To the Moon and Back by Dinner

From history-changing events in the Civil War to stellar space age accomplishments, Huntsville, Alabama has established itself as a fascinating city.  In 1805 Hunt’s Spring was established and by 1819 the city, by then known as Huntsville, hosted the men who wrote the constitution that allowed Alabama to become the twenty-second state in the Union.  As a major cotton-producing area and railroad center, the city thrived and gained momentum in the 1950s when it became the pre-eminent hub for the U.S. manned space program.  Today, Huntsville is a thriving metropolitan area offering a variety of activities for those interested in topics from architectural history to scientific achievement.  According to a slogan from the Alabama Tourism Department, Huntsville is the one place in Alabama where you can go “to the moon and back by dinner.”

In spite of the fact that Alabama was the birthplace of the Confederacy, most people in Huntsville were supporters of the Union, and did not want to secede.  But Madison County, where Huntsville is located, overwhelmingly supported secession and the residents of Huntsville were forced to go along.  On April 11, 1862, Union General Ormsby Macknight Mitchell, better known as O. M. Mitchell, occupied the city without firing a single shot.  In the process he captured some 200 Confederate troops as well as the Huntsville depot of the Memphis & Charleston Railroad.  The capture of Huntsville, ironically, proved providential because the city was spared and as a result has more antebellum homes than any other city in Alabama. The three major historical districts are Twickenham, Old Town, and Five Points.

Marbles - all sizes and colors - for sale!

Interior of Harrison Brothers Hardware, established in 1879.  Today it is
run by the not-for-profit Historic Huntsville Foundation

The Shiffman Building in the Twickenham district of Huntsville.  Originally built as an office
building, later converted to apartments.  Actress Tallulah Bankhead was born in this building. 

Home in the Twickenham District

The Van Valkenburg Home, built ca. 1902, 501 Franklin Street

One of the "cottage style" homes in the Five Points District

An interesting stop is the 1860 Huntsville Depot.  A costumed guide in Civil War-era plantation owner's attire explains the history of the depot as you move through the first floor which has been faithfully restored to its original state, including two identical but separate waiting rooms.  The rooms were separate not, as you might think, along racial lines, but for men and women…the men’s waiting room complete with brass cuspidors, a sight to which the women could not be exposed.  The second floor allows a glimpse into the past as it was used to house the 200 troops captured at Huntsville as well as other Confederate prisoners.  The prisoners’ graffiti can still be seen on the walls!

Historic Huntsville Depot, Eastern Division Headquarters of the Memphis & Charleston
Railroad.  Confederate prisoners of war were once housed on the second floor



Trying on a Civil War officer's coat

Graffiti scrawled on the walls by Confederate POWs is still visible 150 years later

Adjacent to the depot is a recently-completed Veterans’ Memorial, honoring the men and women who fought in every U.S. war from the Civil War to Iraq and Afghanistan.

This mural is made up of individual wallet-size photos of Alabama veterans
from all branches of service and spanning many generations

Close-up of some of the photos that comprise the mural

 

Another must-see is Burritt on the Mountain. This living-history museum has a collection of original log homes and other buildings built between 1850 and 1900.  The focal point, however, is the former home of Dr. William Burritt, built in 1937.  As a young doctor he opened a homeopathic medical practice in Huntsville.  After the untimely death of his first wife in1898, he married a wealthy widow, Mrs. Josephine Drummond, who was twenty years his senior.  Soon after their marriage the couple moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where they lived until her death.   Dr. Burritt returned to Huntsville to build his retirement home.  Almost as soon as it was completed, it caught fire and burned to the ground.  Undeterred, Dr. Burnitt re-built on the same spot.  He married a third time in 1937 but the marriage ended in divorce by the 1940s.  He lived in the mansion until his death in1955.  He left the home to the City of Huntsville and it became the city’s first museum.

Front entrance to Dr. Burritt's mansion, now a museum.  The exterior walls,
several feet thick, contain 2,200 bales of wheat straw as insulation

Parlor

Display of silver serving pieces at the mansion

Curved staircase in the Burritt mansion, looking down from the second floor

Visiting the Burritt Mansion

This cabin is part of the "living history" museum and farm on the Burritt grounds.  This building
was not here originally.  It is authentic, but was moved here from somewhere else in Alabama

In addition to the historic areas the visitor is offered a variety options including the Huntsville Art Museum, constructed near the original site of Hunt’s Spring, downtown in the lovely Big Spring Park. The museum is home to the Sellars Collection of Art by American women, the largest single collection of female-created art in the country.  One of the major highlights of the museum is the collection of life-sized sterling-silver animals created by Buccellati, an Italian jewelry company.

Bridge over the stream from Hunt's Spring, in Big Spring International Park.
The bridge and the trees around it were gifts from the government of Japan

Another bucolic spot is Monte Sano State Park.  The highest spot in Alabama, the park, created in large measure by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) during the Great Depression, offers spectacular views of the Tennessee Valley.  A town built on the mountain bore the name Viduta, Spanish for “life.” “Monte Sano” which translates as “mountain of healing” was the site of a sanatorium and resort hotel which opened in 1887 but closed in the early 1900s due to declining economy.  It was used as a rehabilitation center for military casualties in both WWI and WWII.  Today all that remains of the facility is a central chimney and fireplace.  A plaque describes the building that once occupied the spot.

The Tennessee River Valley, looking down from Monte Sano State Park, atop
Monte Sano mountain in Huntsville.  This overlook was built by the CCC.

Without a doubt, Huntsville’s best known attraction is the U.S. Space & Rocket Center.   It is noted for having the premier collection of space and rocket artifacts in the world.  There are over 1,500 space artifacts from the U.S. manned space flight program.  Huntsville’s connection to the space program came about in the 1950s when German rocket pioneer Wernher von Braun and other leading scientists embarked on a quest to orbit America’s first satellite and send the first astronauts to the moon.  Today one can view the original Saturn V Rocket, developed in Huntsville; follow the progression of the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo projects; and even view a rock brought back from the moon.

Not knowing what strange diseases or illnesses the astronauts might bring back from
space, NASA had Airstream modify a standard RV to create a "decontamination chamber"
where the early astronauts were quarantined for a few days following their space missions.

 

The Space & Rocket Center is also home to Space Camp.  The brainchild of Dr. von Braun, Space Camp was launched in 1982 “to inspire and motivate young people from around the country to join the ranks of space pioneers who persevere to push the boundaries of human exploration.” Today, attendees come from all 50 states and more than 60 foreign countries, with the dream of a future in space.

From standing on the highest point in Alabama to watching men stand on the moon, Huntsville provided some very exciting Road Stories. 

 

 

 

Eufaula

Eufaula, Alabama is a delightful small town of some 13,137 people.  The town’s name is derived from a tribe of the Creek Confederacy that originally lived in the area.  The Chattahoochee River, which separates Alabama and Georgia, has been dammed to form Lake Eufaula (also known as Lake George or, more precisely, the Walter F. George Reservoir) and is the self-proclaimed “Bass Capital of the World.”  The Eufaula National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1964 in cooperation with the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers.  It encompasses both banks of the Chattahoochee River in southeast Alabama and southwest Georgia and offers a variety of wetland and upland habitats for diverse fauna. 

Eufaula’s other claim to fame is its plethora of antebellum homes.  It has the state’s second-largest historic district. The town has over 700 structures on the National Register of Historic Places.

 

Of course, renovating these houses so they look like the ones pictured
above requires a great deal of work, time, patience and money.

Close-up of the house being renovated shows a lot
of detail work to be done

The Creek Indian tribes of the Muscogee Nation had long made the banks along the Chattahoochee River their home.  Major General William Irwin, a hero of the war of 1812, commanded the State militia in the area during the “Creek troubles” of 1836-37.  He promoted the area and his influence helped bring the first steamboat wharf to Eufaula.  The town was originally named Irwinton in honor of the General; the name was changed to Eufaula in 1843.  Ironically, General Irwin died in 1849 when he jumped from the deck of a burning steamboat on the Chattahoochee River and drowned while trying to swim to shore.  With the opening of the Federal Road, white settlers arrived in the area in droves.  By 1834 the city’s downtown area was developed.  The many impressive antebellum homes attest to the wealth and culture in the area.

First Baptist Church of Eufaula

The lovely city barely escaped the ravages of the Civil War.  On April 29, 1865, 4,000 Union Cavalry were approaching the city.  The Mayor, Dr. C. J. Pope, and several prominent citizens rode out to tell General Grierson that Confederate General Joseph Johnston had surrendered to Sherman.  Robert E. Lee had already surrendered at Appomattox.  The Civil War was over.  The city was spared.

One of several wrought iron staircases and porches in Eufaula
give the city somewhat of a feel of New Orleans



Downtown Eufaula



A lot of scroll work and iron work, more indication of French influence

Flowers adorn the town

There is a lot of pine logging in southeast Alabama and southwest Georgia,
and scores of large trucks like this one travel US 431 each day, one of the
reasons there is a push to up-grade the highway to four lanes.

Storefronts in Eufaula







 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“In 1965 the Eufaula Heritage Association was formed to prevent the loss and destruction of the town’s historic treasures. (Eufaula Heritage Association Driving and Walking Tour Booklet)

The Association purchased the Shorter Mansion at auction, and made it the headquarters for both the Association and the now-famous Eufaula Pilgrimage held each spring.  While we were visiting the town (late May, 2014) it was obvious that the newest threat to the historic district was a plan to upgrade the ½ mile stretch of  US Highway 431 where it runs through the Eufaula historic district.  It is currently a beautiful boulevard with one lane in each direction and a tree-lined median with majestic oaks.  Signs throughout the area implored “Save North Eufaula Avenue - NO 4-Lane Highway”.  What a tragic loss it would be for the historic district and future generations would lose an irreplaceable insight into a bygone era.

The Shorter Mansion is open for tours and houses a small museum on the second floor

 

The Shorter Mansion was actually built as a more humble home in 1884.  It was
extensively renovated between 1901 and 1906 in the Greek Revival style.

Front porch of the Shorter Mansion

Dining room

Bedroom

Front hallway and stairs to the second floor

Wedding dresses worn by 4 generations of the same family over a period
of 70 years, for weddings in 1899, 1921, 1942, and 1969

Christening gowns from the mid-nineteenth century.  One of these was made
for George Archer Ferrell in 1892 and was actually worn later by his
grandchildren and great-grandchildren at their christenings.

Women's petticoats and slips through the years

Uniform of Admiral Thomas H. Moore.  Born in Mt. Willing, AL in 1912 but
 raised in Eufaula, Adm. Moore was a Naval aviator, Chief of Naval Operations
(1967-1970) and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1970-1974).  He died in 2004

Signs like this are visible throughout the Eufaula historic district, rallying
against a proposal to up-grade the two-lane parkway to a four-lane highway.

Whether you are lured to Lake Eufaula for trophy bass or delight in the picturesque beauty of the antebellum architecture you are sure to enjoy Eufaula.

We stopped at Joe Pies for coffee, and had fresh beignets, almost as
good as those served at Café du Monde in New Orleans 

That Swiss Army knife that the TSA confiscated from you at the airport?
It's for sale at this antique store in Eufaula.  The owner bought hundreds of
knives, swords, and scissors at a TSA auction of confiscated property

 

The clerk at Superior Pecans stayed open long after closing time for us.  We had a nice visit
with her, bought a LOT of pecans, and ended up as her "customers of the day" on Facebook.
Visit them at www.superiorpecans.com 

This machine sorts and grades pecans by size, and bags them for shipment.
Sacks are weighed on the old platform scale in the left side of the picture.

For more information about the annual Eufaula pilgrimage, go to www.eufaulapilgrimage.com

“Yeah, way down yonder on the Chattahochee...” ¹ we discovered more Road Stories.

 

¹  Lyrics from “Chattahoochee” by Alan Jackson