Huntsville in 1966: The Rocket City at a Turning Point

Tommy Towery

LHS '64

If you could step onto the streets of Huntsville in 1966, you would find a city changing almost by the month. The cotton mills and traditional Southern economy that had defined Huntsville for generations were giving way to something entirely new: a booming city built around rockets, space exploration, science and technology.

The transformation was being driven by the U.S. space program. By 1966, NASA's George C. Marshall Space Flight Center employed roughly 7,500 people, while another 5,300 contractor employees worked on Redstone Arsenal. The Marshall Center's fiscal-year budget was approximately $1.8 billion, with more than 90 percent of that money flowing to industry in Huntsville and elsewhere. Huntsville's population, about 17,000 in 1950, was on its way toward more than 140,000 by 1970. 

 Rockets Were the Biggest Story in Town

For Huntsvillians, the most exciting news of 1966 was happening in the space program.

The Saturn program was moving rapidly toward the Apollo missions that would eventually send Americans to the Moon. Three successful Saturn IB launches took place during the year, with two of the flights testing complete Apollo command and service module systems in Earth orbit. Engineers at Marshall were also conducting extensive testing of the enormous Saturn V, the rocket that would ultimately carry astronauts toward the Moon. 

The work was impossible to miss. Huntsville was not merely a place where people talked about the space program—it was a place where rockets were designed, tested, transported and prepared for flight.

The new Super Guppy aircraft became operational in 1966, giving Marshall a way to transport enormous Saturn components by air. Meanwhile, engineers were testing a complete Saturn V in Huntsville's massive Dynamic Test Stand, studying how the vehicle would respond to vibration and stress before it ever flew. 

For a city that had once depended heavily on cotton, this was an extraordinary economic transformation. 

Huntsville Had a Front-Row Seat to Space History

Huntsville residents also followed the manned space program closely.

On March 16, 1966, astronauts Neil Armstrong and David Scott made history aboard Gemini 8 by completing the world's first docking of two spacecraft in orbit. The achievement was followed by a frightening emergency when a malfunction caused the spacecraft to spin violently. Armstrong and Scott managed to regain control and make an emergency landing. 

The mission was particularly significant to Huntsville because Marshall Space Flight Center was deeply involved in developing the Saturn rockets that would make the Apollo lunar missions possible. NASA's own historical records show Apollo astronauts meeting with Marshall personnel in Huntsville in 1966 as they prepared for the next phase of America's lunar program.  The Moon was still more than a dream—but in Huntsville, it was increasingly becoming an engineering project.

A City Growing Faster Than Its Infrastructure

The space boom brought prosperity, but it also brought problems.

Thousands of newcomers needed houses, schools, roads, hospitals and other services. Huntsville struggled with traffic, suburban growth, an inadequate airport and a downtown that was beginning to lose its traditional character. The city responded with new hospitals, improved transportation, school construction and an ambitious downtown redevelopment program.

The economic impact was striking. By 1966, Huntsville's per-capita income had surpassed the Alabama average by about 20 percent.  But the prosperity also created a vulnerability: Huntsville was becoming heavily dependent on federal aerospace spending.

That concern would prove prophetic. Later accounts of the period note that nearly 2,000 people were laid off in 1966 as some Apollo development work ended. For city leaders, the question was becoming increasingly important: Could Huntsville continue to prosper when the Moon program eventually wound down? 

Civil Rights Were Still Part of the Story

The space race could sometimes make Huntsville seem like a city living in the future, but the community was still confronting the racial inequalities of the present.

Huntsville had moved earlier than many Alabama communities in desegregating public facilities and schools. Yet by 1966, federal officials were still pressing the city over school desegregation and equal employment opportunities. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights held a meeting in Huntsville in January 1966 involving representatives of employers, federal agencies, labor unions and vocational schools to discuss equal employment opportunities for Black Alabamians.  A later historical assessment of Huntsville's civil-rights era notes that the city had achieved important victories in public-facility and school desegregation, while also confronting the harder problem of unequal opportunities that persisted beneath formal integration. 

The city's leaders and business community increasingly understood that Huntsville's future as a modern scientific and industrial center depended not only on rockets and laboratories, but also on its ability to address housing, employment and race relations.

A City Looking Toward the Future

There was also a lighter side to life in 1966.

On September 1, Huntsville became the setting for an episode of the popular television program Where the Action Is!, filmed at Big Spring Park. Mayor Glenn Hearn welcomed the television audience, while local teenagers joined the festivities and musical performers entertained the crowd. 

It was a fitting snapshot of Huntsville that year: a Southern city with one foot in its past and the other firmly planted in the modern age.

1966: The Year Huntsville Became the Rocket City

Looking back, 1966 stands out as a pivotal year.

Huntsville was no longer simply a North Alabama city benefiting from the presence of Redstone Arsenal. It had become one of the nation's most important centers of aerospace research and engineering. Thousands of scientists, engineers, technicians and workers were helping develop the machines that would carry Americans to the Moon.

At the same time, the city was wrestling with rapid growth, racial inequality, urban redevelopment and the uncertainty of an economy tied closely to Apollo.

The headlines of 1966 therefore tell two stories. One was about reaching the Moon. The other was about building a new Huntsville on the ground.

Both stories would shape the city for decades to come.

The Full Story of Space City USA

Huntsville’s Most Ambitious Dream — And Its Most Spectacular Failure

Willard Finkbinder

Space City USA is one of the most captivating lost projects in Alabama history — a futuristic theme park conceived at the height of the Space Race, partially built, heavily promoted, and ultimately abandoned before a single ticket was ever sold. Its story is a blend of optimism, miscalculation, engineering challenges, and the unique cultural moment of Huntsville in the 1960s.

1. The First Spark (1959–1963)

The idea began around 1959, when developers proposed a theme park called Time World. Huntsville was transforming rapidly — NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center was booming, engineers were arriving from across the country, and the city was becoming known as Rocket City.

By 1963, the concept evolved into something far more ambitious: a space‑age amusement park that would rival Disneyland and capitalize on Huntsville’s new identity.

The project’s champion was Hubert Mitchell, a charismatic entrepreneur involved in restaurants, drive‑ins, manufacturing, and even automobile ventures. Mitchell believed Huntsville was ready for a world‑class attraction.

 2. The Grand Announcement (January 1964)

Mitchell publicly unveiled Space City USA in early 1964, describing it as a $5 million futuristic theme park built around Lady Ann Lake off Highway 20.

Promotional materials promised:

• A park that transported visitors “into the world of the past, fantasy, and future”

• A projected 1.2 million visitors per year

• A spring 1965 opening date

• A multi‑land layout connected by a “Time Machine” entrance

Huntsville newspapers ran glowing articles. Families drove out to the site to watch construction. Investors bought stock. Optimism was everywhere.

 3. The Park’s Planned Lands & Attractions

Space City USA was divided into themed zones, each with its own rides and atmosphere:

• Lost World — dinosaurs, cavemen, and a seven‑story volcano

• Land of Oz — fantasy rides and a giant Jack‑and‑the‑Beanstalk slide

• Old South — paddle‑wheel boats and Gay Nineties saloons

• Dead Man’s Island — pirates, treasure caves, adventure trails

• Moon City — domed lunar habitats and futuristic exhibits

• Space Plaza — the central hub of space‑age attractions

Signature rides included:

• Flying saucers

• Jet cars

• Skyway gondolas

• Glass‑bottom boats

• A volcano centerpiece

• A mushroom‑shaped lunar restaurant

It was a wild, imaginative blend of fantasy, history, and science fiction — the kind of park only the 1960s could dream up.

 4. Construction Begins (1964–1965)

Early construction included:

• Lowering Lady Ann Lake

• Carving lagoon channels

• Pouring curved sidewalks

• Installing train tracks

• Building the volcano’s timber frame

• Creating concrete pier blocks

• Grading land for themed zones

Newspaper photos from 1965 showed scattered structures rising across the property. The volcano base was visible. Sidewalks curved through empty fields. Lagoon outlines took shape. But even as visible progress appeared, trouble was brewing.

5. The Problems No One Could Fix

• Terrain Issues - The land around Lady Ann Lake was far more difficult than expected. Hidden springs, unstable soil, and uneven ground caused massive cost overruns.

• Weather Delays

• Rain repeatedly halted grading and foundation work.

• Financial Collapse

• The project’s cost ballooned beyond the initial $5 million estimate. Stock sales slowed. Investors grew nervous.

• Leadership Breakdown

• Mitchell resigned in 1965. Without his drive and charisma, the project lost momentum.

• Mismanagement

Plans shifted constantly. Oversight was weak. Contractors complained of confusion and unpaid bills.

By late 1965, construction slowed to a crawl. By 1966, it was nearly frozen.

6. The Slow Death (1966–1971)

From 1966 onward, Space City USA became a ghost project.

• The volcano stood unfinished

• Sidewalks led nowhere

• Lagoon channels sat half‑formed

• Equipment rusted in place

• Investors filed lawsuits

• Assets were auctioned off

In 1971, the company officially filed for bankruptcy. The dream was over.

7. What Remains Today — The Real Artifacts

Several physical remnants still exist:

• Curved sidewalks

• Concrete pier blocks

• Lagoon outlines

• Volcano foundation remnants

• Grading cuts and concrete pads

• A section of the Cave Man Car Ride path (now part of Edgewater’s clubhouse sidewalk)

• A large Space City USA sign rediscovered in 2017

8. Why Space City USA Still Matters

Even though the park never opened, it remains beloved because it symbolizes:

• The optimism of the Space Race

• Huntsville’s willingness to dream big

• The city’s transformation into Rocket City

• A moment when imagination seemed limitless

Space City USA is remembered not for what it was, but for what it almost became — a futuristic wonderland rising from the Alabama countryside.

The Wayback Machine

Next Week - 1967 ?

Although this is the official group for the members of Lee High School Classes of '64, '65, and '66, over the years we have added readers from some of the later classes. This week we covered the news and songs of the year 1966, but do we stop there and move on to other subjects? Or, does anyone want to continue with '67 and '68. For the earlier classmates, many of us had moved away from Huntsville and lost touch with the happenings of the city after we left. Do any of you care to continue our review of Huntsville'

Carolyn Burgess

Homemaker of Tomorrow

Carolyn Burgess Featheringill, LHS ‘65, "When I enlarged the featured 1965 Traveller, I was surprised to see that I had made the front page. It must have been a slow week in the Traveller newsroom if my winning the Betty Crocker contest was front page news! But, as always, thank you, Tommy, for bringing back long-forgotten memories."

In the spring of 1964, Bob Walker, LHS '64, and I took his 1952 Ford to see the construction going on at Space City USA. Several of the structures were under construction and we were both

Last Week's Questions, Answers, And Comments

Tom