Historical Trails & Landmarks in Alabama
The Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail was established by Congress in 1996 to commemorate the events, people, and route of the 1965 Voting Rights March in Alabama. The route is also designated as a National Scenic Byway/All-American Road.
Civil Rights activists converged on Selma, Alabama after the long crusade for voting rights culminated in March 1965 with three strategically planned marches. The final push to achieve a nationwide solution to the disenfranchisement of African Americans resulted in almost 500 marchers who proceeded through the streets of Selma and across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Here they were faced by scores of Alabama State troopers. The troopers attacked the non-violent marchers, leaving many of them bloodied and severely injured, on a date forever ensconced in history as " Bloody Sunday".
A second march ended in a prayer session at the point of Sunday's confrontation. When an injunction circumventing the march to the Alabama State Capitol was reversed thousands of people, representing many races and nationalities, demonstrated again to secure the right to vote. The five-day/four-night event covered a 54-mile route along state Highway 80 through chilling weather and rain. The result was the personal triumph of those who participated in the historic trek and the signing of the Voting Rights Act on August 6, 1965.
Today, the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail stands as a testament to the sacrifices made in the triumph to preserve the right to vote as the bedrock of American democracy.
Historic Blakeley State Park, Alabama
This pristine 2,100-acre park preserves the sites of the last major battle of the Civil War; the important early Alabama town of Blakeley; and American Indian and colonial era settlements. Over three miles of unspoiled Confederate and Union fortifications used during the Battle of Fort Blakeley on April 9, 1865, are on view. Visitors can walk the original streets of the ghost town of Blakeley, a thriving riverside town that once rivaled nearby Mobile. Also available are nearly eleven miles of walking, biking and horseback riding trails that showcase the beauty of the park's rich natural environment. The park is a stop on the Alabama Gulf Coastal Birding Trail and the national Civil War Discovery Trail.
Historic Blakeley State Park has RV and primitive camping facilities, as well as an outdoor covered pavilion and indoor nature center. The park also offers boat tours of the Mobile-Tensaw Delta and the Port of Mobile which explore the rich biodiversity and cultural heritage of the region.
