Huntsville was settled in 1805 and incorporated in 1811. Its 76 National Register listings run from the Big Spring to the Saturn V. Museums and hours.

Last checked Oct. 17, 2026. Facts on this page come from the City of Huntsville’s fast facts, historic districts and city cemeteries pages, the National Park Service’s National Register data (May 22, 2026 file), Huntsville Utilities’ history and the museums’ own sites.

Huntsville was settled in 1805 by John Hunt and incorporated as the City of Huntsville in 1811, the city says. In 1810 the town’s first official name was Twickenham; by 1819 it was the largest town in the Alabama Territory, and by the mid-1800s it was the cotton-trading center of the Tennessee Valley. Huntsville Waterworks, founded in 1823, drew its water from the Big Spring and was Alabama’s first public water system, Huntsville Utilities says. The spring itself was listed on the National Register in 1980.

Who to call

  • City Historic Preservation Office: 256-650-4779, City Hall, fourth floor, 305 Fountain Circle
  • City Cemetery Department (Maple Hill and eight other city cemeteries): 256-427-5730, 203 Maple Hill Drive
  • Weeden House Museum: 256-536-7718, 300 Gates Ave.
  • U.S. Space and Rocket Center (weekend museum inquiries): 256-721-7114, One Tranquility Base

Historic districts

The city adopted a historic district ordinance in 1971 and has designated local preservation districts since:

  • Twickenham (1972), the first. It covers about half of the original town and, the city says, has the state’s largest collection of pre-Civil War homes, more than 65 antebellum houses in styles from Federal and Greek Revival to Queen Anne and Bungalow, dating from 1814.
  • Old Town (1974), houses from 1828 onward, mostly 1880 to 1929; the western half joined the city in 1843 and the eastern half in 1866.
  • Five Points (1999), part of the 1892 East Huntsville Addition, which the city calls Huntsville’s first true suburb, made possible by a streetcar line; annexed in 1925.
  • Alabama A&M University, chartered in 1873 as the Colored Normal School at Huntsville and moved to its present campus in northeast Huntsville; most historic campus buildings date from 1927 to 1962.

The space age

Construction of Redstone Arsenal began in 1941, Huntsville Utilities’ history notes, and the city’s fast facts call Huntsville the “Rocket City” for its role in the U.S. space and defense programs. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center is on the Arsenal. Five Huntsville space sites are National Historic Landmarks: the Saturn V rocket at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center and four test facilities at Marshall.

National Register of Historic Places listings

The National Park Service lists 76 properties and districts with a Huntsville address, with the year each was listed. Six are also National Historic Landmarks.

Listed Property Address (as recorded by the National Park Service)
1971 Southern Railway System Depot 330 Church St.
1973 Twickenham Historic District Roughly bounded by Clinton Ave., California St., Newman Ave., S. Green St. and Franklin St. (enlarged 2015)
1974 Clemens House Clinton Ave. at Church St.
1974 Episcopal Church of the Nativity (National Historic Landmark, 1990) 212 Eustis St.
1974 First National Bank West Side Sq.
1974 Steele-Fowler House 808 Maysville Rd.
1976 Redstone Test Stand (National Historic Landmark, 1985) George C. Marshall Space Flight Center
1977 David C. Humphreys House 510 Clinton Ave., W.
1977 John Robinson House 2709 Meridian St. N
1978 Dallas Mill 701 Dallas Ave.
1978 Hundley House 401 Madison St.
1978 Leech-Hauer House 502 Governors Dr.
1978 Old Town Historic District Roughly bounded by Dement and Lincoln streets and Randolph and Walker avenues (enlarged 2015)
1978 Saturn V Space Vehicle (National Historic Landmark, 1987) Tranquility Base
1978 Withers-Chapman House 2409 Gaboury Lane, NE
1980 Beckers Block 105-111 N. Jefferson St.
1980 Big Spring W. Side Sq.
1980 Buildings at 104-128 S. Side Sq. 104-128 S. Side Sq.
1980 Church of the Visitation 222 N. Jefferson St.
1980 Donegan Block 105-109 N. Side Sq.
1980 Downtown Chevron Station 300 E. Clinton Ave.
1980 Dunnavant’s Building 100 N. Washington St.
1980 Everett Building 115-123 N. Washington St.
1980 Halsey Grocery Warehouse 301 N. Jefferson St.
1980 W. L. Halsey Warehouse 300 N. Jefferson St.
1980 Henderson National Bank 118 S. Jefferson St.
1980 Hotel Russel Erskine 123 W. Clinton Ave.
1980 Hundley Rental Houses 108 Gates St. and 400 Franklin St.
1980 Terry Hutchens Building 102 W. Clinton Ave.
1980 Kelly Brothers and Rowe Building 307 N. Jefferson St.
1980 Kress Building 107 S. Washington St.
1980 Lombardo Building 315 N. Jefferson St.
1980 Mason Building 115 E. Clinton Ave.
1980 May and Cooney Dry Goods Company 205 E. Side Sq.
1980 Milligan Block 201-203 E. Side Sq.
1980 Rand Building 113 N. Side Sq.
1980 Randolph Street Church of Christ 210 Randolph Ave.
1980 Schiffman Building 231 E. Side Sq.
1980 Struve-Hay Building 117-123 N. Jefferson St.
1980 Times Building 228 E. Holmes Ave.
1980 Yarbrough Hotel 127-129 N. Washington St.
1981 U.S. Courthouse and Post Office 101 E. Holmes Ave.
1981 Vaught House 701 Ward Ave.
1982 Flint River Place 1997 Jordan Rd.
1982 Kildare-McCormick House 2005 Kildare St.
1982 Lincoln School 1110 N. Meridian St.
1982 McCrary House NE of Huntsville
1982 Phelps-Jones House 6112 Pulaski Pike
1982 Mrs. William Robinson House 401 Quietdale Dr. NE
1982 Steger House 3141 Maysville Rd.
1983 W. T. Hutchens Building 100-104 S. Jefferson St.
1984 Building at 105 N. Washington Street 105 S. Washington St.
1984 White-Turner-Sanford House 601 Madison St.
1985 Neutral Buoyancy Space Simulator (National Historic Landmark, 1985) George C. Marshall Space Flight Center
1985 Propulsion and Structural Test Facility (National Historic Landmark, 1985) George C. Marshall Space Flight Center
1985 Saturn V Dynamic Test Stand (National Historic Landmark, 1985) George C. Marshall Space Flight Center
1992 William Burritt Mansion 3101 Burritt Dr., SE.
1992 Urguhart House 8042 Pulaski Pike
1994 William Lanford House 7400 Old Madison Pike
1996 Fowler’s Department Store 116 Washington and 214 Holmes Sts.
1998 Monte Sano Railroad Workers’ House 4119 Shelby Ave.
2000 George Jude House 2132 Winchester Rd.
2001 Lowry House 1205 Kildare Ave.
2003 Building at 305 Jefferson 305 Jefferson St.
2010 Lincoln Mill and Mill Village Historic District Meridian St., Oakwood Ave., Front St. and nearby streets
2010 Merrimack Mill Village Historic District Alpine St., Triana Blvd., Dunn Dr., Cobb Rd., Drake Ave., & Grote St.
2011 Dallas Mill Village Historic District Dickson St. NE. to Russell St. NE., Rison Ave. NE. to Pratt Ave. NE.
2011 Lowe Mill and Mill Village Historic District Triana Blvd. SW., 10th Ave. SW., Summer St. & Governor’s Dr.
2012 Five Points Historic District Beirne, Clinton, Eustis, Pratt, Randolph and nearby avenues
2012 Maple Hill Cemetery 203 Maple Hill Dr.
2014 Hezekiah Ford House 920 Countess Rd.
2021 Edmonton Heights Historic District Colton Lane, Crane Drive, Melody Road and nearby streets NE
2022 McThornmor Acres Subdivision Historic District Holmes Ave. NW, Brickell Rd. NW, Northington St. NW and Woodall Ln. NW
2023 Glenwood Cemetery 2300 Hall Ave.
2024 Whitesburg Estates Historic District Cahaba Road, Chadburn Drive, Mythewood Drive and nearby streets SW
2025 First Baptist Church 600 Governor’s Drive SW

Some Marshall Space Flight Center sites are on Redstone Arsenal and are not open to the public.

Museums, markers and cemeteries to visit

  • Weeden House Museum, 300 Gates Ave., built in 1819 and now city-owned. Tours start at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, subject to event rentals. weedenhousemuseum.com
  • U.S. Space and Rocket Center, One Tranquility Base, home of the Saturn V landmark. rocketcenter.com
  • Burritt on the Mountain, 3101 Burritt Drive SE, the William Burritt Mansion (listed in 1992). burrittonthemountain.com
  • EarlyWorks Museums, downtown. Hours are on earlyworks.com.
  • Southern Railway System Depot, 330 Church St., the first Huntsville listing on the National Register, in 1971.
  • Maple Hill Cemetery, 203 Maple Hill Drive SE (listed in 2012), one of four city cemeteries still taking burials. The free Maple Hill Cemetery Stroll is Sunday, Oct. 18.
  • Glenwood Cemetery, 2300 Hall Ave. NW (listed in 2023).
  • Historic markers: the city installs markers on city property through the Alabama Historical Association; markers are not placed around the courthouse square or in Big Spring Park. See the city’s historic markers page.

What this means for you

  • Live in Twickenham, Old Town or Five Points? Call the Historic Preservation Office at 256-650-4779 before exterior work.
  • Walk downtown: 26 of Huntsville’s listings date from 1980, most of them commercial buildings around the courthouse square.
  • See the city’s history in person at the Weeden House, Burritt on the Mountain and the Depot.

More guides: things to do this month, parks and trails and population.

Frequently asked questions

When was Huntsville, Alabama, founded?

Huntsville was settled in 1805 by John Hunt and incorporated in 1811, the city says. Its first official name, given in 1810, was Twickenham.

How many National Register of Historic Places listings are in Huntsville?

The National Park Service’s May 2026 data lists 76 properties and districts with a Huntsville address, from the Southern Railway depot in 1971 to First Baptist Church in 2025.

What are Huntsville’s historic districts?

The city’s local historic preservation districts include Twickenham, designated in 1972, Old Town in 1974, Five Points in 1999 and the Alabama A&M University historic district.

Which Huntsville landmarks are National Historic Landmarks?

The Episcopal Church of the Nativity, the Saturn V at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, and four Marshall Space Flight Center sites: the Redstone Test Stand, Neutral Buoyancy Space Simulator, Propulsion and Structural Test Facility and Saturn V Dynamic Test Stand.

When is the Weeden House Museum open?

Tours start at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 300 Gates Ave., the museum says, subject to event rentals. Call 256-536-7718.