Exploring Montgomery

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

Monthly Archives: October 2016

Bellinger Hill — was built in 1904, and appears to be mostly Italianate Style. Today it serves our system as the Department of Special Ed, but in its day it generated as many cherished memories as any building in our city. The school had dedicated teachers, put on plays, was famous for May […]

Bellinger Hill Elementary School

October 31, 2016 in Education tagged bellinger / elementary / hill / italianate / school

3354 Bankhead — This day and time you don’t often find homes which have been in one family for 50 years or more. Our society has grown too mobile. Back when I was a lad, the family unit was the glue, and those that could built or bought a place large enough to […]

Shan Sellers Home

October 28, 2016 in Residential tagged bankhead / sellers / shan

Kilby Prison — In 1970 the Old Kilby Prison was nearing its demise, but still in operation. It was Alabama’s Alcatraz, built 1922, huge, forbidding, located only 4 miles from downtown on a site that is now the NE corner of old Federal Drive and Coliseum Blvd. Its 20-foot high, 6-foot thick perimeter […]

Old Kilby Prison

October 24, 2016 in Government tagged kilby / prison

Grover Keyton — This cottage in Old Cloverdale was built circa 1917 and is hailed as the first house built on that street. This part of Park Avenue runs right behind the huge First Methodist enclave, and since this pattern book cottage preceded the church at this location by a decade, it can […]

Grover Keyton Home

October 21, 2016 in Residential tagged grover / keyton

Trimble Hall — If you have never seen a redheaded stepchild, this just might be your chance. This poor, off color, neglected building sits on the back side of the Huntingdon campus, behind the boiler house. It faces Woodley Road without so much as a paved driveway to mark its existence. It is […]

Huntingdon Trimble Hall

October 17, 2016 in Commercial / Education tagged hall / huntingdon / trimble

Crump Community — was opened in the late 1970s as the Highland Ave Adult Center, and renamed for Muriel Crump ca 1994. Before 1975 the building was the Highland Ave Church of Christ, and had been that since it was built in the 1920s. Sad to say, this facility was recently closed, and […]

Crump Community Center

October 14, 2016 in Commercial / Education / Religious tagged community / crump / highland

Trinity — is a private K-12 coed school located at 1700 E Trinity Blvd (off Carmichael). Trinity has almost 1,000 students, and was founded ca 1970 by Trinity Presbyterian Church. In 1973 the school constructed its first building and moved to this location. -Charles Humphries

Trinity Presbyterian School

October 10, 2016 in Education tagged highschool / presbyterian / trinity

Greyhound — Oh, how sad you are, Greyhound. What a comedown from the grand bus system I knew as a boy! Back then, bus stations were in impressive buildings located within walking distance of the train depot, to facilitate passenger transfers. In all the larger towns they boasted covered loading, and often […]

Greyhound Bus Station

October 7, 2016 in Commercial tagged bus / greyhound / station

Cloverdale Shopping Center — on South Court, ancient and decrepit –but still vibrant. It was the centerpiece of Folmar & Flinn’s vast Cloverland Housing development of the late 1940s –a stunning achievement for that era. Of course, the sidewalk covers were added later. The TruValue hardware store you see was the Cloverland Grocery anchor […]

Cloverland Shopping Center

October 3, 2016 in Commercial tagged cloverdale / mall / shopping