Selma & Dallas County Tourism

“ From its earliest days, Selma has made history. During the Civil War, it was one of the South’s main military manufacturing centers, producing tons of supplies and munitions and turning out Confederate warships such as the ironclad Tennessee. Union General J.H. Wilson’s troops destroyed Selma’s Confederate arsenal, factories and much of the city, in a fiery, bloody siege. To see Selma’s manufactured munitions and war relics, visit Vaughan-Smitherman Museum and the Old Depot Museum. Tour gracious Antebellum Sturdivant Hall, a Greek Revival mansion designed by the cousin of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Browse for antiques in restored downtown riverfront warehouses and discover handmade treasures and other specialty items in Victorian Cottage shops. Dine in one of Selma’s fine restaurants, where ample helpings of Southern cuisine and hospitality are specialties. Cross the famous Edmund Pettus Bridge and remember the courage of the thousands who overcame violence and hardship on their 1965 Selma to Montgomery March for voting rights. Take the Martin Luther King, Jr. Street Walking tour and visit Brown Chapel A.M.E. church, where Dr. King launched the Voting Rights Movement, and where the names of those who died for the dream are inscribed in stone. Exhibits honoring voting rights efforts can be found in the National Voting Rights Museum, the National Park Service's Selma Interpretive Center and the Old Depot museum. Adventurers will enjoy exploring Old Live Oak Cemetery, a National Register landmark, for the graves of William Rufus King, Vice-President; Benjamin S. Turner, the Selma ex-slave who during Reconstruction became the first African American U.S. Congressman; and Martha Todd White and Elodie Todd Dawson, half sisters of Mary Todd Lincoln. Visit the ghostly remains of Alabama’s first permanent capital, Cahawba. Located outside of Selma, this fascinating former trading port offers ruins to explore and period artifacts to see.”