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Once the cotton trading center of the Tennessee Valley, Huntsville is now well known as one of the leading high tech centers in the nation. Recently, for example, Newsweek listed Huntsville as one of the top ten high tech havens in the U.S and Inc. Magazine named Huntsville America's Hottest City for Growth in 2005. The foundation for Huntsville's high tech growth was the integral role it played in the United States space program. It was here that Wernher Von Braun and his team of German scientists developed the rockets that eventually propelled American astronauts to the moon, thus giving the city its nickname -- the Rocket City.

Visitors and residents can experience what it is like to be an astronaut by visiting the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, Alabama's most popular tourist attraction. The growth experienced by the City during the early years of the space program continues today as Huntsville remains one of the fastest growing cities in the South. The influx of engineers and scientists that came with the rise of the space program has transformed Huntsville into a very cosmopolitan community with the highest per capita income of any city in the Southeast. A major contributor to this economic growth is Redstone Arsenal, home of the Marshall Space Flight Center. One of NASA's largest field operations, MSFC performs research in developing space transportation and propulsion systems and is the leader in microgravity research. Cummings Research Park, the second largest research and technology park in the nation and fourth in world, is home to 220 electronic companies, government agencies, and contractors, such as Boeing, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, ADTRAN, DaimlerChysler, and SCI Systems, one of the world's largest contract electronics manufacturers. On the more relaxing side, Huntsville offers the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, the Botanical Gardens, the Huntsville Art Museum, hiking at Monte Sano State Park, Huntsville Stars AA baseball games, and an evening with the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra. Despite its 21st century outlook, Huntsville still retains its heritage and southern charm. On the courthouse square, one can stop in at Harrison Brothers Hardware that first opened in 1879. Nearby are Alabama Constitution Village where visitors are transported back to the year 1819, and the Twickenham historic district that includes the State's largest collection of pre-Civil War homes.