Opelika (pronounced OH-pə-LY-kə) is a city in and the county chair of Lee County in the east-central allowance of the U.S. state of Alabama. It is a principal city of the Auburn-Opelika Metropolitan Area. As of the 2020 census, the population of Opelika is 30,995, an deposit of 17.1 percent from the 2010 Census where the population was 26,477. The Auburn-Opelika, AL MSA with a population of 150,933, along when the Columbus, Georgia metropolitan area, comprises the Greater Columbus combined statistical area, a region home to 501,649 residents.

The Opelika Place was first contracted in 1832 after the Treaty of Cusseta was signed by the U.S. government and the Creek Nation. This settlement placed the land, and anything other Creek territories east of the Mississippi River, under the possession of the United States government. Though the territory now belonged to the U.S., Opelika kept its Creek name, which translates to “large swamp”.

Two decades after settlement, Opelika was chartered as a town upon February 9, 1854, thanks to its terse growth. This accrual was due to the Montgomery & West Point Railroad Company’s rail lines, which traversed the town and served as major means of transportation for unprocessed cotton amid the northern and southern territories.

Opelika later expected a supplementary charter in 1870, and its rushed growth continued. The town approximately doubled in size in the midst of 1870 and 1900.