reductions of $83 million resulted in the closing of five parks per Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources ($3 million). In addition, the state cut services at driver's license offices, closing most in several black-majority counties. This made voter registration more difficult, as the offices had offered both services. As of 2018, the state of Alabama offers online voter registration. In the early 21st century, the economy of Alabama has seen the automotive industry open large manufacturing plants, from Mercedes-Benz in Tuscaloosa County, to Hyundai Motors in Montgomery County. Aerospace giant, Airbus, has a large manufacturing facility in Mobile County. Huntsville, in north Alabama's Tennessee River Valley, is the fastest growing metropolitan region of Alabama, that is home to one of the per capita most educated regions in the United States. Huntsville is home to NASA's U.S. Space & Rocket Center and Space Camp. Huntsville also has a large defense industry presence. See also Thomas M. Owen – Historian and expert on early Alabama history List of the oldest buildings in Alabama History of Baptists in Alabama History of the Southern United States Black Belt in the American South Deep South Women's suffrage in Alabama History of slavery in Alabama City timelines Timeline of Birmingham, Alabama Timeline of Huntsville, Alabama Timeline of Mobile, Alabama Timeline of Montgomery, Alabama References Bibliography Overviews Encyclopedia of Alabama (2008) Online coverage of history, culture, geography, and natural environment. Rogers, William Warren, Robert David Ward, Leah Rawls Atkins, And Wayne Flynt. Alabama: The History of a Deep South State (3rd ed. 2018; 1st ed. 1994), 816pp; the standard scholarly history online older edition; online 2018 edition Alabama State Department of Education. History of Education in Alabama (Bulletin 1975, No. 7.O) Online free Bridges, Edwin C. Alabama: The Making of an American State (2016) 264pp excerpt Dodd, Donald B. Historical Atlas of Alabama (1974) online free Fallin Jr, Wilson. The African American Church in Birmingham, Alabama, 1815–1963: A Shelter in the Storm (Routledge, 2017). Flynt, Wayne. Alabama in the Twentieth Century (2004) Flynt, J. Wayne. "Alabama." in Religion in the Southern States: A Historical Study, edited by Samuel S. Hill. 1983 Flynt, J. Wayne. Poor But Proud: Alabama's Poor Whites 1989. Flynt, J. Wayne. Alabama Baptists: Southern Baptists in the Heart of Dixie (1998) Hamilton, Virginia. Alabama, a bicentennial history (1977) online free; short popular history Hamilton, Virginia. Alabama, a bicentennial history (1977) online free;