A little off the beaten path, but a worthy stop on our vacation journey…read more Upon crossing the bridge and parking, we were greeted by a kind gentleman who had a table set up (selling shirts, books, etc). He introduced himself (I forget his name) and told the story of Bloody Sunday and his family ties to that event. That kicked into a meaningful conversation, which I am thankful for. We then walked the bridge, which was a heavy moment for us (as midwesterners who are mostly sheltered from this sort of history). Upon returning to our car, we struck up some more conversation, and got to meet "Mr. Smith". I didn't understand much of what he said, but I could feel the history in this man. He had a been a saxophone player, and had been around quite some time. He was a genuine spirit, and I am glad to have met him. We left some money on the table, and went on our way.

We visited and crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, AL on Jan 9, 2026 as part of Road…read moreScholar's "The Civil Rights Movement - Atlanta, Montgomery, Selma, Birmingham" program. The experience would be perfect if it wasn't raining that day. But we made the best of it. First, we gathered at Songs of Selma for a group photo. Then we took the walkway next to it to cross the bridge. I went across the road to the walkway on the opposite side to better capture the group as they were crossing. I'd have gotten more footage if I wasn't also holding an umbrella over my head at the same time. That wasn't fun. The crossing ended at the Civil Rights Memorial Park, south of the Alabama River. In all, the crossing took 6 minutes. Footage of the crossing is in the video "Day 6: Crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge" on my YouTube channel, in playlist "2026-1: The Civil Rights Movement - Atlanta, Montgomery, Selma, Birmingham". Also on my playlist is the video "Selma Bridge Experience 01.09.2026", posted by our tour guide of the same crossing. If opportunity presents itself in the future, I'd like to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge again... when it isn't raining.

Most places/museums in Selma are closed on normal days, mostly due to COVID. So, I was surprised…read morethat this place was open on a Sunday afternoon. They guy working there was so helpful and friendly. He allowed me to go back to the small museum area in the back that was open and then provided me with maps and information about the events surrounding the bridge. The museum area is small (only a small section of the first floor is opened, the other two floors are currently closed due to COVID) but it is still powerful, educational, informative and has pictures/exhibits from that Bloody Sunday and Turnaround Tuesday. The guy working there also provided with a map and pamphlets so I could do a self guided tour and directed my to the Brown Chapel AME Church, where the marchers started. The place is easy to get to and is part of the US Park Service. It is located right before you cross the bridge and has free parking right out front. They also have a small gift shop in the front, where the proceeds help support the Center. In the museum is a power voting display that is definitely worth a few photos. So, if you are touring Selma, this is a must stop. It is FREE and I recommend going here first to get your itinerary laid out. This place is simply awesome. A diamond in the rough.

We arrived in Selma on good Friday so many places were closed. Luckily this superb Center was not…read more The entire building is clean, modern and educational. There are immaculate bathrooms on every floor, safe stairs and an elevator. The film on the third floor is the perfect start, it moved me to tears. In addition, the chairs are so comfortable. There are superb photographs and quotes everywhere. You can see the Edmund Pettus Bridge from the windows and will want to continue your tour there. This is a must see!

We have been to Old Live Oak several times. This was the first cemetery that I photographed in…read more2000. While on that day I shot with a 35mm film camera and those photos are in a photo album, these photos are from our visits over the years, shot with a 35mm to a memory card, as well as different types of Samsung phones. This is by far my favorite cemetery to photograph. I have several family members on my father's side buried here. -Kevin Old Live Oak Cemetery is a historic cemetery in Selma, Alabama, founded in 1829 and expanded in 1877. The newer portion is sometimes called New Live Oak Cemetery, and the cemetery is collectively known as Live Oak Cemetery. It contains burials of Confederate States of America leaders, as well as Benjamin Sterling Turner, a formerly enslaved African-American who served as U.S. Representative for Alabama during the Reconstruction era. The cemetery is at 110 Dallas Avenue, approximately 0.7 miles west of downtown Selma. Famous Burials: Robert Woodward Barnwell (1849-1902), Episcopal Bishop of Alabama Katharine Hopkins Chapman (1870-1930), author and historian William Joseph Hardee (1815-1873), Confederate Lt. General from Camden County, Georgia, whose published military battlefield tactics were used by military commanders from both the North and the South. Catesby ap Roger Jones (1821-1877), Confederate Naval Captain who commanded the famous ironclad warship the USS Merrimack (1855) during its first battle versus the Union vessel the USS Monitor. William R. King (1786-1853), 13th Vice-president of the United States. Historians have speculated that King was likely the first gay U.S. vice president and possibly one of the first gay members of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. A lifelong bachelor, King lived for 15 years in the home of future U.S. president James Buchanan while the two served in the Senate. Buchanan, also a lifelong bachelor, is believed by some historians to be the nation's first gay president. John Tyler Morgan (1824-1907), CSA General, then six-term U.S. senator after the war. An ex-slave holder, he was an ardent racist and an advocate for Jim Crow laws and racial segregation. Benjamin Sterling Turner (1825-1894), the first African American U.S. Congressman from Alabama. Turner was born into slavery in North Carolina and taken to Selma by his owner as a child. He remained enslaved until the end of the Civil War. Turner spent much of his congressional career seeking financial aid for his broken southern state. He advocated racially mixed schools and financial reparation for former slaves.

Live Oak Cemetery is a potent example of the complex history of Selma…read more The final resting place of Benjamin Turner, he was Alabama's first African American representative in 1870. The plaque that honors him was installed by the Society of the Order of the Southern Cross so, of course, it implies that Turner was a Confederate sympathizer. The cemetery also features the mausoleum of William Rufus King, a vice-president who was pro-slavery (and may have had a long-standing homosexual relationship with President Buchanan). This long slim cemetery is filled with tall twisting trees from which faded green Spanish Moss hangs like garland. I meandered through the site until I came upon Confederate Circle. Atop a tall monument stands a soldier looking down ominously. Confederate flags are unwelcoming and chilling yet here were a number of freshly-planted ones sprouting like sprigs next to individual graves. Eight newly-installed metal plaques on a stone platform tell a story that clearly frames Selma as the victim during the Civil War. Referring to Abraham Lincoln as being 'avowedly hostile to the domestic institutions and to the peace and security of the people of the State of Alabama,' reference to yankees abound. Just a few minutes away is the Pettus Bridge. It's hard to reconcile that momentous civil rights history with the narrow romanticized southern vision of the Civil War that, obviously, still remains fresh in the minds of at least some here even after 150 years.

Unique Experience Unique Owner…read moreAvailable on AirBnB The Harmony Club was built in 1909 as a social club by the Jewish community of Selma. Situated on a high bank that overlooks the Alabama River the Harmony Club is a key feature of Selma's historic Water Avenue district. The Harmony Club building project was headed by Benjamin J. Schuster a leading merchant, outstanding citizen and President of the club. He ran Schuster Hardware Company that stood where the Edmund Pettus Bridge now crosses the Alabama River in downtown Selma. The first floor was two retail spaces, that have had businesses in one or both since 1909. The second floor was a restaurant up front and Men's Lounge in back (off limits to the public back then). The Lounge had a pool table, poker games, slot machines, cigar chomping and of course wives were not allowed but occasionally "ladies" were. The third floor was a ballroom that saw lots of dances and parties over the decades. The club functioned for many years, became the Elks Club in the late Thirties and boarded up in 1960. The building sat dormant for forty years until David Hurlbut bought the building in 1999 and started the renovation. The Harmony Club is a work in progress that has many more years to go. The Harmony Club was featured in the Dec. 8, 2010 New York Times, Home & Garden section

What is there to say about the city of Selma. This is a city that was instrumental in the civil…read morerights movement of the 60s. It is home to the Edmund Pettus Bridge, and we all know what happened on that Bridge on Sunday, March 7, 1965. This city is packed with a lot of history from that era and some of the cities attractions include, the Selma Interpretive Center, The Brown Chapel AME Church, the National Voting Rights Museum and Institute, and of course the Edmund Pettus Bridge. There has been I petition to rename the Bridge after the late US Representative John Lewis, who was present on bridge on Bloody Sunday. Sadly, a lot of the city is closed and/or abandoned and it is starting to look a little run down. It does not have a lot of hotels to stay, so it is better scheduled as a day visit. I drove down from Birmingham for the day to explore the city. I would check to see the availability and hours of places before you go, because a few places that I wanted to see were closed when I was there. From a historical and importance in American History standpoint, this city gets six or seven stars, but it is starting to fall behind and is severely neglected, which is very sad given its importance. I hope someone invests and the city and focuses on preserving it storied and fruitful history.

This mural was commissioned by the National Voting Rights Museum and 21st Century Leadership Group…read more It is the collaborative work of Courtney Snelling, Ellyn Jackson, Lovineeha Gooch, Naijal Abdul. The group painted the mural, that is located at southern end of the Civil Rights landmark Edmund Pettus Bridge, in 1999 as part of the Liberation Summer Project. It is on the side of a souvenir shop that never seems to open and overlooks Civil Rights Memorial Park. There is adequate free parking available to park, get out and take a closer look. The mural depicts key figures with connections to Bloody Sunday including Jonathan Daniels, Viola Gregg Liuzzo., Rev. James Reeb, and Jimmie Lee Jackson. You will find MLK in the center of the mural with the Pettus Bridge in the background. "National Voting Rights Museum" is painted on the mural's left and the words "Civil Rights Memorial Mural" is on the right side. A sign by the mural details the significance of each figure on it and reads as follows: "The lives depicted in the mural are: Jonathan Daniels (1939-1965); killed on August 20, 1965 after being released from jail for participating in a demonstration in Fort Deposit on August 14; Viola Gregg Liuzzo (1925-1965); shot to death in her car on on the last night of the 1965 Selma Voting Rights March; Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968); assassinated on April 4, 1968, the day after supporting striking sanitation workers in Memphis; Rev. James Reeb (1927-1965); died on March 11, 1965 in Selma, after being attacked by a group of white supremacists and; Jimmie Lee Jackson (1938-1965); a Viet Nam war veteran who was shot twice in the abdomen by an Alabama state trooper on February 18, 1965 in Marion, Alabama and succumbed to his wounds eight days later." I love the mural's meaning, significance and what it represents. It is however in bad shape and could use a refresh. Also, the art work is not the best. Some of the figures are barely distinguishable about who they are intended to be. The mural is starting to dull and fade. It has lost its luster. All in all, A nice mural that memorializes some key figures in the civil rights movement. Anyway, as with most murals that I have visited and reviewed, this is not a very long stop. I was there less than 5 minutes. You may want to consider planning out additional stops at many of the other attractions in the area, such as The National Voting Rights Museum, The Pettus Bridge or Interpretive Center. You could also make this stop part of a larger itinerary to maximize your time and trip.

Half standing structures. Old abandoned buildings that look creepily intact. Bricks and windows…read moreready to fall apart. Out of nowhere some random stones and monuments. All 200 years old. Right away, I'm already engineering ideas and solutions in my mind to make this place more worth your time. Because it's an anthropologist's dream come true. A real ghost town. Legit eery looking stuff. But unless you are watching Nick Cage track down the treasure 'round here you are faced with too many things that frustrate your experience. It's not worth the drive. I get that Alabama's first state capital was carved out of the wilderness. BUT now that it's a present day state park they could do a better job carving out the roadways and walking paths. With map in hand, I drove halfway down to see several sites but the road was just too littered with big branches and rocks and who knows what else. Did a storm just blow through here? Unless you roll in with your 350 this road just doesn't work for visitors to pass through. I'm bummed that I had to turn around and miss more creepy stuff. Fix that. You have to stay off the grass. And there's so much of it. Is there a way to manage it a little bit? Well.. Ecologists celebrate ....because yes of course I stayed off the grass. But now how am I supposed to approach and see the speck of an image that is advertised. Bring binoculars. Don't harm the environment..but I wish there was some sort of path to see the old church (the one you CAN'T really see) and industrial towers (the ones that are the size of your thumb). Come here during halloween, folks. Shivering right now. When it gets into your head..it can be real creepy. Oh, and bring cash. Unless you carry checks any more the entrance fee is cash-only.

Wow! So glad that I found this place! I came here with my boyfriend and I am so glad that I did…read more This place is super creepy! So awesome though! We got here a little late due to the distance that we did not realize we had to drive. Make sure you allot yourself at least two hours to roam the quarters if you are an inquisitive bunch like we are! There is a lot to see and you have to drive around in order to get to each spot. The houses that have been preserved are so cool to look at! We spent a significant amount of time viewing each home and seeing how they were built while reading the placards outside of each point. Note: The lake behind or in between the park is really beautiful. Don't miss it! Tip: get here well before dark because when it gets dark, IT GETS PITCH DARK! Even our headlights were not as helpful as they could've been had we not been in those thick woods so late. Would I recommend? Absolutely! I already have. Will I be back? I plan to! I didn't get to see everything.