Best Web Design in Decatur, AL (2026)

Web Design for Decatur, Alabama

Decatur is the largest city in Morgan County, spread along Wheeler Lake and the Tennessee River in north Alabama, which is why locals call it The River City. It grew up around a 1820 ferry crossing at the last consistently navigable point above the Muscle Shoals, became an early railroad hub, and today anchors a heavily industrial economy that runs from poultry to rocket cores. It is also the birthplace of Alabama white barbecue sauce and hosts one of the South's biggest hot air balloon races.

AppWT works with Decatur, AL businesses from Livonia, Michigan, mostly online and travelling as needed.

About Decatur

Also known as. The River City. The Chicago of the South. Hub of the South. The Heart of the Valley.

History. Founded June 16, 1820 as Rhodes Ferry Landing, where Dr. Henry Rhodes began ferry service at the site of today's Rhodes Ferry Park; President James Monroe promoted a town at the crossing and it was named for naval hero Stephen Decatur after his 1820 death in a duel. Incorporated December 8, 1826; Morgan County itself was created February 6, 1818 as Cotaco County and renamed in 1821 for Revolutionary War General Daniel Morgan. In the 1830s Decatur became the eastern terminus of the Tuscumbia, Courtland and Decatur Railroad, described as the first railroad built west of the Appalachian Mountains; it later folded into the Memphis & Charleston Railroad in 1850. During the Civil War the Union Army occupied the city and ordered all but a handful of buildings destroyed; three antebellum survivors remain: the Old State Bank, the Dancy-Polk House, and the Burleson-Hinds-McEntire House (where Battle of Shiloh plans were reportedly mapped). The 1864 Battle of Decatur earned the town the label 'a tough nut to crack.' Neighboring New Decatur was founded in 1887 (incorporated 1889), renamed Albany in 1916, and the two cities merged in 1925 to form the unified Decatur.

Local economy. Industry drives the economy: poultry processing plus manufacturing of automotive parts, refrigerators, booster rocket cores, synthetic fibers and copper tubing. Home to roughly a dozen Fortune 500 operations including General Electric, 3M, Nucor, Daikin, Bunge, Hyosung and the Tennessee Valley Authority. United Launch Alliance manufactures rocket cores for U.S. government satellite launches in Decatur and ships them down the Tennessee River toward Cape Canaveral. Poultry producer Wayne Farms and Nestle Purina's Meow Mix plant (a 200,000-square-foot facility) are major food-industry employers, and the city operates a busy river port on the Tennessee River.

Culture and community. Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q, founded in Decatur in 1925, is the birthplace of tangy mayonnaise-based Alabama white sauce (originally created to keep smoked whole chickens moist) and has won multiple world barbecue championships including the Memphis in May and American Royal grand titles. The Alabama Jubilee Hot Air Balloon Classic, held since 1978 at Point Mallard Park, draws large crowds to watch dozens of balloons launch each Memorial Day weekend. The Spirit of America Festival is one of the largest free Fourth of July celebrations in the South. The Racking Horse World Celebration, honoring Alabama's official state horse, is held annually at the Celebration Arena in Decatur. Riverfest and barbecue cook-offs sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbeque Society round out the food-and-festival calendar.

What makes Decatur distinct. The first wave pool in the United States still operates at Point Mallard. Decatur builds rocket cores that travel by barge down the Tennessee River on their way to Florida launch pads. The city straddles two counties, Morgan and Limestone. Nestle Purina's Meow Mix cat food is produced in Decatur, giving rise to the informal 'Home of Meow Mix' tag. Alabama white barbecue sauce, now a regional signature sold in thousands of stores, was invented at a single Decatur pit house in the 1920s.

Decatur Landmarks and Local Life

• Old State Bank (1833) - the oldest bank building in Alabama, on the edge of downtown
• Point Mallard Park and Aquatic Center - home to the first wave pool built in the United States (opened 1970)
• Cook Museum of Natural Science - a large natural-history museum that opened downtown in 2018
• Delano Park - created in 1887 and considered Morgan County's oldest continuously operating city park
• The Old Decatur and New Decatur/Albany historic districts - which together form one of the largest Victorian-era home districts in Alabama
• Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge - a major wintering ground for sandhill cranes and other migratory birds just outside the city