White-Force Cottage at Selma, AL (built 1859)
This Italianate-style cottage is located beside the historic Sturdivant Hall in Selma, AL. It was built in 1859 for Mr. and Mrs. Clement Billingslea White. Mrs. White was the former Martha Todd of Lexington, Kentucky, and a half-sister of Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of President Abraham Lincoln. Mr. White was not a military person so the [...]
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Sturdivant Hall at Selma, AL (ca. 1853)
Sturdivant Hall is one of the state’s outstanding tourist attractions. Completed ca. 1853, this mansion is one of the finest examples of Greek Revival neo-classic architecture in the South. It was designed by Thomas Helm Lee for Edward T. Watts. Sturdivant Hall was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 18, 1973. [...]
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Brownstone Manor Home at Selma, AL (1898)
This neo-classic mansion was built in 1898. This home was visited frequently by F. Scott & Zelda Fitzgerald (Fitzgerald authored “The Great Gatsby” among other American classics). In 1983, the third floor burned while being restored. Since then, it has been restored to its original beauty. It is a private home, but also hosts special [...]
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Vaughan-Smitherman Museum at Selma, AL (built 1847)
This Greek Revival building is one of Selma’s most historic. It was built in 1847 by Selma’s Masonic Lodge #27 as a school for orphans and children of Masons. Through the years, it has also served as a Confederate hospital, the Dallas County Courthouse, a military school, and the Vaughan Memorial Hospital. The building was [...]
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The historic Brown Chapel AME Church at Selma, AL
Brown Chapel AME Church, with its imposing twin towers and Romanesque Revival styling, was built in 1908 by black builder, A.J. Farley. This church and its congregation played a major role in the events that led to the adoption of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Brown Chapel was the starting point of the three [...]
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Weaver Home, “The Castle”, at Selma, AL (built 1868)
This house, Gothic in design, is said to be a copy of a castle on the Rhine. William Weaver, a prominent landowner and son of one of Selma’s founders, built it in 1868. Located in what was once known as Weaver’s Grove, the home’s sand bricks were made on-site in a kiln built just for [...]
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Kenan’s Mill near Selma, AL
Kenan’s Mill was built in the 1860′s and produced water-ground meal, grits and corn for over 100 years. It was built and continuously owned by the Kenan family until Elizabeth Kenan Buchanan donated it to the Historic Society in 1997. On the grounds, there is also a 19th century brick charcoal kiln and a swinging [...]
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Bridgetender’s House at Selma, AL (built 1883-1884)
The Bridgetenders House is a small cottage that sits on a bluff above the Alabama River in Selma’s Historic Water Avenue District. It is located next to the St. James Hotel. (GPS coordinates N32.406528,W87.017806) Selma’s first bridge across the Alabama River was opened in 1885. A span of the bridge had to be opened to [...]
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St. James Hotel at Selma, AL (1837)
As the only surviving hotel in Selma’s downtown historic district, the St. James Hotel has witnessed much of the dramatic history that has played out in this picturesque Southern city. Built in 1837 atop the banks of the Alabama River, it was a home-away-from-home for visiting plantation owners, business men and even occasional travelers of [...]
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Edmund Pettus Bridge at Selma, AL
The Edmund Pettus Bridge spans over the Alabama River at downtown Selma, AL. It is a steel through-arch bridge that was designed by Henson K. Stephenson and erected in 1939. The bridge was named for Edmund Winston Pettus, a former Confederate Brigadier General and U. S. Senator from Alabama. The Edmund Pettus Bridge was the [...]
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Old Selma Depot Museum at Selma, AL
The Old Depot Museum is located at the old L&N Railroad Depot at the end of historic Water Avenue in downtown Selma, AL. The Depot was built on the site of the Confederate Naval Foundry which was destroyed… by Federal troops during the Battle of Selma in 1865. The red brick, stone trimmed building of [...]
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Grace Hall at Selma, AL (built 1857)
This Italianate-style house was built in 1857. In 1865, Wilson’s Raiders spared the house out of respect for Selma’s Mayor M. J. Williams. For many years it was a prominent bed & breakfast where former first lady Lady Bird Johnson stayed on several occasions. This home is located at 506 Lauderdale Street in Selma, AL [...]
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