Montgomery’s story was recently described by a visitor as: America’s Story. In her description of the Capital City, she said, “Montgomery is where change begins.” Throughout our nation’s history, great change that brought about a more peaceful country began here. From Civil War to Civil Rights, Montgomery has been the leader in affecting change for America. Help us share our city’s story of courage, vision, and rebellion. Call the Montgomery Convention and Visitor Bureau for extraordinary resources and images to develop your depiction of the Capital City and let the amazing spirit of Montgomery’s history capture you. Share the many accounts of heroism, pride and vision that shaped our city and our nation with your readers. Montgomery’s Story is America’s Story. CHANGE HAPPENS HERE.

Civil Rights Audio Tour

Rent an MP3 player or download our new audio tour online, and follow the path of history as you visit the pivotal sites of the civil rights movement. The audio program, which provides a self-guided walking or driving tour of Montgomery’s Civil Rights sites, was created by Alabama Public Television. The audio program, which provides a self-guided walking or driving tour of Montgomery's Civil Rights sites, was created by Alabama Public Television. The audio program includes 21 tracks with information about the places and people who were instrumental in the Civil Rights movement, featuring their voices and unique stories, and enhanced by sound effects that help transport the listener to the place and time. Listen to the Audio Tour.

Montgomery Bus Boycott

On December 1, 1955, a seamstress, Rosa Parks, captured the world’s attention by refusing to give up her seat, for a white man, on a city bus. Her arrest was the catalyst necessary to stage a protest condemning the city’s segregation laws and thus beginning the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which paved the way for the civil rights movement. The large-scale boycott of the Montgomery bus lines began on December 5, 1955 and lasted for 381 days until a judge ordered that the segregation on public buses was unconstitutional.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr. and his family lived here in Montgomery from 1954 to 1960 while he served as pastor of the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church. During the Bus Boycott, Martin Luther King Jr. became a leader in the community and was elected as president to a newly formed group, the Montgomery Improvement Association. In 1956, terrorist who tried to intimidate the protesters of the boycott bombed the parsonage where he and his family lived. Dr. King’s involvement with the boycott gave him the credibility he needed to become a national leader for the Civil Rights Movement.

Black Heritage Trail

This trail runs from Selma through Lowndes County to Montgomery and then from Montgomery to Tuskegee. It offers a unique opportunity to walk in the footsteps of civil rights pioneers. There are many local sites that a visitor can view first hand that will help them interpret a sample of the triumphs and tribulations experienced along the road to equality.

Selma to Montgomery March

In 1965 Rev. Martin Luther King lead a protest march for voting rights. It began on the Edmond Pettus Bridge in Selma and ended at the capitol steps in Montgomery. Legislation was then passed by Congress, which protected the rights of all citizens.

Jefferson Davis, President

In 1861, Jefferson Davis was sworn in, on the capitol grounds as the 1st and only President of the Confederate States of America. A gold star now marks the spot where he stood. As Chief Executive of a new nation, Davis dwelled in a house that stood on the corner of Lee & Bibb Street. The First White House of the Confederacy was later moved from its original location to its current location, the corner of Washington & Union Street, where it would be restored.

Nations First Trolley System

On April 15, 1866, the first electric trolley streetcars began in Montgomery, Alabama. Many people assume the trolley system began In San Francisco, but it originated here. The Lightening Route continued to operate until 1936 when the city replaced it with buses.

First Flight School

In 1910, Wilbur Wright decided to open one of the world’s earliest flying schools at the site that would subsequently become Maxwell Air Force Base. In the 1920’s the air repair depot which was located on site, was renamed Maxwell Field and became an air training base. Today, Maxwell is home to the prestigious Air University.

Hank Williams

At sixteen, living in Montgomery, Williams quit school and began his music career in earnest. He made his first radio appearance on WSFA in late 1936 or early 1937, and would soon become one of the station’s most popular performers. He also worked beer joints and regional shows with his band, already named the Drifting Cowboys. It is reported that he was discovered at the old Empire Theatre, which is now the Rosa Parks Museum. Montgomery was the last place the country music legend performed before dying in his sleep. He is buried here in Oakwood Cemetery.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

In 1917, F. Scott Fitzgerald was training for combat at Camp Sheridan, located on Montgomery’s outskirts. While in town, he attended a dance at the Country Club, where he met Zelda Sayre. They were married after the war and set a style for the Jazz Age.

War Between The States

Alabama seceded from the union on January 11, 1861, and declared itself the Republic of Alabama. The Alabama secession convention invited other representatives from six of the states that had seceded from the union to gather in Montgomery in early 1861 to form the government of the Confederate States of America, with Montgomery as the capitol. On April 11, 1861, the telegraph was sent, from the Winter Building in Downtown Montgomery, that ordered the fire on Fort Sumter, beginning the Civil War.

General Richard Montgomery

In 1819, New Philadelphia and Alabama Town merged and took the name Montgomery, after General Richard Montgomery, who was a Revolutionary War hero that died in 1775 during the Battle of Quebec.

Montgomery County

In 1816 the Mississippi Legislature created Montgomery County, which was named for Major Lemuel Purnell Montgomery who died at Horseshoe Bend.

Montgomery (The Capitol City)

Flags of the Confederacy

The first flag of the confederacy, Stars & Bars, was adopted in 1861. Since there was a similarity to the U.S flag, Stars & Stripes, there was a second flag adopted in 1863, the Stainless Banner. This flag resembled a flag of truce and fell limp around the pole, so the Confederate Congress added a red bar to the flag in 1865, making this our third national flag.

Montgomery Theatre

Historic Union Station

The citizens of Montgomery, Alabama were first introduced to Union Station and the Train Shed on May 6, 1898. The facility was designed by Benjamin Boswell Smith and represents the late Victorians. There were six railroads that passed through Montgomery: Atlantic Coast Line, Central of Georgia, Seaboard Airline, M&O, L&N, and Western of Alabama. Union Station served as a passenger rail station until the late 1970’s. In 1982-83 the building was restored for office space and in 1999, the city of Montgomery acquired it. Today, it is a vital part of Riverfront Development and is home to the Visitor Center and Depot Gift Shop.

Governors Mansion

The state of Alabama decided to provide their chief executive a residence in 1911. It bought a beaux-arts mansion on Perry Street that was built in 1906. This mansion would house the states governors until 1950, when the current mansion was purchased. The first Governor to occupy the mansion was Gordon Persons, who moved in on his inauguration day, January 15, 1951. This mansion also served as the home to Alabama’s first and only female Governor Lurleen Wallace from 1968-1969.

Ft. Toulouse

The French established Ft. Toulouse in 1717. Thus beginning settlement of East Alabama & New Philadelphia.

Montgomery Baseball

Montgomery has been home to a number of minor league baseball teams including the Montgomery Wings, the Rebels, the Grays, the Bombers, the Capitols and the Lions. Most recently, Montgomery has become home to the Montgomery Biscuits, which play in the newly constructed Riverwalk Stadium. The stadium is part of Downtown Revitalization and is included in phase one of the Riverwalk project.

Nat King Cole

Nathaniel Adams Cole was born in Montgomery on March 17, 1919. Cole’s home was moved from it original location and placed on the campus of Alabama State University. A Historical Marker now marks the house where he grew up. While his work from the Fifties and Sixties shared little with the rock and roll revolution that was under way, Cole’s broader influence on the idiom as a musical pioneer and as a popular star is undeniable.

Downtown Revitalization

Already, the first phase of the Riverwalk is complete, with a beautiful Riverwalk Amphitheatre and Riverwalk Stadium, which is home to the class AA Montgomery Biscuits. A new $150million, four-star, 347-room hotel and $29 million expanded convention center will open February 2008, along with an intermodal parking facility and riverfront overlook and plaza on the west end of Union Station. The Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce along with the City of Montgomery will lead an aggressive commercial development initiative to locate restaurants, retail shopping and entertainment venues in the Riverfront District. A New Orleans-type alley way and courtyard are also slated for construction directly across from the convention center and hotel.