ANNISTON, a city of Alabama, U.S.A., 56 m. E. by N. of Birmingham, on the slope of Blue mountain, the county seat of Calhoun county. It is on the Bankhead highway, and is served by the Southern and the Louisville and Nashville railways. The population was 17,734 in 192o, of whom 5,834 were negroes, and was 22,345 in 193o.
Anniston is a trade centre for cotton and other products, and has extensive manufactures, especially of iron, steel, cotton and chemical products. The output of the 51 establishments in 1927 was valued at $12,115,000. Camp McClellan, a permanent post of the U.S. Army, is situated here.
An iron furnace was built on the site of Anniston during the Civil War, and was destroyed by Federal troops in 1865. The city was founded in 1872 as a private enterprise by the Wood stock Iron Company, chartered as a city in 1879, and opened for general settlement in 1884.