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Montgomery, city (1990 pop. 187,106), state capital and seat of Montgomery co., E central Ala., near the head of navigation on the Alabama River just below the confluence of the Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers, and in the rich Black Belt; inc. 1819. It is an industrial city and an important market center for lumber and agricultural goods, especially cotton, livestock, and dairy products. There are stockyards and meatpacking plants. Manufactures include commercial fertilizer, furniture, food items, textiles, and paper. Montgomery became the state capital in 1847 and boomed as a river port and cotton market. The city has been called the "Cradle of the Confederacy." In the capitol building (erected 1857) the convention met (Feb., 1861) that formed the Confederate States of America. Jefferson Davis was inaugurated president on the capitol steps, and the city served as the Confederate capital until the seat was moved to Richmond in May, 1861. The city was occupied by Union troops in the spring of 1865. During the civil-rights movement in the 1950s and 60s, Montgomery was marked by black demonstrations, led by Montgomery minister Martin Luther King, Jr. In Dec., 1955, blacks organized a nonviolent boycott of the segregated public bus system; by the following year a desegregation edict regarding public transportation was issued. Racial unrest ensued there in the 1960s. The city is the seat of Alabama State Univ., Auburn Univ. at Montgomery, and Huntingdon College. Maxwell Air Force Base adjoins the city on the northwest. Gunter Air Force Base, adjoining the city on the northeast, has an air force extension institute and a branch of the aviation medical school. In addition to the historic state capitol, points of interest in Montgomery include the "first White House of the Confederacy" (built c.1825), preserved as a Confederate museum; a planetarium; a museum of fine arts; the state archives and history museum; and many antebellum homes and buildings.
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