrak's Crescent train connects Anniston with the cities of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Charlotte, Atlanta, Birmingham and New Orleans. The Amtrak station is situated at the Southern Railway Depot (which was built in 1926), located at 126 West 4th Street. The city purchased the station in 2001 for $430,000 from federal grants for the restoration, in hopes of turning the building into a multi modal transportation hub for the city. It will be served by Amtrak (train), Greyhound (bus), and local taxi and bus services if all goes as planned.

Street and Highways

• Noble Street runs through downtown, lined with office buildings, specialty shops and restaurants. A major revitalization effort in 2003 made this street more pedestrian friendly. The old four lane thoroughfare was gutted, and turn-of-the-century trolley tracks were removed to help resurface the street. The road was converted to two lane traffic with wider sidewalks.

• Quintard Avenue runs parallel two blocks east of Noble Street. It serves as the main north/south traffic corridor for Anniston. The road is six lanes from East P street to 18th Street, the rest four lanes. It connects central Oxford to the south and Jacksonville, Gadsden, and the McClellan area of Anniston to the north. Traffic is relatively heavy on this road around downtown and in Oxford as well. Since the early 90’s, bypasses have been planned on both sides of town to alleviate traffic.

• The Western Bypass runs from I-20 in Oxford (the Coldwater exit) and runs north into the present AL 202. It is five lanes wide (handling Anniston Army Depot traffic). Future plans will extend it on the present County road 109 by widening it to connect with US 431.

• The Eastern Bypass was a stalled project of the Alabama Department of Transportation to build a four lane highway in Calhoun County until revived by the 2009 Federal Stimulus Package. It had been the largest influx of federal money into the local economy since Fort McClellan closed. More than $21 million was earmarked for this project in 2005. [1] (See Page 124 of Public Law 109-59-Aug. 10, 2005 as enacted by the US Congress). This funding was spent acquiring rights-of-way and bulldozing a section of the proposed bypass from Oxford to the community of Golden Springs. As of April, 2009, that section now is a level, but undriveable clay dirt road.