Town file
Jacksonville, Alabama
Jacksonville, Alabama (Calhoun County, Alabama) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 248, "The Alabama Zodiac" (4 November 2021). Jacksonville, Alabama, sits in Calhoun County in the north-east of the state, about an hour and twenty minutes west of Birmingham, an hour and forty minutes east of Atlanta and roughly twenty minutes from Anniston.
- Town
- Jacksonville
- County
- Calhoun County
- State
- Alabama
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 248
- Approximate location
- 33.810, -85.755
Episode 248 / 4 November 2021 / 163 min / full
The Alabama Zodiac
""This is Jacksonville, Alabama, just like Florida, but Alabama"; he says it is in north-eastern Alabama, about 20 minutes from Anniston, and that three out of four Alabama murders he finds are in Calhoun County." about 0:05:19
The case: Murder of Jacqueline Nance (January 1977); Murder of Donna Tucker (July 1977). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2021
- Population
- 12,972
- Median age
- 26.7
- Median household income
- $40,000 a year
- Median home value
- $153,300
- Two-bedroom rent
- about $777 a month
- Cost of living
- 83.7
- Religious
- 72.2%
- Property crime
- ▲ about one third high
- Violent crime
- ▲ about 50% high
History, in brief
- Jacksonville was founded in 1833 on land purchased from the Creek chief Duhogue Ladiga. about 0:07:34
- It was first called Drayton for about a year, then renamed in 1834 to honour President Andrew Jackson. about 0:07:52
- It served as the county seat of Calhoun County until the early 1900s, when the seat moved to Anniston. about 0:08:01
- Jacksonville State University was founded in 1883 and the town is built around it. about 0:08:18
- Fort McClellan and the Anniston Army Depot nearby brought federal money and new people to the area in the twentieth century. about 0:09:10
- An F3 tornado hit Jacksonville in March 2018, causing almost $42 million of damage to the city and the university, with no deaths and four injuries. about 0:10:00
The reviews read out
5 stars
"The small town feel and friendly people are the best and they could not imagine living anywhere else; the cost of living is low, there are lots of restaurants and shops, the landscape is beautiful, the university is right there, and it is diverse, family and pet friendly, with people who genuinely care about each other."about 0:11:51
2 stars
"People are ignorant and abrasive and do not seem to genuinely care about each other; there are very few job, investment or cultural opportunities, though the area is pretty and the historic sites are interesting."about 0:13:08
2 stars
"There is nothing to do in this area."about 0:13:39
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Anniston, Alabama10.0 miles
- Gadsden, Alabama20 miles
- Talladega, Alabama33 miles
- Rome, Georgia45 miles
- Summerville, Georgia52 miles
- Section, Alabama55 miles
Everything here is as told in the episode, on the date it went out; figures and places may have changed since. Endings are covered: open an episode and use the spoiler switch to read them.