RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Alabama >> Colbert County >> Muscle ShoalsIndex...

Welcome to Muscle Shoals ...

The city of Muscle Shoals is located in Colbert County<1>.

Muscle Shoals was established in 1918.

A typical abbreviation for Muscle Shoals: Muscle Shls.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Muscle Shoals has a population of 14,634 people<2> (see below for details).

The community of Muscle Shoals is 520 feet [158 m] above sea level.<3>.

Time Zone: Muscle Shoals lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time

Area Codes for Muscle Shoals: 256 & 938<4>

The ZIP codes for Muscle Shoals: 35661-35662<5>

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Muscle Shoals had an population of 14,634 people. This is an increase of 11.32% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 22.73% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Muscle Shoals had a population of 13,146 people (or 24.11% of the total population of Colbert County). This makes Muscle Shoals the county's most populous community.

The population of Muscle Shoals represents 0.28% of the population of Alabama (which has 4,779,736 people), making it the state's 49th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 13,146 people, the population of Muscle Shoals increased 10.25% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 11,924 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Muscle Shoals.

Communities Also Named Muscle Shoals ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found another community named Muscle Shoals - it's located in California.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Muscle Shoals.

Websites for Muscle Shoals ...

Official Website: www.cityofmuscleshoals.com/

Communities near Muscle Shoals ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Muscle Shoals.

  • Russellville
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
  • Town Creek
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Cherokee
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
  • Littleville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Littleville is located in Colbert County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Littleville
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 992 people
  • Killen
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Saint Florian
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Saint Florian is located in Lauderdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Florian
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 780 people
  • Leighton
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • North Courtland
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • North Courtland is located in Lawrence County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Courtland
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 621 people
  • Courtland
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
  • Iron City
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Iron City is located in Lawrence County (TN)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron City

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Muscle Shoals. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Muscle Shoals.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Muscle Shoals. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Muscle Shoals.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Muscle Shoals. See our Newspapers Page for Muscle Shoals.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Muscle Shoals ...

Looking for more information about Muscle Shoals? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Muscle Shoals, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Muscle Shoals.

Adding Muscle Shoals to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Muscle Shoals in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found (so far) for Muscle Shoals was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<7>

From that list, the Muscle Shoals post office opened in 1918. The Muscle Shoals post office closed in 1927.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Muscle Shoals.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Alabama's counties, including Colbert, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Muscle Shoals.
<3>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Muscle Shoals - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<4>When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 256 code has been Overlayed with the 938 area code. New phone numbers in the Muscle Shoals area will be assigned with one of these codes: 256 or 938. As a result, placing a call in the Muscle Shoals area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<5>ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a city (such as Muscle Shoals). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Muscle Shoals or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS).

Our list of ZIP Codes for Muscle Shoals includes: 35661 & 35662.
<6>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<7>A copy of the Blevins & Helbock Post Office list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/