Belles and blossoms will grace the city of Selma on the 3rd weekend of March as Alabama’s largest historic district opens its doors to sites rarely seen by the public.
Nestled atop a bluff overlooking the Alabama River on U.S. Highway 80, Selma hosts thousands of tourists year-round from all over the world who come to view historic sites that date back to 1820. But, it is during Spring Pilgrimage that visitors can experience a closer look through living-history tours. Tours include antebellum homes, churches, museums, cemetery, post-Civil War foundry, a 1861 gristmill, 19th Century Heritage Village and two art shows.
Visitors can spend a couple of days to see them all or opt for a one-day tour of homes and museums. Twilight is a special time when the ghostly residents of Old Live Oak Cemetery step out of the shadows to tell their own stories. Visitors will be led Friday and Saturday evenings to hear the stories of Selma’s former citizens. The “ghosts” vary each year and appear at the gravesites amid oak trees and sweeping Spanish Moss. Ghosts may include a U.S. vice president, a former slave-turned-congressman, Abraham Lincoln’s Confederate sister-in-law, a Civil War general and more.
You’ll want to spend a night or two so that you can sample all that Selma has to offer. Visit our website to find more information about our event as well as valuable discount offers.
Sponsored by the Selma-Dallas County Historic Preservation Society, Pilgrimage began in 1976 as a way to recognize and share the city’s variety of architectural styles and rich history. As one of the state’s oldest cities, Selma’s historic district features more than 1200 structures. Selma is located 50 miles west of Montgomery on U.S. 80 and 90 miles south of Birmingham on Alabama 22. It can also be reached via Alabama 14 just a 45-minute drive west of Prattville.
Package tickets can be purchased during the event at Pilgrimage Headquarters (Vaughan-Smitherman Museum, 109 Union St). Individual tickets can be purchased at each site. Pilgrimage Headquarters opens at 8:30 a.m. Friday, March 16 and closes at 4 p.m. Saturday, March 7 with house tours beginning at 9 a.m. and ending at 5 p.m. daily.
For more information, call 334-412-8550, visit the website, call 800-45-SELMA (800-457-3562) or write to the Selma-Dallas County Historic Preservation Society, P.O. Box 586, Selma, AL 36702-0586.
Home styles vary from an antebellum Greek Revival that bears scars of the Civil War to a rambling “Free Classic” Victorian that once served as a house church to a cozy 1920’s Tudor cottage surrounded by gardens.
Visitors can spend a couple of days to see them all or opt for a one-day tour of four homes. Come early on Thursday and take part in the late-night investigation of paranormal activity in a Neo-Classic mansion, or stay Friday night and tour the house following the ghost tour in Old Live Oak Cemetery.A century of architectural styles awaits visitors to Selma’s 35th Historic Pilgrimage. Nine homes built from the 1820s to the 1920s are on tour, most of them in the Old Town Historic District.
Home styles vary from an antebellum Greek Revival that bears scars of the Civil War to a rambling “Free Classic” Victorian that once served as a house church to a cozy 1920’s Tudor cottage surrounded by gardens.
Visitors can spend a couple of days to see them all or opt for a one-day tour of four homes. Come early on Thursday and take part in the late-night investigation of paranormal activity in a Neo-Classic mansion, or stay Friday night and tour the house following the ghost tour in Old Live Oak Cemetery.
