The Roseland Office and Apothecary

 

While Sturdivant Hall is the main attraction on the Sturdivant Museum property,

this handsome Greek Revival structure is well worth a visit. 

It was once the office/apothecary at Roseland Plantation near Uniontown 

and was given to the Sturdivant Association for preservation.

Linking to Our World Tuesday and City Daily Photo Blogs

Saving the Historic YMCA

 "It has been said that, at its best, preservation engages the past in a conversation

 with the present over a mutual concern for the future."

 William J. Murtagh, Keeping Time: The History and Theory of Preservation in America 

It's  Q Week over at ABC Wednesday, and this QUOTATION about historic preservation works well with the tremendous task of saving Alabama's first YMCA.

Touring the renovation progress with members of the Selma-Dallas County Historic Preservation Society is Selma Mayor George Evans, right. The society purchased the 1885 building and is working to stabilize it for further restoration and future use. Donations are welcome!  

Linking to ABC Wednesday and City Daily Photo Blogs 

The Snowball Tree

We have snowballs in April!

This snowball tree graces the rear courtyard at the Vaughan-Smitherman Museum.

 I've seen quite a few of these small trees around town,

 and they are just magnificent!

The structure in the background was built with part of the facade

 from the old Hotel Albert, which was located where the City Hall complex 

now stands. Designed after the Doge's Palace in Venice, Italy,

 the hotel was built before and after the Civil War.

 It was demolished in 1969, a loss that spurred Selmians to try harder

 to preserve their historic structures.

Linking to Our World Tuesday and City Daily Photo Blogs

Speir Land Company

A lot of elbow grease went into cleaning up this historic downtown structure to transform it into Speir Land Company. The circa 1920' s building still has original, beaded heart pine on the ceiling inside and under the awning outside. Carpet and hardwood were added for interior flooring. Shutters, ceiling fans,a few relics from an old store, and professional landscaping completed the new look. Now, it's like a little oasis just one block off Broad Street. (Note: This is the single-story, painted building in front of the multi-story brick building which used to be a furniture store.)
So what did this building used to be?

Historic Property Signs

Who built that house and when?
These signs identify historic property and go along with the Selma-Dallas County Chamber of Commerce's Windshield Tour. They are available for sale from the Historic Preservation Society.
This sign belongs to the vine-covered cottage featured a few days ago.

Weaver Castle

Speaking of preserving old buildings, here is Weaver Castle, an 1868 structure that a nonprofit group is trying to purchase and renovate. It was built by the son of one of Selma's founders and designed by Richard Upjohn who modeled it after a castle on the Rhine in Germany. The architect, famous for his Gothic Revival style, also designed Selma's St. Paul's Episcopal Church and Trinity Church in New York City. The Weaver Castle group plans to use the home for a bed and breakfast, museum, special events and local history education.

Old Buildings Lost to Progress

What is progress?
Some define it as tearing down the old to make way for the new.
Here, on a wall at Selma's Old Depot Museum, are photographs of antebellum and Victorian homes and buildings that have been lost to progress. While fire claimed a few of them, others were lost to the inability to afford the cost of upkeep or the desire to build something modern. Eventually, Selmians realized their losses could have been gains for historic value and tourism. Today, various preservation groups work tirelessly to preserve their rich heritage.

Remembering "Cap" Swift

Selma lost one of its best citizens and biggest promoters August 4 with the passing of George "Cap" Swift. This photo was taken in May at Sturdivant Hall when he received The Tim Bjelke Preservation Award presented to the "Historic Preservationist of the Year."

The 86-year-old Selma native spent the past 20 years operating a visitor information center out of his house on the busiest intersection in town. The center was open from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. year round, and he maintained that schedule with minimal help until this past January when he finally retired to an assisted living facility. Visitors from around the world received a welcome to Selma from this southern gentleman who was there to open the door and tell them a bit about Selma history. The center sold Selma souvenirs including local and regional books in The Book Nook and published Selma Showcase Magazine. The magazine was Cap's way of promoting what he called "the tangibles" of his town well beyond his town and state. In later years, he had 20,000 copies printed each year, and they were provided free to advertisers, the Chamber of Commerce, state tourism department and welcome centers, restaurants and motels, local schools and of course, welcome center visitors, which in 2002 numbered more than 15,000. While more than half the visitors came from Alabama, the rest were from Canada, Germany, Japan, United Kingdom, Australia and even some from the Netherlands, Russia, Vietnam, France, Lithuania, Turkey, Mexico, Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Switzerland, Belgium, Zimbabwe, Sweden, just to name a few!

Prior to the visitor center, Swift served in the military during World War II, operated several local businesses such as Swift Drugs, Toy Arcade and Radio Shack, served as a Selma city councilman, executive director of the Chamber of Commerce, and received numerous awards including The Book of Golden Deeds and Governor's Tourism award. In his younger days, Swift played bass fiddle as part of various dance bands that toured the South.

Among his greatest civic accomplishments was his leadership in the Committee of 100, a group of 100 men who sought industry in Dallas County during the turbulent 1960s. They were successful in bringing Hammermill Paper Company to the county, now owned by International Paper. He also fought to save the old Hotel Albert, which finally had to be razed due to lack of funding for preservation. He was instrumental in helping raise funds for the city's purchase of Sturdivant Hall, which has since been restored to a quality museum.

Some advice he gave my son, who worked several years at his visitors' center, was "When you have an idea, write it down," and "Always think positive."

Even during his short "retirement," he was thinking of ways to promote his hometown. Among his last visions for Selma were an easily accessible arts center, revitalization of historic Water Avenue with restaurants, galleries, a riverside amphitheatre and specialty shops; coordinated Selma tours with a trolley system, and increased promotion of tourism. He firmly believed there was no better place than Selma to live: four hours from Atlanta, three hours from the beach, an hour from the state capital, and on a river in the middle of sportsmen's paradise.

To read more about Swift, check here and here.

The Harmony Club

The Harmony Club downtown on Water Avenue was built in 1909 as a Jewish social center. It originally contained first-floor businesses, a second-floor restaurant and lounge and third-floor ballroom. Later, it served the Elks Club, then closed in 1960 until it was purchased in 1999 for a private residence. It has been under restoration since then and was featured on HGTV. ArtsRevive, a local arts group, uses the first floor for exhibits.