Alabama

One of the southern States, first settled by the French 1710, ceded to England 1763, admitted to the Union 1819. Its area is 52,250 sq. miles. The surface is very level, with a general increase in elevation northward. Into the northern part, however, extend the foothills of the Appal a chi an system, in the form of narrow ridges and broad plateaus, which diversify the surface. It is drained mainly by the Mobile River, through its two branches, the Alabama and Tombigbee, which flow from the northern part of the State southward, emptying into Mobile Bay. The Alabama is navigable to Watumpka and the Tombigbee to a point beyond the limits of the State. The geological structure is varied. Into it from the north extend the Cumber land plateau, made up almost entirely of Carboniferous formations, the Appal a chi an valley with its succe ion of Silurian and Carboniferous beds, and the upper portion of the Atlantic plain, which is composed of Archæan rocks. Around the edge of this formation, which terminates near the middle of the State, sweeps the "Black Belt" of Quarter nary beds, and this is succeeded southward by the Cretaceous, the Eocene and Neocene formations with the Quarter nary, forming a narrow coast strip. The industries of the State are mainly agricultural, and cotton is the leading crop, to which all other interests are subservient. The value of farms in 1890 was $111,051,390, of agricultural products in 1889 $66,240,190, and the cotton crop in 1891 was 1,060,000 bales. The commerce of the State is centered in the city of Mobile, and consists chiefly of shipments of cotton. In 1892 915,296 tons of pig iron were produced. Manufactures are rapidly increasing. The mileage of railroads in 1891 was 3,611. Pop., 1890, 1,513,017. nearly one-half colored; density of population was 29.2 per sq. mile. The capital is Montgomery, on the Alabama River, near the center of the State. (See Map on next page.)