October 10, 2023
The patch of the Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Police Department features an image of Chief Tushkalusa. Settlers combined the Choctaw words tushka, meaning warrior, and lusa, meaning black, to derive the city’s name. It was incorporated on December 13, 1819, one day before the U.S. Congress admitted Alabama as a state. Tuscaloosa is also known as the Druid City because of the numerous water oaks planted in its downtown streets since the 1840s.