Montgomery County

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21. The Gerald–Dowdell House is a historic Italianate style house in Montgomery, Alabama. The two-story frame and masonry raised-cottage was built in 1854–55 for Perley and Camilla Gerald. Perley Gerald was born in New York and migrated to Alabama in 1829. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 28, 1980. It was extensively restored in 2000 and now houses the law offices of Wilkerson and Bryan, P.C.

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At this point, I have posted all my older photos and have started up again with my current motorcycle.  The plan is to take a section of town at a time and cover all in that area.  I've found it can take a little time to find an address riding the bike, get the pics, and try to orient the marked map to find the next, especially when some of the areas are not places you want to hang around longer than necessary.

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5. The Patrick Henry Brittan House, also known as the Brittan-Dennis House, is a historic Italianate style house in Montgomery, Alabama. The one-story brick house was completed in 1858 by Patrick Henry Brittan, 10th Secretary of State of Alabama. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 13, 1979. The building is located at 507 Columbus Street.

The house went through various owners after the Brittan family, and was eventually acquired by Old Alabama Town in 1994. Old Alabama Town is a partnership of the Landmarks Foundation of Montgomery and City of Montgomery. It was founded in 1967. Many of its more than fifty authentically restored 19th and early 20th century structures from around the state are clustered together into a village-like grouping that operates as a living history museum. They have restored the Patrick Henry Brittan House, and, unlike many of Old Alabama Town's rescued properties, it remains on its original site.

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1. The Alabama Capitol Building
The current capitol building was built from 1850 to 1851, with Barachias Holt as supervising architect. Holt, originally from Exeter, Maine, was a master mechanic by trade. Following his work on the capitol he created a successful sash, door, and blind factory in Montgomery.

The new building utilized the brick foundations and general layout of Button's previous structure, with modifications by Holt. The modifications included a full three-story building over a basement and a three-story front portico, this time without a pediment. Holt's dome was a departure from the previous work also, this time the wood and cast iron dome was supported on a ring of Corinthian columns and topped with a simple twelve-sided glazed lantern. John P. Figh and James D. Randolph were the principal contractors. Figh had previously completed extensive brickwork on the William Nichols-designed campus for the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. Randolph was in charge of the carpentry work, which was at least partially accomplished by subcontractors.[10] Nimrod E. Benson and Judson Wyman were the building supervisors.

The new capitol building was first occupied by the Alabama Legislature on October 1, 1851. The clock over the portico was installed in February 1852. The clock, along with a bell, was purchased by the City of Montgomery and presented to the state in 1852. In proportion to the capitol building, the clock appears as a square white box with black dials and crowned with a gabled roof. The dials are 10 feet (3.0 m) in diameter with 4-foot (1.2 m) minute hands and a 3-foot (0.91 m) hour hands. It has been criticized as architecturally inappropriate on various occasions since its initial installation. With the secession of Alabama and six other Deep South states and subsequent formation of the Confederacy in February 1861, the building served as its first capitol until May 22, 1861.  A commemorative brass marker in the shape of a six-pointed star is set into the marble floor of the front portico at the precise location where Jefferson Davis stood on February 18, 1861, to take his oath of office as the only President of the Confederate States of America.

Inauguration of Jefferson Davis as President of the Confederate States of America on the steps of the capitol building on February 18, 1861.
In 1961 Governor John Patterson flew a seven-starred version of the Stars and Bars over the capitol for several days in celebration of the centennial of the Civil War. His successor, George Wallace, raised the Confederate Battle Flag over the dome on April 25, 1963, the date of his meeting with U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy to discuss desegregation at the University of Alabama, as a symbol of defiance to the federal government. The flag remained there for almost 30 years. Several African American legislators and members of the state chapter of the NAACP were arrested in 1988 after attempting to remove the flag. The flag was removed during renovations to the dome in 1991, and its return was barred by a 1993 state court decision, which ruled that a state statute from 1895 allows only the national and state flags to fly over the capitol building.

The building served as home to the Alabama Legislature until 1985, when it moved to the Alabama State House. Officially, this move was temporary, since the Alabama Constitution requires that the Legislature meet in the capitol. In 1984, a constitutional amendment was passed that allowed the Legislature to move to another building if the capitol were to be renovated. The renovation started in 1985 and was completed in 1992 by the architecture group Holmes and Holmes. Upon the reopening of the building, the Governor of Alabama and numerous other state offices moved back into the building, but the legislature remained at the State House.

On May 7, 2009, the legislature reconvened in the capitol building for the first time since September 20, 1985, due to flooding in the State House. This required some adapting, as the capitol did not have desks in the House chamber and those in the Senate chamber were 1861 replicas. Neither chamber has a computerized voting system. The capitol building's heating and air conditioning is supplied from the State House. Because the electricity had been turned off in the State House due to the flooding, there was no air conditioning in the capitol.

The original core of the building, as well as the subsequent additions, is essentially Greek Revival in style. The 1851 three-story core of the building features bays delineated by Doric pilasters and a monumental three-story hexastyle portico utilizing the Composite order. The original core of the building is 150 by 70 feet (46 m × 21 m), with an original central rear judiciary wing measuring 40 by 50 feet (12 m × 15 m). The first extension to the rear added another 70 by 50 feet (21 m × 15 m). Each side-wing is 100 by 92 feet (30 m × 28 m).

The additions started with an extension to the east wing on the building's rear facade in 1885. Then a south wing with Beaux-Arts influences was added in 1906. An externally identical north wing was completed in 1912. The matching side-wings were designed by Montgomery architect Frank Lockwood, in consultation with Charles Follen McKim of McKim, Mead & White. The symmetrical north and south side-wings are each joined to the 1851 structure with a hyphen. Each hyphen features a recessed two-story Ionic portico on the west facade. Both of the adjoining side-wings feature two-story hexastyle Ionic entrance porticoes on their north and south elevations, respectively. The west and east facades of these wings also feature decorative two-story hexastyle pseudo-porticoes with engaged Ionic columns. A new east wing addition with a new three-story tetrastyle portico was built during the 1985–92 restoration. The new portico includes columns that match the Composite order originals of the main entrance portico on the 1851 west elevation.







There is much more information on the grounds, the monuments, etc. but these simple photos did not cover any of that, so it encourages a future trip or additional photos from other riders.

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35. The Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, also known as the Mount Zion AME Zion Church Memorial Annex, is a historic church in Montgomery, Alabama, United States. Located on 467 Holt Street, it was built in 1899 and extensively remodeled in 1921.
In 1955 the Montgomery Improvement Association, who organized the Montgomery Bus Boycott, was formed in the building. During the Selma to Montgomery marches in 1965, marchers rested at the church on their way to the Capitol.

It is included on the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail. The congregation moved to a new location in 1990, and on November 4, 2002, the building was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
The sides of the building are decorated with murals depicting Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, and the Selma to Montgomery marches







There are several markers in the area commemorating the march, and though I noticed the mural, I thought it may have been added after the building was named to the register and did not include it.  Also, it is not an area where you want to hang around alone.

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12. The Cottage Hill Historic District is a 42-acre (17 ha) historic district in Montgomery, Alabama. It is roughly bounded by Goldthwaite, Maxwell, Holt, and Clayton streets and contains 116 contributing buildings, the majority of them in the Queen Anne style. The district was placed on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage on April 16, 1975 and the National Register of Historic Places on November 7, 1976.




This is just a snapshot of one street, more notable structures may be found at the following addresses if anyone would like to add them:

108 Whitman, 415 Martha, 603 Martha, 551 Clay, 422 Herron, 521 Herron, 639 Martha

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63. Winter Place is a historic complex of two conjoined houses and three outbuildings in Montgomery, Alabama. The buildings were constructed from the 1850s through the 1870s. The Italianate style North House was built in the 1850s and was the home of the Joseph S. Winter family. The Second Empire style South House was built in the 1870s and was the home of Winter's daughter, Sally Gindrat Winter Thorington, and her husband, Robert D. Thorington. Joseph S. Winter's first house in Montgomery was designed by Samuel Sloan in 1851 and it is believed by architectural historians that Sloan designed Winter Place as well.

Following several decades of neglect, the property was placed on the Alabama Historical Commission's Places in Peril list in 2004. It was purchased in 2006 by Craig Drescher, who is stabilizing and restoring the structures.

The complex was added to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage on September 29, 2005 and to the National Register of Historic Places on May 31, 2006.





It's difficult to capture the expanse of the property from these quick photos.  I was going to comment on the neglect until I found a website showing the progress on the property.  There have been substantial improvements from where it once was; I hope this beauty will one day be restored.

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31.
The McBryde–Screws–Tyson House, also known as the Tyson House, is a historic Greek Revival style house in Montgomery, Alabama. The two-story frame building was completed in 1855.

It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 28, 1980.





Photos were taken from where I was parked in front of The Winter Place (63.)

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38. Old Ship African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church is a historic African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in Montgomery, Alabama. It is the oldest African American church congregation in the city, established in 1852. The current Classical Revival-style building was designed by Jim Alexander and was completed in 1918. It is the fourth building the congregation has erected at this location. Scenes from the 1982 television movie, Sister, Sister, were shot at the church. It was placed on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage on March 3, 1976 and the National Register of Historic Places on January 24, 1991

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42. The Pepperman House (also known as the Ludlow House) is a historic house located at 17 Mildred Street in Montgomery, Alabama.

It was built from 1887 to 1888 for M.E. Pepperman, a pawnbroker. Shortly after, they sold it to Effingham Wagner, a dentist, who sold it to Robert M. Henderson in 1890. Henderson was the co-owner of Vandiver and Company, a wholesale grocer's, with his brother-in-law, W. F. Vandiver. By 1913, Frances M. Perry, his wife and their seven children moved into the house, until they sold it to William R. Ludlow and Richard G. Ludlow in 1943. In the 1970s, William R. Ludlow, Jr. turned it into an antique store, until he sold it to the Aronov Realty Company in 1979.

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 1, 1982.

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16. The Dowe Historic District is a 1-acre (0.40 ha) historic district in Montgomery, Alabama. It includes 320 and 334 Washington Avenue and 114–116 South Hull Street. The architectural style of the four contributing buildings ranges from Greek Revival to Queen Anne. The district was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 29, 1988.

There are 2 homes on Washington and 1 on S Hull

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18. The First White House of the Confederacy was the executive residence of President Jefferson Davis and family while the capital of the Confederate States of America was in Montgomery, Alabama. Completely furnished with original period pieces from the 1850s and 1860s, the 1835 Italianate-style house is open to the public. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1974 and the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage since 2012.

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29. The Lower Commerce Street Historic District is a 45-acre (18 ha) historic district in the old commercial district of Montgomery, Alabama. It includes fifty-two contributing buildings. It is roughly bounded by the Central of Georgia railroad tracks, North Lawrence Street, Madison Avenue, and Commerce Street. Architectural styles in the district include the Italianate, Classical Revival, and Renaissance Revival. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 29, 1979, the boundaries were subsequently increased on February 25, 1982 and January 15, 1987.

Here are some views of Commerce Street





I went out at a later date and added some photos from other streets in the district:

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32. The Greyhound Bus Station at 210 South Court Street in Montgomery, Alabama, was the site of a violent attack on participants in the 1961 Freedom Ride during the Civil Rights Movement. The May 1961 assaults, carried out by a mob of white protesters who confronted the civil rights activists, "shocked the nation and led the Kennedy Administration to side with civil rights protesters for the first time."

The property is no longer used as a bus station, but the building was saved from demolition and its facade has been restored. The site was leased by the Alabama Historical Commission and a historical marker was located in front of the building. In 2011, a museum was opened inside the building, and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The museum won a national preservation award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 2012.

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33.  Montgomery Union Station and Trainshed is a historic former train station in Montgomery, Alabama. Built in 1898 by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, rail service to the station ended in 1979 and it has since been adapted for use by the Montgomery Area Visitor Center and commercial tenants. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 and became a National Historic Landmark in 1976.