Besides all the pretty homes we took pics of in Talladega, we found some different things around downtown, like the Ritz Theatre. It was built around 1936 – it’s *so* art deco! I’d love to see the inside:
This is the courthouse – it was built in 1836 and is the oldest county courthouse in Alabama:
The train depot:
The Talladega Spring – it’s the original water source:
…the structure is…different:
This stone marks closeby where the Battle of Talladega began during the Creek War (part of the War of 1812). Andrew Jackson and his men fought the Red Sticks here:
…and I’m not sure how, but the columns from the old Cullman County courthouse wound up here – there’s a plaque on this one. I just did a Google search to find a pic of the original, and I found this, but I don’t see any columns in this style on it. Hmmm…
Across the street from the spring, we saw a sign for the Talladega Walk of Fame, Davey Allison Memorial. There were these plaques around a small park:
Not far from downtown is Talladega College, founded in 1867 by two former slaves – William Savery and Thomas Tarrant. The college’s website states that they are the oldest private historically black liberal arts college in Alabama.
Drewry Hall, built in 1932, the business school:
This is DeForest Chapel, built in 1903:
This is the Savery Library, built in 1939. The really interesting thing about this building is that inside are the Amistad Murals, which were painted by Hale Woodruff:
The murals are six by forty feet, and were completed 100 years after the Amistad incident. They depict the slaves on board revolting, their trial, and their return to Africa as free men:
In the floor below this mural is a picture of the ship, embedded in the terrazzo. I read the students never step on it as a sign of respect.