Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Hometown Tour - Fultondale

By Valerie

Valerie will be writing a weekly column of hometown spotlights. Which means that we want to hear from you - you need to write up your hometown and give us the tour!! Read more towards the bottom for details on how to participate.

Hello Everyone,

We are a small community with a lot of new exciting developments. Fultondale is located just north of Birmingham. We have a population of just about 7,000. Fultondale used to be known as Fulton Springs - it was a small mining town that lies at the southern end of the Appalachian Mountain chain. We were an old mining town back in the days. We acquired our name by combining two cities that were named Fulton Springs and Glendale – Fultondale.


In the last decade we have seen tremendous growth. Colonial Promenade is the new shopping mall. I can tell you as a citizen that they couldn’t have built this fast enough. Before this was built we would have to drive to Brookwood Mall, Lakeshore Blvd., Trussville or the Galleria just to name a few places to shop. While I enjoy all of these great places, it is nice having something close. Included in our new shopping mall are Best Buy, J C Penney’s, Target (with a Star Bucks), Books A Million, so many other shops. We also have an Ashley Furniture store and a Family Christian Book store.

Colonial Promenade

There has been a growth of hotels and restaurants too. While growing up here we had a Dairy Creme, Hardee’s and Jack’s. Basically that’s all I remember. Now we have Burger King, WhatABurger, Taco Bell, Chic Fil A, McDonald’s, Subway , Quiznos Sub and an Arby’s. Restaurants we now enjoy also include a Chili’s, Logan’s Roadhouse, Full Moon BarBQ, Casa Fiesta and my personal favorite, Styx. On the other side of Walker’s Chapel Road we have Outback and O’Charlie’s. All great places to eat. We have had 5 hotels built. They include Hampton Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Fairfield Inn & Suites, Comfort Suites and La Quinta Inn.

Some of our old neighborhoods are Lewisburg Gardens, Timber Trails, Fultondale Estates, Darlene Estates and Francis Heights. We have some new neighborhoods too. These new neighborhoods include Black Creek Station, Chapel Hills, Town Square and Fulton Springs.

Chapel Hills subdivision

Along with growing retail and residential areas we also have all new parks. One of the main parks in our city is Black Creek Park and it is presently being expanded. It will eventually lead under Highway 31 to the other side where there is a Children’s park. I can’t wait for them to finish this stage to take my grandbaby to. The expansion will include a larger walking/biking trail (it is a mile right now).

Walking trail at Black Creek Park

We have new baseball fields and a new football park for the youth of our city. Activities include baseball, football and cheerleading. These new fields are located in south Fultondale on Highway 31. They are in front of and behind our new elementary school.

A.T. Holt Baseball Fields

Football Field

Yes we have a new elementary school. Our elementary school is from Kindergarten – 6th grade. Our high school is 7 – 12. We are known as the Wildcats around these parts. lol I am proud to say that not only did I graduate from Fultondale High but so did my hubs and our daughter.

Fultondale Elementary School

Fultondale High School

Our Senior Citizens also enjoy lots of activities at their Senior Citizens Center. Not only are they served a hot meal every day, but they are also planning cook outs and ice cream socials. I can tell you that this is a very busy place and they really enjoy themselves. They have a deck so they can enjoy the great weather. It is located in Black Creek Park. So they also have the Pavilion to enjoy, walks along the creek and a band stand.

Every August we have Founder’s Day and it is centered around the Senior Citizens Center. Founders Day is a fun filled event to attend. We also have a new dance hall for all of our citizens to enjoy. There are dance lessons, party rooms and even entertainment shows. Elvis has been in this building folks, well an impersonator anyways.

Senior Citizens Center

So that is a little bit about the town I call home. Hop on I-65 North and exit on Walker’s Chapel to be in the middle of all of the commercial development. You can also head North on Highway 31 and take a ride down the older part of our town. Either way you will see all of the new things our little town has to offer. We have some older restaurants along Highway 31 and our Veterans Memorial. Here is the City of Fultondale’s website, click on it to see future developments.

I hoped you enjoyed my hometown tour. We would love to hear about your hometown. Please contact Rachel (rachel@alabamabloggers.com) or myself (valwonderfullife@aol.com) if you are interested in posting one! We will be doing the hometown posts every Wednesday. I know that I would definitely like to hear about some of the cities of our great state that I haven’t had the opportunity to visit in person.
Have a blessed day!


Valerie's Bio: I am a Christian first and foremost. I love my life being a wife, mother, grandmother, sister, daughter and friend. As a child I spent my summers here in Alabama with my grandmother. I was born in California and our family moved here permanently when I was 13. This is home! I work full time for a Manufacturing Sales Agent and it's the best job! I dabble a little in graphic design and computer programming. I enjoy reading, cross stitching, knitting and painting. I started my blog so that family members all across the United States would be able to keep up with us here and see pictures of our children. I have come to love it!! To find out more about me hop over and visit me at It's A Wonderful Life.

4 comments:

Gina said...

Hey Valerie. I grew up in Fultondale. How funny that you write a blog about it. I skimmed through it since I know the history very well. :) :) It's nice meeting you. :) :)

Gina said...

Rachel, I checked out Valerie's blog..and guess what...I know her. How funny. I went to school with her daughter. :) :) Well now I know someone else that blogs. I hope you have a great day.

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