Sunday 11/26/17
I only had one concern for the day, making it to Pensacola Beach for sunset. Otherwise, I was a free agent. I left Bessemer, Alabama shortly after sunrise(just a band of hazy yellow on the horizon), picking up I-20 east to I-65 south.
At the town of Clanton, named after Confederate General James Clanton, I picked up Hwy 22 southwest towards Selma. The city was incorporated in 1820 and named Selma after the poem, "The Songs of Selma." by James MacPherson. With it's location along the Alabama River, it became a major shipping and trading center for cotton as well as goods from the city's foundry.
During the Civil War, three miles of earthworks were built to protect the foundry and town. This was the second largest source of iron for the Confederacy and a manufacturing location for ironclad naval ships.
The first three attempts by the Union army to capture Selma were either turned back, abandoned or missed the city due to bad directions. On May 30, 1865, a Confederate courier was captured with detailed notes on the scattered army's positions and movements. Union General James Wilson quickly came up with a plan to make the most of it. Two days later the first skirmishes took place outside Selma. While the Confederates had their defenses, Union reinforcements kept arriving. Selma fell the next day.
The city came back into the national spotlight in March of 1965. James Bevel, the Director of Direct Action for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference had organized a protest march. The march would begin in Selma, cross the Edmund Pettis Bridge and then follow Hwy 80 east to the capital city, Montgomery.
Governor George Wallace had other ideas. As the marchers crossed the bridge, they were met by state police. Using tear gas and clubs, they forced the marchers back across the bridge. Seventeen marchers were hospitalized in what became known as Bloody Sunday.
Two days later, Martin Luther King led a symbolic march across the bridge. Not wanting a repeat of the violence, that's as far as they went. After petitioning President Johnson, the protest march to Montgomery took place on March 21st, with the marchers being protected by the military.
So who was Edmund Pettus? He was a Brigadier General in the Confederate army, a Senator and a Grand Wizard of the Alabama KKK.
The view from the bridge...
Walking back to the car, I peeked up a side road and saw a group of flags waving that seemed curious. The Harmony Club first opened in 1909 as a Jewish communist center. In the late 1930's, it became an Elks Club before being boarded up and abandoned in 1960.In the late 1990's David Hurlbut bought the building with the hope of renovating it into a private home. You can read about the renovation from a 2010 article here:
Driving out of Selma, I did take Hwy 80 towards Montgomery, but cut across on State Hwy 97 to avoid the city before picking up I-65 south towards Florida. Hwy 97 took me across the state line, joined 29 and took me all the way to the gulf coast and Pensacola Beach. My home for the night was the Travelodge. I booked it because it got good reviews, was relatively cheap($75 a night) and really was across the street from a beach access point. They put me on the fourth floor. Not a bad view at all.
Behind the motel, along the causeway is a small private beach for motel patrons only. After picking a convenient lounger, I settled in to watch the sunset. Four buildings down is a restaurant with a balcony. Their band was decent but lost me when they butchered the Rolling Stone's "Honky Tonk Woman."
Next door to the motel is a place called Sand Shaker. Their band was much better and I hung out for a while over a cold one.
The view from the fourth floor of the motel.
I only had one concern for the day, making it to Pensacola Beach for sunset. Otherwise, I was a free agent. I left Bessemer, Alabama shortly after sunrise(just a band of hazy yellow on the horizon), picking up I-20 east to I-65 south.
At the town of Clanton, named after Confederate General James Clanton, I picked up Hwy 22 southwest towards Selma. The city was incorporated in 1820 and named Selma after the poem, "The Songs of Selma." by James MacPherson. With it's location along the Alabama River, it became a major shipping and trading center for cotton as well as goods from the city's foundry.
During the Civil War, three miles of earthworks were built to protect the foundry and town. This was the second largest source of iron for the Confederacy and a manufacturing location for ironclad naval ships.
The first three attempts by the Union army to capture Selma were either turned back, abandoned or missed the city due to bad directions. On May 30, 1865, a Confederate courier was captured with detailed notes on the scattered army's positions and movements. Union General James Wilson quickly came up with a plan to make the most of it. Two days later the first skirmishes took place outside Selma. While the Confederates had their defenses, Union reinforcements kept arriving. Selma fell the next day.
The city came back into the national spotlight in March of 1965. James Bevel, the Director of Direct Action for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference had organized a protest march. The march would begin in Selma, cross the Edmund Pettis Bridge and then follow Hwy 80 east to the capital city, Montgomery.
Governor George Wallace had other ideas. As the marchers crossed the bridge, they were met by state police. Using tear gas and clubs, they forced the marchers back across the bridge. Seventeen marchers were hospitalized in what became known as Bloody Sunday.
Two days later, Martin Luther King led a symbolic march across the bridge. Not wanting a repeat of the violence, that's as far as they went. After petitioning President Johnson, the protest march to Montgomery took place on March 21st, with the marchers being protected by the military.
So who was Edmund Pettus? He was a Brigadier General in the Confederate army, a Senator and a Grand Wizard of the Alabama KKK.
The view from the bridge...
Driving out of Selma, I did take Hwy 80 towards Montgomery, but cut across on State Hwy 97 to avoid the city before picking up I-65 south towards Florida. Hwy 97 took me across the state line, joined 29 and took me all the way to the gulf coast and Pensacola Beach. My home for the night was the Travelodge. I booked it because it got good reviews, was relatively cheap($75 a night) and really was across the street from a beach access point. They put me on the fourth floor. Not a bad view at all.
Behind the motel, along the causeway is a small private beach for motel patrons only. After picking a convenient lounger, I settled in to watch the sunset. Four buildings down is a restaurant with a balcony. Their band was decent but lost me when they butchered the Rolling Stone's "Honky Tonk Woman."
Next door to the motel is a place called Sand Shaker. Their band was much better and I hung out for a while over a cold one.
The view from the fourth floor of the motel.
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