About Montgomery AL
Montgomery is the capital city of the state of Alabama, and also serves as the county seat for the Montgomery County. This city is situated along the shores of the Alabama River, on the coastal plains of the Gulf of Mexico. Montgomery is as well the principal city in the Montgomery Metropolitan region, which is the 4th biggest of its kind in the state of Alabama. The very first Europeans to explore the current site of the city was Hernando de Soto and his associates who arrived here in the year 1540. The next recorded European exploration took place over one century later in 1697, when an English expedition from the Carolinas passed down the Alabama River.
The very first permanent European settler to move into the area was a Scottish trader who was named James McQueen. McQueen went on to establish his home here and eventually married a woman from one of the local native Amerindian tribes living in the area. In 1785, Abraham Mordecai, a war veteran established a trading post. The very first European-Americans to move into the future site of the City of Montgomery were led by General John Scott. This particular group established Alabama Town along the river, around 2 miles from the current downtown area of the city. Very soon after Andrew Dexter established the town of New Philadelphia, which was situated on the eastern end of today’s downtown area. New Philadelphia prospered, and Scott decided to construct a new town that he named East Alabama Town. These 2 towns were eventually merged in `1819 and official incorporated as the Town of Montgomery.
The town was named in honor of General Richard Montgomery who served in the American War of Independence. In 1846, the Alabama state capital was relocated from Tuscaloosa to Montgomery. After the 2nd Great War, returning black American veterans were numbered among those who agitated to regain their civil rights in the southern region of the country. As such, the black Americans from the City of Montgomery are now credited with nurturing the modern Civil Rights Movement.
At the time, African Americans consisted of the majority of customers for bus rides in the city. However, they were obliged to give up their seats or stand to make room for the whites who used bus transportation. In 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested after failing to give up her seat in a bus for a white male. This went on to launch the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Martin Luther King Jr., who was then the pastor of a local Baptist church in the city, and E.D Nixon established the Montgomery Improvement Association that helped organize the bus boycott in the city. In 1956, the United States Court gave a verdict that the City Of Montgomery bus racial segregation was against the constitution, and the boycott came to an end.
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Top attractions
The City of Montgomery boasts of over 1,600 acres of parkland, which are maintained by its Parks and Recreation Department. Also, this Alabama capital city is home to one of the most vibrant art scenes in mid sized cities in the country. To begin with, there is the Wynton M Blount Cultural Park that houses the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts. This City of Montgomery museum offers a varied permanent collection, which comprised of American works of art and sculpture. The Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts as well boasts of southern works of art, master prints by famous European masters and a collection of porcelain and glass works. There is also the Hank Williams Museum that houses one of the biggest collections of Hank Williams’ memorabilia. At the same time, the Museum of Alabama is the official history museum for the state of Alabama. This City of Montgomery museum is housed in the Alabama Department of Archives and History building in the downtown area. Montgomery is as well home to the W.A Gayle Planetarium, which is run by the Troy University. This planetarium has the distinction of been one of the biggest of its kind in the entire southeast region of the United States.
The city of Montgomery is also home to diverse performing arts venues and professional companies. This includes the Blount Park that houses the Carolyn Blount Theatre. There is as well the Davis Theatre for the Performing Arts, which is situated in the campus of Troy University, and was first opened in the early 20th century, 1930 to be more specific. This performing arts venue is the home base for the Montgomery Symphony Orchestra, the Alabama Dance Theatre and the Montgomery Ballet. Yet another trendy performing arts center in the City of Montgomery is the Capri Theatre, which was constructed in 1941, and showcases independent films. There is also the state of art Montgomery Performing Arts Center that offer numerous theatrical productions that includes traveling Broadway shows and even concerts. The City of Montgomery also boasts of the Montgomery Zoo, which is home to over 500 animals sourced from 5 different continents in the planet. This Montgomery zoological park is sprawled on a 40 acre parcel of land, and comes complete with barrier free habitats for its wildlife species.
Civil Rights Memorial
This City of Montgomery memorial is dedicated to the people who lost their lives during the mid 20th century Civil Rights Movements. It features a curved black granite wall that is inscribed with the words: ‘Until justice rolls down like the waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.’ Beneath this wall is to be found a black granite disk that has water flowing on its surface. This disk as well bears the names of those who died in agitation for their civil rights. To which end, a visit to the City of Montgomery cannot be considered to be complete without finding time to view this thought provocative Civil Rights Movement Memorial.
Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church
From the year 1954 to 1960, the pastor of this City of Montgomery Baptist church was the highly renowned Civil Rights Movement leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The church itself traces its origins to the late 19th century when it served as a slave trader’s pen. A mural located within the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church depicts King’s epic journey from Montgomery to Memphis. Not to mention a number of artifacts that depict King’s role in the Civil Rights Movement, later on when he returned to Montgomery to spearhead its civil disobedience movement.
Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts
The Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts primarily focuses on putting to show American works of art. This includes paintings, prints and a respectable graphics collection. Other popular attractions to be found in the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts are 19th century C American decorative arts, furnishings, porcelain and glass works. This popular City of Montgomery museum for the arts also regularly showcases traveling art exhibitions and even offers a wide variety of educational programs.
First White House of the Confederacy
This house was the very first official residence of Jefferson Davis and his family after his inauguration as the first President of the Confederacy during the American Civil War in 1861. The First White House of the Confederacy comes complete with a number of fascinating rooms. Some of the most notable of which are its double parlors and library. The wife of Davis donated most of the items, which are put to show in the First White House of the Confederacy. Among other things, this includes period specific furnishings, war relics and a good number of the Davis family’s personal property.