Tuscaloosa became the second Alabama state capital in 1826, when the state legislature voted to move the seat of government from Cahaba. The city served as the capital until 1846, when the capital moved to Montgomery. Tuscaloosa gained another important state institution when the University of Alabama, chartered by the legislature as the official state university in 1820, greeted its first students in 1831.
Photos courtesy of: Alabama Department of Archives and History