Editing Huntsville, Alabama (section)

===Early history===
Due to settlement pressures after the United States gained independence, this area had become largely empty of indigenous peoples by the turn of the 19th century. An Indian trader and boatman named James Ditto established himself at a landing on the river prior to American settlement.<ref>Edward Chambers Betts. (1909). ''Early History of Huntsville Alabama 1804 to 1870.'' Revised 1916. Montgomery, Alabama: The Brown Printing Company. p. 6. [https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/public/gdcmassbookdig/earlyhistoryofhu00bett/earlyhistoryofhu00bett.pdf Library of Congress website] Retrieved October 7, 2023.</ref> [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]] veteran [[John Hunt (Alabama)|John Hunt]] was a pioneer in 1805 on land around the [[Big Spring Park (Huntsville, Alabama)|Big Spring]]. The US negotiated an [[Chickasaw#Treaties|1805 treaty with the Chickasaw]] and an [[Cherokee treaties|1806 treaty with the Cherokee]] who ceded their claims to land to the federal government.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hill |first=Sarah H. |date=January 16, 2008 |title=Cherokee Indian Removal |url=http://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1433 |access-date=December 18, 2022 |website=Encyclopedia of Alabama |language=en}}</ref>

[[File:BigSpring.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Big Spring Park (Huntsville, Alabama)|Big Spring]], the center of the street plan in Twickenham (renamed "Huntsville" in 1812)]]
The area was subsequently purchased by [[LeRoy Pope]], who named it [[Twickenham]] after the home village of his distant kinsman [[Alexander Pope]].<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web |url=http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/huntsville/hsv_history.html |title=Notes on the History of Huntsville |publisher=History.msfc.nasa.gov |access-date=November 8, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100527092424/http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/huntsville/hsv_history.html |archive-date=May 27, 2010 }}</ref> Thomas Freeman and {{not a typo|Pharoah}} Roach started government surveys in 1805.<ref>Kathleen Paul Jones. "Madison County, Mississippi. Territorial Period, 1801-1817." ''The Huntsville Historical Review'', Vol. 1, No. 1, January 1971. p. 35. [https://louis.uah.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=huntsville-historical-review Univ. of Ala. Huntsville website] Retrieved October 7, 2023.</ref> Twickenham was carefully planned, with streets laid out in a northeast to southwest direction based on the flow of Big Spring. Given anti-British sentiment during this period after the Revolution and with tensions leading to the [[War of 1812]], in 1811 the town name was changed to "Huntsville" to honor pioneer John Hunt.<ref>Record, James, and John McCormick; "Huntsville, Alabama: Rocket City, U.S.A.", pamphlet published in 1953 by Strode Publishers</ref>

Both John Hunt and LeRoy Pope were [[Freemasonry|Freemasons]] and charter members of [[Helion Lodge|Helion Lodge #1]], the oldest lodge in Alabama.<ref name=helion>{{cite web|first=Toby |last=Norris |url=http://www.helionlodge.org/ |title=Helion Lodge #1, Huntsville, Alabama |publisher=Helionlodge.org |access-date=November 8, 2011}}</ref>

In 1811, Huntsville became the first incorporated town in what is now Alabama. However, the recognized "founding" year of the city is 1805, the year of John Hunt's arrival.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of Huntsville |url=https://www.huntsvilleal.gov/business/city-of-huntsville/the-history-of-huntsville/ |access-date=December 17, 2022 |website=City of Huntsville |language=en-US}}</ref> David Wade settled in Huntsville in 1817. He built the David Wade House on the north side of what is now Bob Wade Lane (Robert B. Wade was David's grandson), just east of Mt. Lebanon Road.<ref>{{Cite web |title=David Wade House, Bob Wade Lane, Huntsville, Madison County, AL |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/al0362/ |access-date=December 18, 2022 |website=Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA}}</ref>