Having visited GTSouth Geek & Gaming Tavern the night before, Shae, Truffles and I headed into downtown Montgomery the next morning.
We were looking forward to it as we knew that Alabama’s state capital was full of history. I don’t think either of us appreciated though quite how much history there was to learn about.
We wanted to see as much as possible but knew that having Truffles with us meant we wouldn’t be able to go inside many places. A self-guided walking tour of Montgomery would solve that problem, so off we went. Even better, it’s free – something we needed after going over-budget both last month and the month before!
Here’s everything we saw, including the route we took so that you can recreate it if you ever want to take your own self-guided walking tour of Montgomery, Alabama.
We’ve also embedded a map of all the locations below. Be aware that numbers 7-10 are all extremely close to one another, so that’s why you won’t see all those numbers unless you’re zoomed in close.
Parking
We parked our car in a parking lot on the corner of Molton St and Water St; its entrance is to the right of a bus exit. It didn’t cost us anything as we were visiting on a Saturday – parking in Montgomery is free after 6pm on weekdays and all day on Saturdays and Sundays.
1) Visitor Center
Our first stop was the visitor center on Water St, so it was only about a minute’s walk from the parking lot. It’s the nicest visitor center I’ve ever been in as it’s located inside the old Union Station building.
The helper at the desk when we arrived was Janine and she was incredibly friendly and helpful. She gave us a map of downtown Montgomery which had 100 attractions, restaurants, etc. marked on there.
She spent about 10 minutes circling all the must-see attractions and gave us a bunch of suggestions for places to eat during our stay in Montgomery. (Side note: we followed her advice and ate at several of those places. All of them were excellent, so we’ll have more about those restaurants in a future post.)
2) Rainbow Soldier Statue
With map in hand, we started heading towards the State Capitol, figuring we’d stop and see places along the way.
The first thing we saw was the Rainbow Soldier statue which is just outside of the visitor center.
This was unveiled on August 28, 2017. That day was specifically chosen as it was 100 years to the day since more than 3,500 Alabama National Guardsmen left Union Station (where the visitor center’s now based) and made their way to France during World War I.
By the end of the war the following year, 1/6 of them had been killed and almost 1/3 had been injured. The Rainbow Soldier statue was erected in honor of their bravery and sacrifice.
3) Riverfront
The visitor center and Rainbow Soldier statue are very close to the Riverfront, so we decided to make that our next stop. We went down the stairs into the tunnel, then walked over to the Alabama River.
There’s a standalone stone wall along the Riverfront that’s adorned with a timeline detailing Montgomery’s history. After walking round the wall and reading the information, we made our way to a nearby picnic table for some lunch.
4) Tile Mural Of The State Capitol
We walked along the Riverfront for a little while after lunch, then headed towards the tunnel to continue exploring downtown.
On our way back to the tunnel, we spotted this tile mural of the State Capitol building.
5) Hank Williams Statue
Emerging from the tunnel, we soon found ourselves at the Hank Williams statue. The legendary musician lived in Montgomery for many years and it was where he began his music career.
If you’re a fan of his, Montgomery’s also home to the Hank Williams Museum which you can find a block up on Commerce St.
6) The Alley
On the opposite side of the road from the Hank Williams statue is The Alley.
This is apparently a newly revitalized part of town with several bars and restaurants throughout The Alley. The following photo was taken from below the water tower that you can see in the above photo. You can’t see many bars and restaurants in it as many of them are located round to the right at the end.
7) Court Square Fountain
After walking through The Alley, we continued up Commerce St until we reached the Court Square Fountain. It’s located on top of an artesian well and was built in 1885.
8) City Of Montgomery Historic Marker
Downtown Montgomery has historic markers all over the place; there was one next to the fountain providing some information about the city’s origins in case you hadn’t made it down to the wall on the Riverfront.
9) Montgomery Bus Boycott Historic Marker
On the other side of the road from the fountain is a double-sided historic marker. That’s been placed there as it’s the location of the bus stop where Rosa Parks boarded the bus on that historic night which precipitated the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
10) Rosa Parks Historic Marker
On the other side of the Montgomery Bus Boycott historic marker is a historic marker dedicated to Rosa Parks. We can also highly recommend visiting both the Rosa Parks Library & Museum and the children’s wing of the museum, something we did later on during our time in Montgomery.
11) Chris’ Hot Dogs
If you decided to do this same walking tour, you might be hungry by now. If so, head up Dexter Ave a couple of blocks until you get to Chris’ Hot Dogs.
Chris’ is the oldest family owned and operated restaurant in Montgomery. We met up with one of Shae’s friends there for lunch a couple of days later and their hot dogs were amazing.
12) Alabama Judicial Building
When walking up Dexter Avenue, you’ll see the State Capitol building ahead of you. There are several other places to see along the way though.
One of those is the Alabama Judicial Building on the right hand side of the road. This building is home to the Supreme Court of Alabama and State Law Library.
13) Alabama State Bar Headquarters
On the opposite side of the road to the Judicial Building and about half a block up is the Alabama State Bar Headquarters. To be honest, that’s not something I’d usually be interested in. However, outside the building were several statues, a fountain and several plaques with more information, so it was worth a brief stop.
14) Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church
Cross back over the road, walk up about 100 yards and you’ll arrive at Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was pastor of the church from 1954 to 1960 and the church’s basement office was where he organized the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
You can take tours of the church, although we didn’t get to do it that day because of having Truffles with us. We did stop and chat briefly to Wanda Battle there, one of the tour guides. She was one of the friendliest people I’ve met and gave both me and Shae a hug before we continued our walking tour of Montgomery.
15) Alabama State Capitol Building
At the top of Dexter Avenue’s hill, we finally reached the State Capitol building. You can take a free tour around the building, but we figured dogs wouldn’t be allowed so we just walked around the outside.
16) State Flags & Stone Markers
If you walk round to the right of the building, you’ll see a semi-circle of each state’s flags. Below the flagpoles were the names of each state carved into rock from that state. Both Shae and I really enjoyed walking round the display, excited about the fact that we’ll be getting to visit each of the locations on our 5 year, 50 state road trip.
17) Flame Of Freedom
Next to the flags is the Flame of Freedom, a memorial to Alabama’s war veterans.
18) Alabama State House
Cross over Union St from the Capitol building and you’ll see the Alabama State House. This houses both the Senate and House of Representatives for Alabama, as well as some other state agencies.
19) First White House Of The Confederacy
After seeing the State House, we crossed back over Union St and then across Washington Ave to the left. That block is home to a couple of places, the first of which is the First White House of the Confederacy.
The house was actually built elsewhere, but was moved to its present location in the early 1920s.
20) Museum Of Alabama And Department Of Archives & History
Next door to the First White House of the Confederacy is the much more impressive-looking Museum of Alabama and Department of Archives & History.
21) Civil Rights Memorial & Center
We walked another couple of blocks down Washington Ave until we reached the Civil Rights Memorial & Center.
There are two parts to the Civil Rights Memorial. There’s a black granite wall with a quote from Dr King which comes from the book of Amos in the Bible. Water rolls down the wall – an allusion to the quote.
In front of the wall is a black granite table. Water rises from the center of the table, flowing over the side and dripping as it flows down towards the base. Engraved in a circle around the top of the table is a list of notable dates in civil rights history.
There’s a wall that you can sit on in front of the Civil Rights Memorial – it’s well worth spending some time there.
22) The Dowe Houses
Continuing down Washington Ave, we crossed over Hull St and came across The Dowe Houses. The historical marker outside explained that they’re a reminder of a 19th century neighborhood that used to be there.
23) Montgomery County Circuit Court
Our self-guided walking tour concluded a couple more blocks down Washington Ave when we reached the Montgomery County Circuit Court.
There was a historic marker outside which shared that this was where numerous civil rights cases were heard from 1956 to 1960.
Final Thoughts
This walking tour of Montgomery only took us about three hours, so it’s possible to see a lot of important historical locations in a relatively short amount of time.
If you ever visit Alabama’s state capital, we highly recommend taking the time to walk around the downtown area as there’s so much to see.
A fantastic touch adding the embedded map 😊
Thank you!
I want to take the megabus even though the drive is only two hours from Atlanta. Is it possible to see everything without a car? I want to leave my vans at home..
Yes, absolutely – we did this entire tour on foot.
My boyfriend and I will be doing the same next month. I hope you enjoy your trip. I like to see places by foot. I walk all over Atlanta.
Just curious – do you know the quote from Dr King that’s on the Civil Rights Memorial?
Yep – it’s “We will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream” and is a paraphrase from Amos 5:24 in the Bible.
Thank you, we used your guide to visit Montgomery, it was helpful since we only had one day to visit. We arrived from Lafayette in the evening, had time to eat at Dreamland BBQ, which is cheap AND good ! After a goodnight sleep at a great Airbnb, we visited everything you mentioned, even had a good meal at Chris’ Hot-Dogs, for a few bucks. As a fan of the Hank William’s family, I was glad to see the statue, the museum and the cemetary where he is buried. To bad, the museum is run by a woman not so very nice, and you get warned multiple times, not to take pictures, (you ain’t even allowed to take your phone out of your pocket !).
It is a fan’s museum with lots of memorabilia, but for a person not so familiar with the character and his carrier, it can be a little confusing…
Great, I’m glad it was so helpful and that you had a good time there (other than with the museum’s owner!)
Thanks for sharing. I love walking around in cities and it is very helpful when there is an pre-existing plan. I hope to visit for a weekend this month (September 2019)
Awesome, hope you have a great time!