Athens

Athens is a city in and the county seat of Limestone County, in the U.S. state of Alabama; it is included in the Huntsville-Decatur-Albertville, AL Combined Statistical Area. Athens is midway between Nashville and Birmingham on Interstate 65. Athens shares a boundary with Huntsville.

Founded in 1818 by John Coffee, Robert Beaty, John D. Carroll, and John Read, Athens is one of the oldest incorporated cities in the state, having been incorporated one year prior to the state's admittance to the Union in 1819. The Athens area was the home of William Wyatt Bibb, the first governor of Alabama, and its second governor, his brother Thomas Bibb, who succeeded him in office when he died in a fall from his horse. In 1822, local residents purchased 5 acres (20,000 m2) of land and constructed a building to house the Athens Female Academy. It is today known as Athens State University.

Many homes in the central part of modern Athens date to the antebellum period, and are part of historic preservation districts.

source: wikipedia.org