What remains of the facade of the old Hotel Albert can be found in the courtyard behind the Vaughan-Smitherman Museum. These four columns were saved when the hotel was demolished in 1969. This brick structure also contains paintings that show some of Selma's history, including one in which the hotel is seen in the background, depicting its use as a Yankee headquarters after the Battle of Selma in 1865. 
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Memorial to the Hotel Albert
What remains of the facade of the old Hotel Albert can be found in the courtyard behind the Vaughan-Smitherman Museum. These four columns were saved when the hotel was demolished in 1969. This brick structure also contains paintings that show some of Selma's history, including one in which the hotel is seen in the background, depicting its use as a Yankee headquarters after the Battle of Selma in 1865. 
I bet it still rankles that the Yankees commandeered the place.
ReplyDeletethe whiteness of the columns is in sharp contrast to the red brick
ReplyDeleteI love the columns and the laterns hanging from the ceiling.
ReplyDeleteGlad to see efforts to preserve some part of history.
It's a pity that the old must go for the new to arise; it should be possible to keep at least the best of the old (but what is the best?)...
ReplyDeleteWe have a chair from the Hotel Albert that our grandfather rescued from the hotel before it was torn down. would like to find out info on the chair. Rita.
ReplyDeleteShorty 165, If you could send a photo of the chair, I could post it on the blog and ask if anyone knows about the chair. Thanks for visiting and for your comment.
ReplyDeleteI watched the movie, "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" a couple of nights ago. Filmed in Selma in I think, 1968. There's some beautiful shots of The Albert from outside and inside. Beautiful polished wood, chandalier, red carbet, stained glass -- it was a real beauty.
ReplyDeleteThis memorial is built on the site of the old Vaughn Memorial Hospital where I was born at 10:52 am, Feb. 5, 1952. I know it well. Also just to add that the Hotel Albert was a replica of the Doggs Palace in Vinice Italy. Look it up it is very unique. The "Albert" had a beautiful left and right winding staircase to either side of an oval mezanine. Oh yes and at one night in history in the sixties civil rights "struggle" their were three guest staying in the hotel at one time, they were Martin Luther King, the head of the "KKK" and the head of the American Nazi Party. Life is stranger than fiction.
ReplyDeleteWhen my house was built, the prior owner told my mother stories of how they used things from Hotel Albert. We have a huge walk-in closet in our gameroomand stairs that lead into the kitchen. The walls are built with doors from the hotel and the stairs are also from the hotel.
ReplyDeleteWhy was The Albert ever torn down? What a magnificent building. What went up in its place -- or is it a parking lot.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, I have heard that the Hotel Albert was too expensive to maintain, and while there were drives to raise enough money to save it, the amount wasn't enough. The owners eventually razed it in the late 1960s, and the property became the city's. Today, Selma City Hall and the municipal fountain are located there. Other buildings that were constructed in that block are the convention center and public library. After the hotel was torn down, some local people realized what a mistake it was not to save such architectural treasures, and they began to organize to prevent the loss of such structures. Wish we had been able to save many more. Thanks for your question!
ReplyDeleteI'd love to see photos of the house mentioned in the Anonymous post, with the hotel's doors and staircase used in its construction. I'm at mikekennedy1969@yahoo.com if anyone can refer me to that person in Selma.
ReplyDeleteI have old letterhead from the Hotel Albert. It reads that F.A. Cater was the Manager and Cook Hearn was the Acting Manager. Do you have any ideas as to the date of this?
ReplyDeleteSorry, I don't know but thanks for the information. If I find out, I'll post it. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteMikethewoofer, I just don't know what house Anonymous is referring to. I believe there are several structures here with parts of the old hotel used in them. Thanks for visiting!
ReplyDeleteI was stationed at Craig AFB for several years and in 1967 I stayed at the Albert for a couple of weeks. It was a nice place and I was sorry to see that it was torn down, there was a lot of history in the hotel and the people were good.
ReplyDeleteMy great-great grandfather, Frank Arthur Cater was the manager of the Hotel Albert during the 1920's - and 30's. . I have his obit from the Selma paper. . it is my understand that my grandfather played on the grounds as a small boy. I've never been to Selma, where my father's mother and father were born and raised. . planning a trip with my sister this April . . my grandmother was a Lockhart and my grandfather was the only child of Frank Authur Cater and Elizabeth Coleman. .
ReplyDelete