Historic Midtown

A Cinderella Story?
Renovator’s Happy Hour is coming right up on Thursday, July 26 from 5:30-7:00 at 2531 Brewton Street. The hosts are Sarah and Windham Graves. Guests are invited to tour both projects: a bungalow and a cottage built circa 1940s. However, the star of the evening will be their Great Dane, Cinderella. She’s big, she’s brindle, […]

Discover the Magic
I am a fan of Montgomery history. One of things I especially appreciate is knowing when pieces of the past remain a part of the present. One example of such a situation is the old bell from Freeny’s Tavern. Clemet Freeny, a Georgia native, first visited the area that would become Montgomery in 1809. Documentation […]

Historic Preservation – Economic Developer’s Friend
WACV, a local FM talk radio station, has periodically on its morning show a segment called “Did You Know…” Today on Midtown Montgomery Living we’re going to play that game. What do the (soon-to-be a boutique hotel) Murphy House, the train shed on the Montgomery riverfront, and the warehouses-now-office-buildings along Commerce Street have in common? (Cue […]

A “Four Sisters’ House” on Renovators’ Tour
If you work downtown and travel Perry Street on a daily basis, you probably have never even noticed the neat pieces of Montgomery’s rich architectural history located on the west side of that street. Four two story Victorian style houses stand together facing busy one way South Perry Street. These four houses, known as the […]

Celebrating Historic Preservation in Midtown Neighborhoods
For the past year, I have watched my neighbors working tirelessly every weekend, holiday, evening and spare moment on a house project on our street. We had all nervously watched a rental property on our block that had been empty for at least year and was getting more and more derelict. In true neighborhood historic […]

Spring Tour of Homes Celebrates World War I in Montgomery
For the last several years, Landmarks Foundation of Montgomery/Old Alabama Town has offered the public tours of Montgomery homes—cottages and bungalows, Downtown lofts and townhouses, Frank Lockwood-designed homes, and Mid-century Modern homes. On Sunday afternoon, March 11th, 1:00 until 5:00 four homes will be open for touring to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of the entry […]

Rescued Relics
In what will surely be a series of upcoming posts on Midtown Montgomery, we’ve decided to renovate the shed that lives in the back yard of the Midtown house that we purchased about a decade ago. In the ten years that we’ve owned it, we’ve managed to store a few things in the shed, mostly […]

Minnie, Katie, Hazel and Emily
School has started, and so I thought I would review some history on Capitol Heights Elementary School. Carole King and I did a presentation at Old Alabama Town in July on the school, and it seemed interest in school remains strong. My interest in solving my history mysteries about schools in Capitol Heights remains strong. […]

Kress on Dexter—Dexter Avenue’s Newest Restoration
If you’ve missed our first two Renovators’ Happy Hour, don’t despair! You’ll have another opportunity to see the newest, most innovative happening in Montgomery’s historic preservation movement hosted by Landmarks Foundation and the Historic Neighborhoods Coalition. Kress on Dexter will be open on Thursday, August 31, from 5:30 until 7:00 for our viewing and enjoyment […]

A History Mystery
On July 9, Carole King and I gave a presentation for the Landmark’s Foundation’s “Discovery Sundays” program at the Loeb Center in Old Alabama Town. Our subject that day was Capitol Heights and two fires that were defining moments for that community. These fun and informative talks are sponsored by Ross Clayton, Inc., and their […]
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