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Huntsville is a city in Limestone and Madison Counties in the U.S. state of Alabama, and the county seat of Madison County.   Huntsville is the largest city in northern Alabama in a region of a half-million people, with the city proper having 168,132 residents (2006 estimate). Started with a single cabin in 1805, the city was incorporated six years later as Twickenham. However, it was renamed "Huntsville" (after first settler John Hunt) during the War of 1812, and has grown across nearby hills and along the Tennessee River, adding textile mills, then munitions factories, to become a major city, hosting the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center and Redstone Arsenal.

Huntsville is the largest core city of the four-county large Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area.

Huntsville's main economic influence is derived from aerospace and military technology. Redstone Arsenal, Cummings Research Park (CRP), and NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center comprise the main hubs for the area's technology-driven economy. CRP is the second largest research park in the United States and the fourth largest in the world, and is over 38 years old. Huntsville is also home for commercial technology companies such as the network access company ADTRAN, computer graphics company Intergraph and design and manufacturer of IT infrastructure Avocent. Telecommunications provider Deltacom, Inc. and copper tube manufacturer and distributor Wolverine Tube are also based in Huntsville. Sanmina-SCI also has a large presence in the area. Forty-two Fortune 500 companies have operations in Huntsville.

In 2005, Forbes Magazine named the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area as 6th best place in the nation for doing business, and number one in terms of the number of engineers per total employment. In 2006, Huntsville dropped to 14th; the prevalence of engineers was not considered in the 2006 ranking.

• Other Media Recognition for Huntsville

 Elementary Schools

Public

Blossomwood Elementary Chaffee Elementary Challenger Elementary Chapman Elementary East Clinton Elementary Farley Elementary Hampton Cove Elementary Highlands Elementary Jones Valley Elementary

Lakewood Elementary Lincoln Elementary Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary McDonnell Elementary Monte Sano Elementary Montview Elementary Morris Elementary Mountain Gap Elementary Providence K-8

Ridgecrest Elementary Rolling Hills Elementary Terry Heights Elementary University Place Elementary Weatherly Elementary West Huntsville Elementary West Mastin Lake Elementary Whitesburg Elementary Williams K-8

Private/Religious

Greengate School for Dyslexia Faith Christian Academy K-12 Holy Family School

Providence Classical School Valley Fellowship Christian Academy Whitesburg Christian Academy

Schola Maxima Oakwood Elementary

Middle Schools

Public

Challenger Middle Chapman Middle Davis Hills Middle Ed White Middle

Hampton Cove Middle Huntsville Middle Mountain Gap Middle Providence K-8

Stone Middle Westlawn Middle Whitesburg Middle Williams Technology Middle School

High Schools

Public

S.R. Butler High School Columbia High School Virgil I. Grissom High School

Huntsville High School J. O. Johnson High School Lee High School

New Century Technology High School Seldon Center

Private/Religious

Catholic High School Faith Christian Academy K-12 SACS & ACSI Madison Academy

Oakwood Adventist Academy Providence Classical School Randolph School (K-12)

Valley Fellowship Christian Academy Westminster Christian Academy Whitesburg Christian Academy

Higher Education

Huntsville's higher education institutions include:

• Alabama A&M University
• The University of Alabama in Huntsville
• Oakwood College
• J.F. Drake State Technical College .

The University of Alabama in Huntsville is the largest university serving the greater Huntsville area. The research-intensive university has more than 7,200 students. Approximately half of the university s graduates earn a degree in engineering or science, making the university one of the largest producers of engineers and physical scientists in Alabama.

Numerous colleges and universities have satellite locations or extensions in Huntsville:

• Huntsville Regional Medical Campus of the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine 
• Calhoun Community College 'stwo sites (Calhoun Cummings Research Park Campus - CRP Website ,  & Calhoun Redstone Arsenal Campus - Redstone Arsenal Website );
• Athens State University
• Georgia Institute of Technology 's two sites
• Faulkner University
• Columbia College
• Virginia College
• Florida Institute of Technology and
• Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

One of two local hospitals, Huntsville Hospital also has an accredited school of radiologic technology.