McCalla is a census-designated place in Jefferson and Tuscaloosa counties, Alabama, United States, southwest of Bessemer and the geographic terminus of the Appalachian Mountains. The community is named for Richard Calvin McCalla, a well known civil engineer, who served as chief engineer of several railroads throughout the South, including the Alabama and Chattanooga, the Tuscaloosa and Northern and the Knoxville and Ohio. He also served as surveyor of many of the rivers throughout the South.