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Ware-Farley-Hood House, ca.
1850’s
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Old Alabama Town is a collection of over 50 restored 19th-
and early 20th-century structures located just a few blocks from the
riverfront in downtown Montgomery. The collection occupies six blocks, with many
of the buildings being rented for commercial use. Two blocks make up a historical
village where visitors can learn about the lives of the people who settled and
developed central Alabama. Individuals can take a self-guided tour of the village (groups can arrange for guided tours), which includes a one-room school, grocery store, doctor’s office, cotton gin, print shop, plantation
office, carriage house, dress making shop, millinery shop, shotgun house, log cabin, tavern, barn, and church. These are all authentic buildings from the time period
(many moved to this location); they are not reproductions (like Huntsville’s Constitution
Village). I enjoyed seeing the businesses; so many historical villages are mostly just homes and the buildings associated with family farming. The cotton gin is especially interesting!
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Lucas Tavern, ca. 1818. The Marquis
de Lafayette stayed here during his 1825 tour of the U.S.
Lafayette still holds
the title of the youngest General in American military history.
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Church, ca. 1888
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Corner Grocery Store, ca.
1892
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Carriage House, ca. 1850’s
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Newspaper was used as
wallpaper
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Adams Chapel School, ca. 1895
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Dr. Thomas Duncan’s Office,
ca. 1892
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Newspaper press
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Cotton Gin, ca. 1910
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A great time to visit Old Alabama
Town is during the
Alabama Book Festival. Last year, I visited for the first time while attending
the 10th annual Alabama Book Festival which takes over the grounds
of the historical village for one Saturday each April (the 2016 festival is
April 23rd). It is an event for all ages with over 40 writers,
poets, scholars and industry professionals discussing their work, reading
aloud, signing books, and teaching workshops. There are also children’s
activities, exhibitors, and vendors (including a street full of food carts). Along
with my artist daughter, I attended workshops on sequential arts (comic book creation)
and book publishing, talked to authors at their tables, checked out all sorts
of new books, and listened to well-known authors (such as Rick Bragg and Pat
Conroy) discuss their latest works. We also toured the buildings of the
village.
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Rick Bragg speaking in one of
the outdoor tents
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Books of all kinds for sale
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This comic book writer gave
an interesting talk which included info about how
he hires artists. He is also,
obviously, a Star Trek fan.
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More beautiful buildings in Old Alabama
Town:
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Molton House, ca. 1850’s
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Alabama Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, 1900
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| Davis-Cook House, 1857 (Alabama State Nurses’
Association office) |
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One of many Victorian
cottages now used for businesses
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Detail of another Victorian
cottage
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