2015 Tour

Tour historic homes and museums from the Civil War to Civil Rights and Beyond.

Heritage Village is the site of several 1800’s structures that were donated to the Selma-Dallas County Historic Preservation Society by private individuals. Included are four relocated historic structures: McKinnon-Riggs doctor’s office, 1830 Calhoun law office, Siegel servant quarters and a historic pigeon cote, displays of 19^th century equipment and furnishings.

This will be the very first time this home is open to the public! Tour where Martin Luther King Jr. planned the historic Selma-to-Montgomery march. He met with civil rights leaders Andrew Young, John Lewis and James Bevel in its breakfast nook and at its dining room table. On March 15, 1965, he sat in its living room watching the president announce the drafting of the Voting Rights Act.

Phillips-Hobbs-Gamble, c. 1837

Weatherboards creaked as Mrs. Frances John Hobbs hid her husband’s jewelry store silver inside the walls of this home, before Yankee looters razed much of Selma. Look closely at the north wall of this one-story raised Greek Revival cottage where it was damaged by gun-fire during the Battle of Selma.

Both the building and the members of Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church played pivotal roles in the Selma, Alabama, marches that helped lead to the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The starting point for the Selma-to-Montgomery marches, Brown Chapel also hosted the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) for the first three months of 1965.

Church Street United Methodist

The Methodists were the first denomination to organize in Selma in a wooden church around 1817. The present building is the third structure to house the congregation on this same site. The impressive Romanesque building was completed in 1901. The beautiful stained glass rose window on the Dallas Avenue side of the sanctuary is a memorial to the founders.

First Baptist Church, constructed in 1894 in the Gothic Revival style by a local black architect, Dave Benjamin West, is considered one of the most architecturally significant late-19th-century black churches in the state. The members of First Baptist Church allowed the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) to use their church as the planning site and organizational headquarters of the Selma campaign.

Even though the Baptists organized in May 1842, their first church wasn’t built until 1850 at the corner of Church St. and Alabama Ave. The first minister served as a chaplain to the Selma troops for the Civil War and became the first casualty of the Civil War when he drowned in Mobile Bay. The current building was erected in 1904 in the High Gothic style with two Tiffany stained glass windows.

Queen of Peace Catholic Church

Selma’s Catholic community dates back to 1850 when they met in homes. Construction of this building started on St. Patrick’s Day in 1869 using stones from the ruins of the Confederate Military and Naval Works. German architect A. Von Fichert designed the Gothic church.

Reformed Presbyterian Church

This church was built in 1878 under Rev. Lewis Johnson, the first African American to be ordained a Reformed Presbyterian minister. The church served as headquarters for the Concerned White Citizens of Alabama when they came to march for black voting rights. Pastors and members of this congregation have played many important roles in our community.

The Selma Interpretive Center opened in 2011 and continues to attract many visitors to learn about Selma’s important role in the Civil Rights Movement.  Pictures from the 1960’s Civil Rights Movement hang on its walls, and there are civil rights displays with books, CDs and brochures.