Celebrating National Historic Preservation Month: Huntsville Reconstruction Heritage Trail Receives Funding Boost

May is National Preservation Month, and the Historic Huntsville Foundation (HHF) has given the Huntsville community a reason to celebrate. The nonprofit historic preservation organization received two major grants to support “Cornerstones of Freedom: A Heritage Trail of Huntsville’s Reconstruction Era History,” a self-guided history trail that will bring long-needed attention to historic sites associated with Huntsville’s Reconstruction Era history (1865-1900).

The Cornerstones Heritage Trail will highlight the stories of Huntsville’s freed men and women whose commitment to education, entrepreneurship and political equality transformed our nation. This project received a major grant award from the Alabama Humanities Alliance and an award from the Ruth and Lyle Taylor fund from the Community Foundation of Greater Huntsville. Siniard Law, a Huntsville-based law firm, provided early funding support for the project.

The Heritage Trail consists of 15 sites, most of which are concentrated in Huntsville’s downtown core. Featured stops include Rust Institute, Huntsville’s first freedman school, established in 1865 on property that is now 801 Franklin Street, the offices of The Journal, a newspaper owned by Henry C. Binford, which operated on the West Side Square from1895-1912, and the Huntsville Branch of The Freedman’s Saving and Trust Company, established by President Abraham Lincoln in 1865 to help freed people become financially stable. The Bank had offices in the Huntsville Hotel, located just north of the courthouse square. The tour also highlights ten buildings constructed by Henderson and Daniel Brandon around the courthouse square. The Brandons are the featured exhibition in HHF’s Historic Huntsville Museum in Harrison Brothers Hardware, 124 Southside Square.

The goal of the Cornerstones Heritage Trail is to tell the story of Huntsville’s freed men and women by highlighting the historic sites and places associated with their achievements. HHF board member Bart Siniard stated: “Siniard Law is thrilled to partner with HHF to help shine the spotlight on the accomplishments of African Americans in Huntsville in the decades following the Civil War. The Historic Huntsville Foundation’s work has always been vital to our city’s culture and this project is no different. We are proud to support their mission of advocating for the preservation of each and every piece of Huntsville’s compelling story.”

The Heritage tour will debut in October 2024. Along with the Alabama Humanities Alliance, the Community Foundation of Greater Huntsville, and Siniard Law, HHF drew on support from Downtown Huntsville Inc., the Huntsville-Madison County Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Huntsville Historic Preservation Commission, the University of Alabama-Huntsville, Archives, Special Collections and Digital Initiatives, the Huntsville-Madison County Public Library, and Ms. Ollye Conley, Huntsville historian.

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