Selma Historic District Slowly Recovering from Tornado

From the West Alabama Newsroom–

Selma’s historic district was one of the areas in the city — hit hardest by the January 12th tornado.

Nevertheless — the annual event showcasing the area — will go on as scheduled.

The city of Selma has one of the largest historic districts in the entire Southeast region.

The annual Historic Selma Tour of Homes — celebrates that history — along with the architectural beauty of the buildings.

“A lot of people don’t realize the value of that,” said Julie Lyons with the Selma-Dallas County Historic Preservation Society.

“We have every architectural style of home ever built in this country in this little 200 year old town.”

The annual Historic Selma Tour of Homes celebrates that history.

Over 1200 structures in the district have been classified as historic. And some of the buildings even pre-date the Civil War.

Dozens of those historic structures were damaged — or lost — on January 12th.

“We lost a building that was originally in Old Cahaba — Alabama’s first state capital,” said Lyons.

“It was built in the 1820s. It was moved to Selma after the Civil War.”

Mary Margaret Mims is the museum director at Sturdivant Hall — the best known buildings — in the historic district.

“We had broken windows. The wind took the windows out which threw some shutters through some of the windows and things. And the grounds took a big hit,” said Mims.

The recovery process moves slower in the historic district — because the historic integrity of the structure has to be maintained — in order for the property to retain it’s value as an investment.

The Historic Selma Tour of Homes — is March 17th — and 18th.

More information is available at historicselma.org.