Free, guided historic walking tours to take place October 1 and 8
Tours explore Five Points and Old Town Historic Districts
(Huntsville, AL) – Ever been curious about the stories behind the Rocket City’s most historic neighborhoods? The Huntsville/Madison County Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB) is sponsoring free, guided walking tours to explore the stories behind two of the area’s many historic districts. The free fall walking tours take place October 1 and 8 and explore the Five Points Historic District (October 1) and Old Town Historic District (October 8). The tours are free, and no reservations are required. Tours begin at 10:00 a.m.
There will be no rain dates in case of inclement weather. Tour guides will determine whether or not to proceed in case of rain. If there is uncertainty regarding whether the tour is still on, please contact the Visitor Center by calling 256-551-2370 or 1-800-SPACE-4-U.
The Five Points walking tour will meet and depart from the corner of Wells Avenue and Maple Hill Drive (NW corner of Maple Hill Cemetery), with Jan Williams serving as the tour guide.
The Old Town walking tour meets at 122 Walker Avenue in Huntsville, and Mike and Cathy Self will serve as guides for this tour.
“Huntsville is a unique destination. Not only are we an elite STE(A)M (Science, technology, engineering, arts, mathematics) destination, but we have an immense cultural history dating back before the state’s constitution was signed here in Huntsville in 1819,” President and CEO Judy Ryals of the Huntsville/Madison County CVB explained. “These free walking tours give visitors and residents alike the opportunity to explore that history, walk through beautiful historic districts, and hopefully be entertained along the way.”
Among the city’s several historic districts, the downtown Huntsville historic districts (Twickenham, Old Town and Five Points) are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This official list contains places considered worthy of preservation for their significance in American history, architecture, archaeology, engineering and culture.
Free walking tours exploring Alabama’s past were initiated by the Alabama Tourism Department in 2003, using Huntsville’s walking tours as a model, to foster the exploration of Alabama’s history and culture, especially in downtown areas.
Alabama is the only state with annual coordinated, state-wide walking tours. For those interested in getting a local’s perspective on the fall walking tours, the CVB has written a dedicated blog post on iHeartHsv.com. Adding a fun social media element to the event this year, the CVB has also created a special Snapchat geofilter that will be available for the app’s users during the tours.
For more information, visit www.huntsville.org/WalkingTours or contact Kristen Pepper at kristen@huntsville.org or 256.551.2294.
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About Huntsville/Madison County CVB
The Huntsville/Madison County Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB) is a non-profit 501(c)(6) organization which was developed in 1970 to create economic growth for Huntsville/Madison County by marketing the community as a top-of-mind convention and visitor destination. As the official city/county agency which promotes the area as a tourist destination and convention site, the CVB partners with an array of hospitality industry partners to market our destination to visitors of all types.
