There Are Several Historic Montgomery Day Trips

The Montgomery day trips are some of the most enjoyable as well as educational in the entire Alabama backroads trip system.

In fact, if you a have never visited Montgomery Alabama and the neighboring small towns, you are in for a pleasant surprise.

The Legacy Museum in Montgomery Alabama

Located in the lower half of the state, it lies on the east bank of the Alabama River, and is rich in Civil Rights history not only for the state, but for the nation.

The Historic Montgomery Day Trips

Picture of the Rev Martin Luther King Speaking

The Rev. Martin Luther King Preaching to The People

As far a day trip and traveling, here are some if the distances within the state.

It is 59 miles from Auburn, 92 miles from Birmingham, 103 miles from Tuscaloosa, and 170 miles from Mobile.

So, for most all locations in the state other than the northern part of the state, Montgomery is less than a 2-hour drive.

Here is the list of the most historic sites surrounding the Civil Rights and Slavery movements in the State, as well as in the Nation.

The Civil Rights Memorial
The Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church and Museum
The Rosa Park Library and Museum
The Freedom Rides Museum
The Legacy Museum and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice

The state of Alabama is rich in history surrounding the Civil Rights Movement and leading the list of towns that played a pivotal role is Montgomery.

First on the list of historic Montgomery day trips is the Civil Rights Memorial.

The Memorial itself sits directly across the street from the Southern Poverty Law Center, and it commemorates all those that died during this movement.

It is surrounded by a black granite wall that curves with the words “until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream” scrolled across it.

Directly below this wall is a black granite disc with water flowing over the surface.

The Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church

On that surface, the names of all those that gave their lives fighting for Civil Rights are engraved.

Next of the list is the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church and the Dexter Parsonage Museum.

It was originally built in 1877 on the site of a former slave pen, where slaves were held until they were auctioned off.

This was the actual church where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was the pastor at from 1954 through 1960.

Mr. King and his family lived in the church’s nine room parsonage during his tenure, and it now houses the Dexter Parsonage Museum.

The Rosa Parks Library and Museum is located in downtown Montgomery very near her arrest, after her now legendary stand against segregation.

One of the displays at the museum is a 1955 Montgomery city bus as well as one of the station wagons used by the boycotters in the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

This museum is one of the most famous and popular of the all the Montgomery day trips.

The Freedom Rights Museum

Bus Replicas of the buses in Montgomery Alabama in the 1950's and 1960's

The Buses in Montgomery in the 1950's and 1960"s

Next on the list of Montgomery day trips is a lessor know historic site, the Freedom Rights Museum.

This museum commemorates the greyhound station where the Freedom Riders got off their bus on May 20th, 1961.

The station has been restored to appear exactly like it did the day they got off the bus in the 1960’s.

The newest of the historic Montgomery day trips is the Legacy Museum as well as the National Memorial of Peace and Justice.

The Legacy Museum is not a place for those with a “faint heart” for one simple reason; it is extremely moving.

It will let you witness firsthand what slaves at the time went through and you “almost” live through their experience.

If you are taking your family and have small children, you will need to explain to them first about what they are about to see, as it is that moving.

The National Memorial of Peace and Justice is a 15-minute walk from the Legacy Museum.

It is made in the memory of those slaves that were lynched as well as all of those that were made to suffer horrible racial injustices.

There are also Montgomery day trips that are extremely enjoyable without the Civil Rights History.

They include the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, the Hank Williams Museum, the Montgomery Zoo, the Old Alabama Town, and the MOOseum.

The MOOseum is extremely popular with young children as the visitors learn about the history of the Alabama cattle industry.

Your kids can dress up as cowboys or cowgirls, making it one of the most family orientated of all of the Alabama backroads trips.

References

www.bamabeef.org/p/about/273

ahc.alabama.gov/properties/freedomrides/freedomrides.aspx

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