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.