Back in Time

For my first full day alone in Alabama I decided that I wanted to explore the downtown Huntsville area.  I got out my trusty map of Huntsville and figured out how to get from my hotel to the tourist office downtown. I made it there without a single wrong turn (hooray!) and went inside to find some interesting things to do for the day.  The lady that works there was so friendly and helpful - I guess that's sort of a requirement for a job like that though.  She gave me a map of the just the downtown area and traced out the route I should take for all the things I wanted to see and do.  She also got me all set up with discounted entrance fees to the places I wanted to visit and told me about a free concert in the park that was going on that night.  And she gave me a free bottle of water.  I decided to leave my car there and walk everywhere I wanted to go that day so I set off with my map, tickets, and water.

My first stop was the Huntsville Train Depot which was built in 1860 as a station for the Memphis and Charleston Railroad.

The Depot is staffed by volunteers and because I was the only tourist there early on Monday morning I got a personal tour from a friendly and knowledgeable tour guide.  We started our tour in the ticket office.  It was set up to look like it would have in 1908.  The mannequins talked and moved a little and had thick Southern accents.  They told about what life was like working in the Depot in the early 1900s.  It was a little funny, but mostly informative and interesting.

 This is the lobby of the Depot.  I liked looking at all the big trunks that were lining the walls and wished a couple of them could be in my house.

Outside of the Depot there were lots of old train engines and cars to climb through and explore, an old roundhouse where they could repair trains and turn them around on the big turntable, and an old garage full of classic cars.

My tour guide told me a little about the history of the Depot.  The Huntsville Depot is the oldest train Depot in Alabama.  During the Civil War the Union troops came and occupied the city and took over the Depot.  It was a good strategic move because they could both keep the Confederate Army from transporting troops and supplies and they could also use the railroad lines to transport their troops and supplies.  The Union Army also used the third floor of the Depot as a jail for Confederate soldiers and as a hospital.  There was Civil War graffiti on the walls and there are also ghosts, if you believe in that sort of thing.  After the Civil War it went back to being a passenger station until it closed down in 1968.  They really didn't want people loafing around or just loitering in the train station so the benches were changed to make it impossible for people to lie down and sleep in the waiting area.  They also put spiked metal strips along the windowsills so you couldn't sit on the windowsills.  I'm grateful for airport waiting areas that at least try to be comfortable for passengers.

By the time I left the Depot it had gotten really hot.  I was grateful for every bit I shade I passed through on my way to the next place on my list.  Huntsville was founded my John Hunt who came looking for a spring that he'd heard about from some Native Americans.  Big Spring Park has been build around the spring that he eventually found.  It was lovely and shady and just the place to stop, drink some water, and get a little cooled off before heading back out into the heat.

I sat beside this stream for a while, but I eventually stopped sweating and was ready to keep walking.  I was headed for Alabama Constitution Village, the site where Alabama's State Constitution was written and signed in 1819.  It was a sort of living history museum with building set up as they would have been in 1819 and employees in period dress giving tours.  Again, I was the only person there so I was lucky enough to go on a personal tour.  My tour guide was great - I really have never had such a good tour before.  She was interesting, friendly, and knew a lot about Alabama history and life as it was way back then.

We started out the tour in the building where the Constitution was drafted.  It was an empty cabinetmaker's shop and was the only building in the territory large enough to fit all of the representatives.  Now it is once again a cabinetmaker's shop with lots of tools and equipment.

We visited the stable the post riders used to house both their horses and themselves.  There is also a blacksmith shop, but they don't light the forge in the summer heat.  She showed me the basket house, the slave quarters, and the apprentice quarters.  The next stop was the Boardman Building, the home of the newspaper office and the city's first public library.  I found it interesting that the library wasn't exactly public -  women weren't allowed to use the library.

She showed me how the press operated and how the apprentice would set the type for each page.  I cannot imagine how much work and time it would have taken to set a page of type backwards and a letter at a time.  It could take up to 25 hours of work to set one page of type.  The last places we visited were the Neal house and kitchen.  Stephen Neal was the first county sheriff and it seemed like being a sheriff was a pretty good deal because his house was the nicest we saw.  There was only one bedroom, a dining room, parlor, office, and main hallway.  Their kitchen was in a separate building from the rest of the house to keep the house cool in summer and to protect the house from the cooking smells and the threat of fire.  The whole tour was really, really good and I think our kids would have enjoyed it as well.  Maybe someday we'll all come to Huntsville and visit together.  The one thing I took away from my time at Alabama Constitution Village was that life in 1819 was work, hard work every day.  Even the people who were wealthy had to spend a lot of their day working for their survival.

I stopped for lunch at the Commerce Kitchen, a cute little restaurant around the corner from the Constitution Village.  I wasn't sure what I wanted or that I was even really hungry.  I think the heat and sun had taken away my ability to feel anything but hot and tired.  I decided on a spinach and smoked bacon salad with a fried egg on top.  It was amazingly delicious and just what I needed to keep exploring.

My next (and last) stop was Harrison Brothers Hardware, Alabama's oldest hardware store.  It was opened in 1879 by a couple of brothers and was owned and run by the same family until 1983.  The inside of the store is amazing and isn't officially museum, but is still a step back in time.  The store is stocked from floor to ceiling .  The items stored up high can be reached with tall rolling ladders.  There is a hand operated rope elevator to reach the second story and a hand cranked cash register that they still use to ring up customers.  The store is an interesting mix of old and new items.  There were boxes of nails, nuts, bolts, and other old hardware store types of things.  There were also many newer items, most of them handmade by local artisans.

All day I was pleasantly surprised by the kindness and friendliness of the people I met.  From the nice lady at the tourist office to the volunteers at the hardware store and everyone I met in between, people were so friendly and kind.  Two people offered to drive me back to my car so I didn't have to walk in the heat.  I had a lovely conversation with one volunteer at the hardware store about life in the military.  She told me she would pray for my husband and she doesn't even know me.  I got suggestions and helpful hints of places to see, food to eat, and where to shop.  I guess that's what they mean when they talk about Southern hospitality?