Alabama

Folks here will tell you Alabama is about more than football, though the Tide and the Tigers are never far from a conversation. It’s a state of small towns, river valleys, and cities like Birmingham and Huntsville that have reinvented themselves more than once. People take pride in their cooking, their music, and the history that still hangs heavy in places like Selma and Montgomery.

Locals brag about the aerospace work up in Huntsville, the beaches on the Gulf, and the grit that defines the state. They complain about underfunded roads, humid summers, and college rivalries that divide whole families. Outsiders think Alabama is only cotton fields and football, but they miss the tech, the space industry, and the medical research that keep things moving. The businesses below show the mix of old and new that defines Alabama today.