Click here and join me on another epic Urban Hiking adventure to Talladega, Alabama founded in 1832.
In this Urban Hiking micro adventure I find myself in the city of Talladega, Alabama which was founded in 1832! I’m calling it – Hope? Exploring the 1832 City of Talladega, AL! Any Hope – YES THERE IS!
Talladega is undergoing a huge change in their main street area downtown as you will see.
While urban hiking in Talladega, funded in 1832 I find this very interesting structure – it was just beautiful. It’s the one in my thumbnail. When I got returned home I researched it and this is what I found on the design200.org website:
Talladega- Isbell Bank
When terracotta is used as a building material, it is typically used only for ornamentation such as an embellishment around windows and doors. The Isbell National Bank in Talladega is a rarity, having been constructed in 1869 entirely out of red-hued terracotta. The bank is believed to be one of only five remaining architectural terracotta buildings east of the Mississippi River. Merchant James Isbell founded the bank in 1848, making it the oldest continually operating bank in Alabama. It is now called the First Bank of Alabama.
Other interesting facts about Talladega, founded in 1832:
According to mainstreetalabama.org:
Talladega received Main Street Alabama Designation in June 2022. Talladega’s priorities for the downtown district include: “ensuring the financial well-being of our city by promoting economic development; attracting business and industry; preserving and protecting the historic character; getting buildings up to code and securing tenants in vacant buildings; strengthening partnerships within and beyond the community; increasing pedestrian walkability for all users, including the blind; creating greater access to the newly formed entertainment district” to name a few.
According to ritztalladega.com related to the Ritz Theatre:
Talladega’s Ritz Theatre (circa 1936) is considered one of the best surviving examples of the Art Deco mainstreet theatres of the 1930′s.
Careful restoration of the landmark’s extraordinary facade – comprised exclusively of opaque structural glass, a common construction material used lavishly during the Deco period in buildings like the Rockefeller Center in New York City – was completed in late 1997 with perfectly matched antique vitrolite glass by renowned St. Louis artisan Timothy J. Dunn.
The historic Ritz Theatre reopened on February 16, 1998 as the premiere performing arts center of East Central Alabama with a concert by the National Symphony String Quintet.
Read this article from the 1930s about how the Ritz was the most modern theater in the Martin chain at it’s launch.
According to hmdb.org related to the historic courthouse:
The Talladega Courthouse was built in 1836 and is the oldest courthouse in continuous use in Alabama. The courthouse survived a tornado on May 11, 1912 that destroyed the clock tower, and a fire on March 13, 1925 that severely damaged the structure.
I’ll even travel to the world renowned – The Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind
So I hope you like my latest Urban Hiking micro-adventure that I’m calling – Hope? Exploring the 1832 City of Talladega, AL! Any Hope – YES THERE IS!