Scottsboro - Jackson Heritage Center

I came to Scottsboro, AL a bit early on this wonderful spring day, before meeting oldest son and family at Unclaimed Baggage in town.  I looked up museums in town to find one to go to.

I chose to see a bit of local history at Scottsboro - Jackson Heritage Center, in the center of town.

I was the only visitor at the time and the two workers going over historical donations gave me an overviewed and one started the tour in the house.  It’s a wonderfully built and maintained home that was smaller front to back and then added on.

Although the furnishings were not original, donations of period items accented the rooms nicely.

I enjoyed the little details about the town being settled and how it grew.  Coming from the north it helped understanding development after the Civil War.  I think they thought it odd from some random guy from Massachusetts stopping by for a tour, so I explained my 4 month winter journey.

I’ve been coming here for a number of years so I do have an appreciation for the layout of the town and surrounding area.

It was nice to get to see the inside of the out buildings too, like this original courthouse.  The inside still contains the original local records.

Out back are old log buildings that were moved to this property to help educate visitors what life was like in the 1800’s.  The log buildings collectively named Sagetown and I got to visit each building by checking them out inside.  I also learned about carpenter bees, as they were busy working on one of the log homes.  We don’t have them in Massachusetts and they are huge, but I was told not to worry as they don’t attack people.  I kept a respectable distance anyway.

It was a wonderful visit to learn about the town and local area.  The center is funded by the city and Jennifer, who runs the center, shared with me a major expansion they will undertake on the main building off to the rear that will add exhibit and meeting rooms.

I can see how this addition will help with showing collections that they are unable to show today.

As we were headed back to the main house this lizard came down the handrail on the stairs and displayed their fan under their throat.

Please consider checking out small town museums as they add value to the local area and can be a wonderful way to gain insight into your visit.



Two block away is the current courthouse in the town square.  Driving secondary roads in Alabama I have been to a number of towns that have a courthouse in the town center.  The only difference in Scottsboro is that many of the stores facing the square are empty leaving me feel a bit bad about the growth of new businesses on US72 on the outskirts of town.

Enjoy your travels and visit a small museum.

Brent

macaloney@hotmail.com