Historic neighborhood McThornmor Acres’ National Register of Historic Places marker was unveiled on Nov. 19, nearly two years after it was added to the register.

The neighborhood is believed to be the first neighborhood in Alabama on the register that was linked to the U.S. space race. Engineers and technicians who were part of the effort that landed man on the moon lived there.

What people may not know is where the neighborhood gets its name.

According to records cited on the application to get the neighborhood on the U.S. National Park Service’s register, the neighborhood is actually named after five Huntsville residents who played a role in its creation during the housing boom following World War II. That boom was accelerated by work going on at Redstone Arsenal that contributed to America’s space effort.

According to records cited on the application, the area was shown as undeveloped on a 1941 map of the city by the planning commission and was most likely in use as farmland. The area was still indicated as “farming” on a 1951 map called “City of Huntsville, Alabama Proposed Natural Gas System.”