Institution

The Lyric Theatre, located on Washington Street.

The Princess Theatre, located on Church Street in the Black business district.

In the 1960’s, Huntsville’s theaters included The Lyric, The Grand, The Tony (Martin), The Princess, The Central.  The drive-ins were Whitesburg, 231, Parkway,  Woody’s, and the 72. The Princess Theater specifically served African American moviegoers.

During Huntsville's organized civil rights movement, African American protestors would stand in line to buy movie tickets at “white” theaters, be refused service when they got to the ticket window, then immediately go to the back of the line and try and try again.  Eventually, African Americans were permitted to attend the previously all-white Lyric Theater, but were asked to sit in the balcony.  Many young white people were upset because a courting place had been taken from them.  They were told, “It is against the law for white people to sit in the balcony.”  This was the same answer their parents had given them when they were children and had asked why they couldn’t drink out of the colored water fountains, “It is against the law and you will get arrested.” 

Huntsville's Segregated Movie Theaters

Director

This walking tour of Huntsville begins at the oldest surviving railroad depot in Alabama which now serves as a museum. Highlights of the tour include St. Mary of the Visitation Catholic Church, Alabama Constitution Hall Park, and sites related to the city's civil rights movement. 

The Huntsville Depot Museum offers visitors a glimpse of life during the construction and operation of the railroad. Functioning as part of the Early Works Family of Museums, the depot offers guided tours that educate visitors about&nbsp;life on the railroad. The depot itself is a symbol of Huntsville's transportation history as it played a major role in the development of rail travel and the city itself.&nbsp; Created by The Memphis &amp; Charleston Railroad Company in 1860, the Huntsville Depot became part of the company's Eastern Division Headquarters.&nbsp;The&nbsp;headquarters continued to grow and expand, and other buildings were added to improve its functionality.<blockquote>"by the late 1860s, the headquarters included&nbsp;the depot, a freight station, a 13-bay roundhouse with turntable, an engine house, a car shop, and a machine shop."4</blockquote>The depot building itself contained many types of rooms such as offices, restrooms, baggage rooms, and bunk rooms for employees.&nbsp; The Huntsville Depot was a vital Confederate rail link during the Civil War. On April 11, 1862, the depot was captured by Union forces, resulting in the imprisonment of 159 Confederate soldiers within the depot itself. The depot was returned to The Memphis &amp; Charleston Railroad Company after the Civil War, but the company eventually went bankrupt, causing the depot to be sold to the Southern Railway System in 1898. The Huntsville Depot remained in operation for many years after being purchased by the Southern Railway System. It was renovated in 1912 and was operated as a passenger station until 1968. The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.

The Huntsville Depot Museum is one of the oldest railroad depots in the United States. Located on the Norfolk Southern Railway line in downtown Huntsville, it is the oldest surviving railroad depot in Alabama. Created by The Memphis & Charleston Railroad Company, the Huntsville Depot became the company's Eastern Division Headquarters in the 1860s. This made the depot instrumental in the development of rail travel and the growth of Huntsville itself. 

Huntsville Depot Museum

This monument is dedicated to Huntsville-area veterans and follows the stories of three specific men who served in the war.&nbsp;The monument begins with the story of&nbsp;Technical Sergeant Ed Detaille, Jr. He was apart of the largest bombing campaign in history and shares the opinion of some soldiers that the military might have prevailed had these bombing campaigns been expanded. Although military historians and many contemporary military officials disagree that more bombing campaigns would have been effective, Detaille's perspective reflects what many soldiers were told by military leaders and politicians&nbsp;at the time.&nbsp;&nbsp; Staff Sergeant Peter Drake describes the&nbsp;strenuous physical conditions that he and other soldiers endured. He discusses the experience of infantrymen, including those who were drafted and those who&nbsp;volunteered. He also describes the experience of serving in&nbsp;the air-mobile divisions in the Army, a new type of warfare that blended infantry and helicopters for the jungles of&nbsp;Vietnam. The finally story follows the experience of an older man who had served in Korea. His story is vastly different from the younger men that served, as he had been discharged from the military but reenlisted after college due to the lack of employment opportunities. His service in Vietnam started before the combat troops were on the ground in combat roles, as he&nbsp;was part of the military advisor program designed to assist the South Vietnamese military.&nbsp;

Dedicated on Veterans Day in 2001, this memorial complex includes a variety of memorials that honor veterans from Huntsville and Madison County. The complex features monuments to veterans of specific conflicts, as well as general monuments that honor all veterans. The memorial park was created with the help of the city and county government and over $3 million in donations. The complex includes an eternal flame and fountains, a reflecting pool, a monument to men risking their lives to save a fallen comrade, and panels of polished Black granite that bear the names of over 365 soldiers from Madison County who died during their term of service. The memorial is surrounded by a brick pathway with over five thousand bricks placed by supporters who helped raise funds for the memorial complex. 

Huntsville-Madison County Veterans Memorial 

Huntsville is known as the site of the convention that drew up the first
constitutions of Alabama in 1819. Belong to Madison County, St. Mary of the
Visitation Catholic Church has a rich Catholic history and great succession of
thirty-three pastors in the oldest parish stretches from 1860 to the present
date. Besides, Huntsville is also listed in the Catholic Directory by Sadlier
because it was area where hosted one of the missions of North Alabama,
especially the priests from Nashville Diocese attended in this mission from
1845 to 1851. Based on the early history of St. Mary of Visitation Parish, St. Mary of
the Visitation Parish is a symbol of faithfulness and generous service within
the parish as well as to the local community. The St. Mary of the Visitation Catholic
Church was named in honor of Mary’s visit to Elizabeth as described in
Luke's Gospel&nbsp;(1).On
October 10, 1860, Father Jeremiah F. Trecy came to this area to serve in the
Diocese of Mobile. Then in July, 1861, the parish was established by Fr.
Jeremiah Trecy. Father
Jeremiah F. Trecy was born in Ireland and had been ordained a priest in
Dubuque, Iowa in 1851. With great experience in gathering congregations and
building a church in Iowa, he worked as an assistant for Bishop John Quinlan
and was sent to establish a parish in Huntsville. In 1861, the first
cornerstone of the church was laid. On May 1861, the request for fund raising
to build a Catholic Church was sent to the community and the oral history
proved that eleven Catholic families were the original parish who worked hard
to build up the church. However, the Church’s construction was suspended during
the Civil War. Father Trecy and parishioners were helping to prepare hospital
facilities and tend to the wounded for both sides during the battle. Afterward,
Father Trecy became a chaplain to General Rosecrans until 1868 and kept continuing
his journey to the the battlefields of Luka, Corinth and Stone River. The dedication of Father Trecy was impossible to count, after returning
from the war, Father Trecy got permission from Bishop Quinlan to raise funding
for completing the construction of the church. Maryland, Michigan and other
states were the great destinations for raising funds in his journey. At that
time, Father John B. Baasen was in charge of the parish. And finally, the
church was completed before 1872 except the fresco. On November 11, 1877, it
was dedicated by Bishop Quinlan.







According to early history of Visitation Parish, the
church was built by native stone from nearby Monte Sano Mountain. These stone
were hauled by mule cart and wagon. St. Mary of the Visitation Catholic Church
was built in Romanesque Revival style. This style of architecture was popular
in the U.S from 1870 to 1900 (1). The exterior design is characterized by two
main structures, the steep gabled roof and two hexagonal stone towers. There
are north tower and south tower. The north tower housed the bell (1). The main
entrance, the present doors, and all the windows also has an attractive and
meaningful designs. And the interior design is highlighted by the barrel vault over
the center aisle of the tree-aisle nave and the unusual capitals of the columnns (1). And there are many attractive designs and structure that promised to bring
Christian families and the visitors closer to symbol of faithfulness and generous service.&nbsp;

St. Mary of The Visitation Catholic Church is a historic church located in Huntsville which is the largest city of Madison County, Alabama. This church was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1981.  Having a long heritage of faithfulness and generous service as well as being built up in Romanesque Revival Style, St. Mary of the Visitation Catholic Church is not only an ideal place for Christian, but also for visitors.

St. Mary of the Visitation Catholic Church

This building was added the the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. The building that stands on the site now was built in 1930. A similar building was used on the site before but it burned down in 1925. The interior of the building was entirely remodeled during the reconstruction. The building itself is an is a typical building from the 1930s. The terra cotta friezes throughout the exterior are common to the Art Deco style that was used in construction through the era. While the second floor was rebuilt, it was commonly used for storage. In 1975 a storefront was constructed that completely changed the exterior of the building. It was restored to its original design in the late 1980s. Today the building is primarily available for office and commercial space.

This two story building is an excellent example of the Art Deco Style of architecture that was popular throughout America. The building initially burnt down in 1925. Photographs from after the reconstruction show that little of the exterior of the building has been changed. The storefront is from the 1970s. 

105 South Washington Street

This historic village celebrates the creation of Alabama by recreating the day-to-day functions of life during its early years as a state. Alabama became the 22nd state admitted to the Union&nbsp;on December 14, 1819. Within the park, villagers proceed with their daily tasks of woodworking, baking, spinning, laundry, gardening and more as guests walk through the area. Additionally, a popular Santa’s Village event takes place here every year. The complex grew out of a desire in the 1960s to discover the location of the state's 1819 Constitutional Convention where Alabama's statehood was debated and the first state constitution was drafted. In the year leading up to Alabama's sesquicentennial in 1969,&nbsp;members of the Huntsville Madison County Historical Society conducted research and discovered that this was the location of the convention. The site became a state landmark in 1975.&nbsp; The site also commemorates the place where the 1819 Constitutional
Convention took place. Forty-four delegates set up in Constitution Hall, which
was then a vacant cabinet shop, to organize Alabama as the 22nd state.
There are more than eight reconstructed buildings that surround the cabinet shop in the open-air museum including
a print shop, law office, Federal Land Surveyor’s office, post office, and
Sheriff’s home. The site was added to the&nbsp;&nbsp;Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage&nbsp;on October 31, 1975.&nbsp;With a desire to appeal to families and offer programs for schools groups as&nbsp;well as adults, this historically-themed complex brings&nbsp;Alabama history to life. Part of the Earlyworks Museum Complex, Constitution Hall Park educates visitors about the early 19th century with artifacts, live demonstrations, and period-themed celebrations of major holidays.&nbsp;

Alabama Constitution Hall Park, also known as The Alabama Constitution Village, includes exhibits within sixteen structures that were built to reflect the period between 1805 and 1819, the year when delegates met here to debate and draft Alabama's first state constitution. This complex of reconstructed buildings and exhibits offer a chance to explore the day-to-day functions of life in 1819 as well as the events that shaped statehood. This hands-on, living history museum functions as a replica of life during the early years of Alabama, allowing visitors to learn about history in a unique way. Guides in period costumes will take visitors on a tour of the working village, showcasing the many aspects of early life in Alabama. 

Constitution Hall Park, Huntsville

St. Barley Primitive Baptist Church dates back to&nbsp;1808, when&nbsp;enslaved persons in Huntsville began holding religious meetings. The congregation met at a variety of locations, including a graveyard where slaves were buried beyond the city limits. The congregation also went by several names, such as the African Huntsville Church, and owing to its longevity it is regarded as&nbsp;Alabama's oldest Black church. &nbsp; Southern whites passed many laws barring&nbsp;African Americans from holding their own meetings owing to fears of rebellion, so the church's service was held at night. These meetings mixed Bible study with a chance for members to&nbsp;freely share their religious beliefs which often mixed Biblical stories of deliverance and reflected their desire for slavery to end. Although precise numbers are difficult to determine, the&nbsp;congregation grew quickly and sources indicate&nbsp;265 members in 1840 and 432 members in 1849. Even though the association was ran by white people, they allowed a degree of independence. After the Civil War, the church was destroyed by fire during the Union occupation in the area. The building&nbsp;was reconstructed in 1872 after securing funds from the Southern Claims Commission, a fund established by&nbsp;Congress that offered compensation for the loyal Southerners who had lost property during the war. While there is now a current building named St. Bartley Primitive Baptist Church in honor of the historical church, this monument is directly dedicated to the church and those who attended since it was built in 1808.

This marker commemorates the oldest African American congregation in Alabama. William Harris organized the congregation in 1820 and served as the minister despite his enslavement. After the Civil War, the congregation built a brick church at this location. The church stood from 1872 to 1964 when the congregation constructed a new church on Belafonte Avenue. During the Civil War, the congregation assisted many former slaves as they attempted to emancipate themselves. The church, like many other Huntsville buildings, was destroyed during the war during the Union occupation of the city. The church was eligible for assistance from the Southern Claims Commission which was established during the Civil War to compensate Southern Unionists for their losses during the war. 

Saint Bartley Primitive Baptist Church Historical Marker

<div>Major General Holger N. Toftoy was&nbsp;born October 31, 1902, in Marseilles, Illinois. Nicknamed Lundy by close friends and family, Toftoy displayed an aptitude for science.&nbsp;While at the University of Wisconsin, Toftoy joined the ROTC and later studied at&nbsp;West Point military academy where he graduated in 1926. Toftoy was commissioned to the Army Air Corps after graduation. After several mishaps, he&nbsp;transferred to coast artillery school where he met and married&nbsp;his wife Hazel. After five years, Toftoy accepted a teaching position at&nbsp;West Point. In the mid-thirties, Toftoy attended battery school at Fort Monroe. Now a captain, Toftoy was assigned to the Pacific Division's mine battery. It was during his time with the mine battery that Toftoy had his first research and development project designing mines that could recognize friendly vessels. During World War II, Colonel&nbsp;Toftoy was assigned to Army&nbsp;Intelligence in Europe where he worked to&nbsp;acquire German technology. When American troops discovered a V-2 factory, Toftoy was able to secure plans for the rocket and was also&nbsp;instrumental in acquiring the teams of the German scientist who had helped developed the V-2.&nbsp;</div>

Major General Holger N. Toftoy was an instructor at West Point who became Chief of the Army's Ordnance Technical Intelligence team in Europe where he led efforts to discover and capture useful technologies developed by the Germans. His work allowed the United States to acquire a full report on Germany's V-2 rocket technology and employ several of the top German scientists working on the project by allowing them to defect to the United States. In 1952, Toftoy supervised America's top rocket scientists at Redstone Arsenal in Alabama. Toftoy later became the commander of the arsenal, leading the team that developed the Jupiter-C rocket that launched America`s first satellite into space. Toftoy's work helped make the small cotton town of Huntsville the "rocket capital of the world." In honor of these achievements, this memorial stone was placed in Big Spring Park.  

Major General Holger N. Toftoy Historic Marker

<div>Founded in 1867 in the basement of Lakeside Methodist Episcopal Church on Jefferson Street, the school was moved to a frame building on this site in 1892. The first diplomas were granted in 1912. A brick structure replaced the original building in 1927. This neighborhood was known as "The Grove" and was a strong African-American business district.</div><div> Councill High School served African-American students grades 7-12 during the years of segregation in the public school system. Graduates of Councill High have fond memories of their time spent there and of the devoted educators who made their careers at Councill. Huntsville City Schools began integration in 1963. In 1965, the school was integrated along with the other city high schools. In 1966, the school was closed and its students consolidated into other city high schools.&nbsp; Today, the W.H. Councill High site is under development to become a community park.&nbsp;</div>

Councill High School was the first public school for African-Americans in the city of Huntsville when it opened in 1892. Councill High was the only high school available to African-American students until the integration of public high schools in 1965. The school was named for William Hooper Councill, founder of Alabama A&M University and noted African-American educator. Today, the City of Huntsville in cooperation with the William Hooper Councill Alumni Association is developing the school site as a community park. 

History of Huntsville Alabama Downtown Walking Tour

Huntsville's Segregated Movie Theaters

Introduction

Images

Sources