Tuscaloosa (Choctaw for "black warrior") is one of the oldest cities in West Alabama. It shares its name with a chief who fought Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto in 1540 and a river that stretches from the Appalachian foothills in the north-central region to the floodplain and lowlands of the south. Called "The Druid City" since the 1800s, when large water oaks lined its main streets, Tuscaloosa remains a center of industry, commerce, health care, education, and cultural life, with the university being its dominant source. The former capital (from 1826 to 1846) is affiliated with the Alabama Crimson Tide, catfish, Dreamland, the Black Warrior River, a strong folk and craft tradition, and Gov. George Wallace's 1963 "stand at the schoolhouse door."
