Exploring Montgomery

The storytelling continues… a collection of stories and photos from Exploring Montgomery!

Monthly Archives: July 2016

Municipal Airport Terminal — The old Municipal Airport Terminal still stands on Gunter Annex to Maxwell AFB, reminding us that the Montgomery Municipal Airport, later named for Mayor Bill Gunter, was built in 1929. The 600-acre airfield had a grass landing strip, and this combination hanger- terminal building. Mayor Gunter, a flying enthusiast, was so […]

Old Municipal Airport Terminal

July 29, 2016 in Government tagged airforce / airport / gunter / maxwell / terminal

Baldwin Magnet — The old Sidney Lanier, which exists today as Baldwin Magnet School. For many years Scott Street (near side of the structure) was closed to afford the school playground space. Then, circa 1981, after the facility had served as Baldwin Junior High for many years, the street was reopened (my project) […]

Baldwin Junior High School

July 25, 2016 in Education tagged baldwin / magnet / school

Jeff Davis HS — at 3420 Carter Hill Road, built with such hope and promise during the mid-1960s. Its early years were so successful that by the late 1970s kids poured out of private school to attend that public school. JD had wonderful football and band programs during its glory decades. 1969 was its […]

Jefferson Davis Highschool

July 22, 2016 in Education tagged davis / highschool / jd / jefferson

Jackson Hospital — Today (top), and circa 1920 (bottom view). It began as Highland Park Sanitarium in a row of houses on Forest Avenue. In the upper view you can see the bridge which connected the old building to the doctor’s offices on the left. Around 1975 the bridge held the quite-famous Ponte […]

Jackson Hospital

July 18, 2016 in Commercial tagged hospital / jackson / Ponte Rouge

Elite Cafe — The site of Montgomery’s renowned Elite Cafe (pronounced E-lite) at 121 Montgomery Street. It opened in 1910 and during its 1940s-‘50s heyday, it was known region wide. In that era, all the guests at the numerous masked balls would reassemble here after the dance was over and continue the revelry […]

Elite Cafe

July 15, 2016 in Commercial tagged cafe / dining / elite

Ware Farley Hood — was located on South Hull Street, a little South of Adams, when planter James Ware built it ca 1855. Ware had it designed in Italianate Style. After his death the structure served as a girls school. Sheriff Horace Hood owned it next, and his wife turned it into a Southern […]

Ware-Farley-Hood House

July 11, 2016 in Residential tagged farley / hood / italianate / ware

AEA Building — When you pass by The Alabama Education Association (AEA) Building on Dexter at Hull, you should realize you are looking at the real capitol of the State. The AEA was founded in 1856 to help local school boards control the teachers, but circa 1970 the organization combined forces with the Black […]

Alabama Education Association Building

July 8, 2016 in Education tagged association / education

I85 — This is what made EastChase possible. The view is of the South terminus of the I-85 Interstate, as it intersects I-65, but this was the artery that changed Montgomery’s growth from Southeast to East. No event has had more impact on our city (nor on our nation, for that matter) […]

Interstate 85

July 4, 2016 in Places and Things tagged 85 / eisenhower / interstate

Real Estate Financing — The Perry Street home of the onetime Real Estate Financing Inc, a creation of Edwin Auerbach Sr. Ed returned to his insurance business after WW-II and found a tremendous need for financing of a pent-up housing market. Backed by his mother-in-law, he was able to grow a new business that […]

Real Estate Financing Inc

July 1, 2016 in Commercial tagged estate / financing / regions