Moody

City of Moody
Incorporated	1962
Population	12,823
Mayor	Joe Lee
School district	Moody City Schools
Government	Moody City Council Moody Fire Department Moody Police Department
Web site	moodyalabama.gov
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Moody, incorporated in 1962, is a municipality in St Clair County with a population of 12,823. It is named for pioneer Epps Moody. City Hall is located at 2900 Daniel Drive. The mayor is Joe Lee.

History

The area was first settled by Epps Moody, who came to the area in the 1820s with a land grant signed by President James Monroe. By the 1850s a store, blacksmith shop and grist mill were all operating in the vicinity.

The old Montevallo Road from Ashville to Montevallo served as a stagecoach route, with inns and hotels to serve travelers.

A school was erected in 1879 and Rock Springs Baptist Church was organized in 1882. A methodist church followed four years later.

Moody was incorporated in March 1962 after a campaign led by Clyde Shirley. The first mayor was A. E. Moore and Shirley served on the first City Council.

Recent development

In the early 1990s, mayor Bill Morris approved a $120,000 incentive package to lure a Winn-Dixie supermarket to a former trailer park site in Moody.

In 1999 Moody invested $1.2 million in renovating City Park, installing several athletic fields.

In 2000 the city spent $6.2 million to purchase and improve a 130-acre site near U.S. Highway 78 near Brompton to create Moody Industrial Park.

In 2002 a new $8.2 million Moody High School was completed. The former high school was converted into Moody Middle School and Moody Elementary School was expanded.

In 2004 Moody issued $3.5 million in bonds to build a new City Hall, overhaul the public works and fire departments, and improve roads in high-traffic areas. Jenkins Brick, which built a $45 million plant in the area, donated 20,000 bricks to the City Hall project. The Moody Police Department moved into the former city hall. In the same year, Moody joined Leeds and St Clair County in providing an incentive package to attract a Bass Pro Shop to the area.

In 2006 Moody and St Clair County purchased the 25-acre Woodland Village Trailer Park for $2.6 million and hope to attract a major retailer to the site. A second fire station in Whites Chapel was created. In September, Red Diamond announced that they would relocate their headquarters and all divisions to Moody from North Birmingham, building a new $20 million facility and bringing over 200 jobs to the area.

Until 2008, Moody's sanitary sewer system was operated by the Birmingham Water Works Board (BWWB). That year the city established a Moody Government Utility Service Corporation (GUSC) and contracted with Alabama Utility Services (AUS) to operate its sewers. Using bond money issued by the city, AUS purchased the system from the BWWB for $2.25 million and the Margaret Sewage Treatment Plant for another $3 million. It was hoped that the arrangement would keep sewer rates low, but the results have been unpromising.

Population

According to the 2000 U. S. Census, the town has 3,126 households on a total area of 24 square miles. (337.1 people per square mile). The city's residents are 94% white and 4% African American.

34.6% of households had children under the age of 18, 60.8% were married couples living together, 10.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.1% were non-families. 22.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.58 and the average family size was 3.02.

26.2% of Moody's residents were under the age of 18, 7.8% from 18 to 24, 31.6% from 25 to 44, 23.6% from 45 to 64, and 10.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 95.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.8 males.

The median income for a household in Moody was $39,500, and the median income for a family was $43,767. Males had a median income of $38,150 versus $26,089 for females. The per capita income for the town was $18,208. About 12.0% of families and 12.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.9% of those under age 18 and 12.2% of those age 65 or over.

Over the last few decades, Moody has been one of the fastest-growing cities in Alabama:

• 1980 census: 1,840
• 1990 census: 4,921
• 2000 census: 8,053
• 2008 estimate: 13,400
• 2010 census: 11,726
• 2016 estimate: 12,823

References

• Thornton, William (October 5, 2006) "Moody experiences strong growth in homes, business". The Birmingham News
• "Moody, Alabama" (September 21, 2006) Wikipedia - accessed October 5, 2006
• Cooper, Lauren B. (March 26, 2008) "Birmingham Water Works Board sells Moody sewer system for $2M." Birmingham Business Journal
• Archibald, John (May 23, 2010) "Moody sewers spew cash for Blount, debt for customers." The Birmingham News

External links

• Moody website