 As of the 2010 census it had a population of 14,775, with an estimated population of 16,034 in 2019.Before European settlement, the area that today includes Cullman was originally in the territory of the Cherokee Nation.The region was traversed by a trail known as the Black Warrior's Path, which led from the Tennessee River near the present location of Florence, Alabama, to a point on the Black Warrior River south of Cullman.