Town file
Morris, Alabama
Morris, Alabama (Jefferson County, Alabama) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 402, "Fornication, Forensics & French Fries" (1 July 2023). In February 2015 Michael Earl Reese was shot once in the back of the head in the kitchen of the house he shared with his wife at Banks Street in Morris, Alabama, twenty minutes outside Birmingham.
- Town
- Morris
- County
- Jefferson County
- State
- Alabama
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 402
- Approximate location
- 33.746, -86.801
Episode 402 / 1 July 2023 / 69 min / express
Fornication, Forensics & French Fries
"So here we go, Morris Alabama, north central Alabama, about 20 minutes outside of Birmingham." about 0:04:08
The case: Murder of Michael Earl Reese (February 18, 2015). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2023
- Population
- 2,248
- Median household income
- $61,797
- Median home value
- $226,000
History, in brief
- People arrived in the area around the time Alabama became a state, around 1820; Alabama became a state in 1819. about 0:04:57
- The first thing they put up was a Baptist church. about 0:05:10
- The area was known as Shadtown, then Kennedy's Village or Kennellsville, and the name kept changing. about 0:05:22
- The railroad came in later and neighbouring coal fields developed once the railroad was there to get the coal out. about 0:05:43
- One of the owners of the Jefferson Coal Company was named Marshall Morris, and that is where the name Morris, Alabama comes from. about 0:05:53
- Coal from the venture fuelled tests to determine the feasibility of making coke pig iron at the Oxmore furnace. about 0:06:03
- Morris was incorporated in 1885 and then reincorporated in 1950. about 0:06:37
The reviews read out
5 stars
"A great place to live and raise a family, with great schools, a great community and a country feel, but close enough to Birmingham for work or fun."about 0:07:03
5 stars
"My community is amazing in every way possible, with no further detail."about 0:07:13
4 stars
"A connected and welcoming community for all its inhabitants, safe and quiet, with a cosy feeling; you meet friends or family on a daily commute, though nightlife has little presence."about 0:07:26
4 stars
"A place for families to settle down and for people getting into the routine of their jobs; it does not embody the eventfulness of big city areas."about 0:07:55
3 stars
"Not a high crime area, but the police are useless."about 0:08:17
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Jasper, Alabama28 miles
- Calera, Alabama43 miles
- Arab, Alabama44 miles
- Talladega, Alabama46 miles
- Gadsden, Alabama48 miles
- Anniston, Alabama57 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.