Exploring Montgomery

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

Monthly Archives: June 2017

Out on Pike Road, built circa 1825. The Marks family moved here from the renowned Broad River Valley of NE Georgia, where my ggggg GF Dionysius Oliver had founded the doomed town of Petersburg in 1786. The Marks clan was part of the group of Virginians who moved to the […]

Marks Plantation House

June 30, 2017 in Residential tagged arts and crafts / colonial / house / marks / pike road / plantation / thanksgiving visitor

At the edge of the campus facing Taylor Road (I struggle with that name; I suppose it is the antithesis of “illness”). The interior (campus side) view looks fairly routine, but the Taylor Road side (pictured) almost looks like it might take flight. The facility has 73,000 square ft of […]

AUM Wellness Center

June 26, 2017 in Education tagged aum / gym / wellness

This crisply detailed, well-kept home at 1944 South Hull Street has an Italianate feel, and probably dates back to the late 1920s. When I moved here 60 years ago, I knew this as the home of Charles Voltz, general manager of the then still prestigious Algernon Blair construction company; Blair […]

Charles Voltz Home

June 23, 2017 in Residential tagged brent / charles / charlotte / italianate / springford / voltz

You would never believe this (I almost didn’t), but this poor relic of a once grand plantation house, was where Sir George Waller grew up circa 1900. This structure, until just recently an AUM bookstore, stands on Taylor road opposite the University, giving no hint of its grandeur of a century […]

Sir George Waller

June 19, 2017 in Commercial / Education / Residential tagged aum / bookstore / george / jacks / sir / waller

The announcement by AUM of its upcoming Clifford & Virginia Durr Lecture Series gave me cause to post this picture of that couple’s rented home during Montgomery’s turbulent civil rights era. The house is at #2 Felder Avenue, located on the corner at Court Street, and was built ca 1915. It […]

Clifford & Virginia Durr

June 16, 2017 in Residential tagged civil rights / clifford / durr / rosa parks / virginia

Was built ca 1890, and is Queen Anne style, with wonderful orange pressed brick, dominated by an unusual central tower. It is one of the very few large houses built in the historic Cottage Hill District during the latter part of the 1800s. Many pre-Civil War mansions were constructed up […]

The Mills House

June 12, 2017 in Residential tagged mills / Queen Anne

Out on the Mobile Highway, primarily a men’s shelter and outreach for and to the poor and homeless in Montgomery. It serves 1200 meals a week, and provides shelter to over 75/night. The “residents” prepare and deliver meals to the homeless throughout the city. The Mission is Presbyterian (PCA) affiliated […]

Friendship Mission

June 9, 2017 in Religious tagged friendship / homeless / mission / presbyterian / shelter

At 11 Capitol Parkway in the Capitol Heights Historic District, is one of the more interesting houses there. It is mostly Craftsman Style or American Foursquare, which I have never heard of, built circa 1912, and it incorporates the generous, livable front porch and single dominant roof dormer common to […]

Oliver Clapp House

June 5, 2017 in Residential tagged american foursquare / clapp / craftsman / oliver

Greystone Hotel — The once-grand Greystone, at 100 Commerce Street, was built in 1928. It was constructed as the Armstrong Hotel, or Cherokee Hotel, but was damaged by a fire in 1921 and sold off to become the Greystone. The 10-story classical structure was once nominated for listing on the National Register of […]

Greystone Hotel

June 2, 2017 in Commercial tagged armstrong / cherokee / greystone / hotel