FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Wendi Lewis, Marketing and Public
Relations Manager
wendi.lewis@ahc.alabama.gov, 334-230-2680
July 21, 2021
Alabama Properties Listed in National Register of Historic Places
(Montgomery, AL) The Alabama Historical
Commission is announcing recent additions to the National Register of Historic
Places.
The
National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the nation's
historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic
Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service's National Register of
Historic Places is part of a nationwide program to coordinate and support
public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America's
historic and archeological resources. The National
Register is an honorary designation that places no restrictions on property
owners and includes a wide variety of properties, including buildings,
structures, outdoor sculpture, historic districts, and archaeological sites.
More than 1,200 Alabama properties have been listed in the National Register.
The following Alabama properties were recently listed:
Atmore Commercial Historic District,
Escambia County
Listed on June 18, 2021
The Atmore Commercial Historic District illustrates the town’s development
into an important commercial center in Escambia County between 1900 and 1970.
During this period, railroad expansion, agricultural and lumber production,
industrial development, New Deal programs, and the automobile all contributed
to the rise of a thriving downtown that was centered on the railroad tracks.
The collection of industrial and commercial buildings in the Atmore Commercial
Historic District represents locally significant examples of national
architectural trends.
Edmonton Heights Historic District,
Huntsville, Madison County
Listed on June 21, 2021
Located in Huntsville, near Alabama A&M University, the
Edmonton Heights neighborhood is the only post World-War II planned suburb in
Huntsville created for African Americans. The neighborhood developed between
1959 and 1975, a period when the city experienced rapid population growth and
African American residents were displaced from downtown neighborhoods as a
result of the urban renewal program, the Heart of Huntsville. Edmonton Heights was
one of a handful of suburbs that Alabama developers Folmar & Flinn created
for African Americans. The firm used federal housing loan programs that they
gained access to through backroom deals that led to Folmar & Flinn’s
downfall. In addition to its historical significance, the Edmonton Heights
Historic District has a locally significant collection of mid-20th-century
houses. The neighborhood reflects nationally popular architectural styles and
suburban landscape designs and is typical of suburbs designed by Folmar &
Flinn.
Magnolia Hall, Greensboro, Hale
County
Listed on June 25, 2021
Constructed in 1857, Magnolia Hall in Greensboro is
architecturally significant at the national, state and local levels as an
outstanding example of Greek Revival style architecture. It is a rare surviving
example of the Amphiprostyle form, in which both the front and back of the
building have identical columned porticos that resemble Greek temples. Magnolia
Hall retains much of its mid-19th-century appearance on both the interior and
exterior and was documented by the Historic American Buildings Survey in the
1930s. The property also includes a slave dwelling, a former detached kitchen,
and a building that may have originally served as an icehouse.
Water Avenue Historic District –
Boundary Increase and Additional Documentation, Selma, Dallas County
Listed on June 25, 2021
An update to the Water Avenue Historic District in Selma expanded
the boundaries and recognized the area’s significance in the African American
Civil Rights Movement and in the Civil War. The historic district contains much
of the route for a March 9, 1965, march known as Turnaround Tuesday. This march
was one of a series of demonstrations that attracted national attention to
civil rights violations in Selma and led to the passage of the Voting Rights
Act of 1965. Archeological resources in the historic district are associated
with Selma’s military significance during the Civil War, when it was the
second-largest war production center in the Confederacy and the largest in
Alabama. The nomination update also added historic and archeological resources
that are related to the district’s significance as Selma’s waterfront
commercial and warehouse district.
“These new listings added to Alabama’s 1,200 National Register
properties represent the complex history of our state with districts and
buildings spanning diverse geography, periods of influence and communities,”
said AHC Chairman Eddie Griffith. “We welcome the recognition that the National
Park Service confers through the National Register of Historic Places and
encourage all Alabamians to learn more about these properties and their
influence on who we are as a citizenry today.”
“The addition of these Alabama properties to the National Register
underscores the fact that historic places matter,” said Lisa D. Jones,
Executive Director of the Alabama Historical Commission and State Historic
Preservation Officer. “Recognizing the historical significance of places helps
to preserve their stories for the future. It shapes the way we understand
Alabama’s role in our nation’s story.”
The Alabama Historical Commission administers the National
Register program in Alabama. Learn more at https://ahc.alabama.gov/nationalregister.aspx. This web page also
provides a link to our Historic Preservation Map, which provides access to
copies of the National Register nomination forms.
About the Alabama Historical Commission
Located in historic downtown Montgomery at 468 S.
Perry Street, the Alabama Historical Commission is the state historic
preservation agency for Alabama. The agency was created by an act of the state
legislature in 1966 with a mission to protect, preserve and interpret Alabama’s
historic places. AHC works to accomplish its mission through two fields of
endeavor: Preservation and promotion of state-owned historic sites as public
attractions; and, statewide programs to assist people, groups, towns, and
cities with local preservation activities. For a complete list of programs and
properties owned and operated by the AHC, hours of operation, and admission
fees please visit ahc.alabama.gov
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