Official Community Websites |
City of Jasper |
Walker County AL |
Walker Co Industrial Development |
Jasper Industrial & Economic Development Board |
Walker Area Community Foundation |
Jasper, named in honor of Sergeant William Jasper, a Revolutionary War hero, was settled in 1815.
During the Civil War, Union troops marching toward Selma burned the courthouse and several other buildings in town and raided neighboring farms for supplies.
The first significant growth of the area was realized in 1886, when the Kansas City-Memphis & Birmingham and the Sheffield & Birmingham Railroads were completed through Jasper. The population grew from 200 people in 1886 to more than 3,000 in 1890. In a special edition in 1891, The Mountain Eagle stated there were 400 coke ovens in operation, six coal mines, one foundry and machine shop, two saw mills, one brick work, two sandstone quarries, four hotels, and two banks. Lumber has continued to be a major industry in Walker County, but the abundance of coal, once our largest industry, dwindled as the resource was mostly mined out causing a significant slowdown in industrial growth here. The area has been sustained and thrived as the retail hub of Northwest Alabama.
With the construction of Interstate Highway 22 through Walker Countty, a revival of indutrial activity has returned to the area, spurred by the efforts of The City of Jasper, it's Industrial Development Board, the Chamber of Commerce of Walker County and the Walker County Economic and Indutrial Development Authority. Thier efforts in devloping the Tom Bevill Industrial Park has brought support companies to the Alabama and Mississippi auto industry, Fontaine Truck Trailors, among several others. Bevill Park was expanded three times, and after reaching its capacity a new Jasper Industrial Park has been developed, providing 400 acres of available industrial property with all utilities available.
President Franklin Roosevelt visited the town in 1940 to attend a memorial service for his friend and supporter, William Bankhead.Jasper has been home to many famous families such as the Bankheads which include United States Congressmen, United States Senators, and a Speaker of the House of Representatives during the administration of Franklin Roosevelt. This family along with Carl Elliott of Jasper, whose home here has been turned into a historical museum, Tom Bevill of Jasper & Carter Manasco of Townley make up more than a century (110 years 1887 - 1997) of continuous service by Walker Countians in the United States Congress.