March Camellias

The season's last camellias linger against 

a late afternoon sky at Sturdivant Hall.

 And I believe I see a jet trail overhead! 

Linking to Skywatch Friday

At the Top

Selma has enjoyed blue skies, flowering Japanese Magnolia

 and spring temperatures this past week, and here is a peek

 at the top of Sturdivant Hall. What a magnificent view 

that must be looking down! The antebellum Greek Revival house

 museum is located in Old Town Selma. 

Linking to Skywatch Friday

Good Fences, Sturdivant Hall

Here is a "low-level" look through the iron gates at Sturdivant Hall,

 an antebellum house museum that is open to the public and often the scene

 of many events such as weddings, receptions

 and the Battle of Selma Grand Military Ball.  

Linking to Good Fences

and City Daily Photo Blogs

An Old-Fashioned Christmas

Apples, oranges, lemons and limes lend color and natural "flavor" 

to Sturdivant Hall's Christmas Open House.

 Decorator Rebecca Bond Nichols of Shabby & Chic Events/Rentals

 added magnolia and native greenery, along with candles and lanterns

 to complete this mantel display.   

Linking to Monday's Mellow Yellows

and City Daily Photo Blogs

Blue Monday: Sunset at Sturdivant Hall

Sun-washed clouds against a dark blue sky provide a beautiful sunset

 behind Sturdivant Hall.

Linking to Blue Monday and City Daily Photo Blogs

Social Season

Selma's fall social season begins with Sturdivant Hall's Barbecue on the Green.

 Tables decorated with autumn foliage spread across the courtyard

 for an evening of musical entertainment and barbecue.

 The event benefits the museum. 

Linking to Monday Mellow Yellows and City Daily Photo Blogs

H is for Hoop Skirts

It's ABC Wednesday, and the letter is H, so with the HISTORIC Selma Pilgrimage

 next weekend, HOOP skirts are in! 

These young ladies have been selected to serve as Pilgrimage Junior HOSTESSES

 and were leaving Sturdivant Hall after a photo session when my camera

 caught them in their HIP shoes beneath the HOOP skirts. 

Linking to ABC Wednesday and City Daily Photo Blogs

Decanters

A set of decanters at Sturdivant Hall reflect both sunlight

 and southern elegance from the mirrored silver base. 

Linking to The Weekend in Black and White

and City Daily Photo Blogs

Sturdivant Hall at Christmas

Evergreens decorate the entrance to Selma's famed Sturdivant Hall,

an antebellum Greek Revival mansion that is now a house museum.

The Weavers of Selma Exhibit

Ten works by the Weavers of Selma are on exhibition the Birmingham Museum of Art. This portrait, which was painted by Clara Weaver Parrish, is at Selma's Sturdivant Hall, but other paintings and sculptures by the Weavers can be seen at the Birmingham museum's American Gallery through October 31. Clara Parrish studied art in New York and later worked for Tiffany & Co., where she designed stained-glass windows. Her sister, Rose Pettus Weaver, became a sculptor and carved wood in the Beaux-Arts style, including a staircase at her home. A great niece, Rosalind Tarver Lipscomb of Huntsville, is also an accomplished painter.    

(Skywatch Friday) Preparing for the Ball

Skies are fair today, but what will they be like tomorrow night for the Battle of Selma Grand Military Ball? The ball is held outside in the main courtyard at Sturdivant Hall, and right now the forecast calls for rain and possible severe weather.

The event brings Federal and Confederate officers and their wives together for a dance before the Sunday battle. Non-military personnel can attend too, provided they have tickets and wear period dress.

See more Skywatch photos at www.skyley.blogspot.com.

A Golden Pose

Okay, this Golden Retriever is no Southern Belle standing in front of Sturdivant Hall, but he or she certainly knows how to pose. What a beauty!

Selma, Ala., Daily Photo's 3rd Anniversary

Here's a big bouquet of flowers to you, my readers, in Selma's finest house, Sturdivant Hall Museum. Today is the Selma, Ala., Daily Photo Blog's third anniversary, and I really can't believe I've posted a picture a day for that long!

Heading into the fourth year, I hope to continue meeting the challenge of finding something interesting, something positive and something representative of this famous little town in the heart of Alabama.

Thank you for your visits, your comments and suggestions, and come see Selma for yourself!

In the Rose Garden

The rose garden at Sturdivant Hall was especially pretty on a showery day in Selma.

Old-Fashioned Dolls

If you like dolls, then you'll love the playroom at Sturdivant Hall. Collections of old-fashioned dolls fill the cabinets, and they come in all sizes and outfits!

Night Before Pilgrimage (Skywatch Friday)

It's Skywatch Friday, and on the night before Pilgrimage, all was quiet at Sturdivant Hall where the sun set with a slight orange glow. The gates were locked but by 9 a.m., they will be wide open to welcome guests to the 34th annual Historic Selma Pilgrimage.

Come on down! It's a three-day event!

Check out the other Skywatch photos at www.skyley.blogspot.com.

March Theme Day (Glass)

March Theme Day is here, and my choice for a photo was crystal clear!

This crystal chandelier is reflected in a mirror at Sturdivant Hall Museum.

Follow this link for more photographs of glass!
Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

(Selma got snow today for the second time in two years! That is quite rare, so on the sidebar, I have posted a Selma Snow Slideshow. Thanks to Christine Weerts for snapping the church steeple and Old Live Oak Cemetery snow photos. The rest were taken in my neighborhood several miles north of Selma. We received a couple of inches on the ground and about one-half inch more on the hoods of vehicles. The snow, however, was gone by noon.)

On the Side

The side view of Sturdivant Hall is almost as attractive as its front and back. I took this photo from across the street by Heritage Village. Notice the yellow-flowered vine around the street lantern.

Mystery at the Museum

Ahhhhh...there'll be a Mystery at the Museum the night of Friday, January 30!

The antebellum Sturdivant Hall Museum over in Old Town will be the scene of a Mardi Gras Revelry, and Encore Little Theater actors will interact with guests for a "Who Done It?" at the costume party. Guests must obtain clues to solve the mystery, and the first person to solve it gets a prize and the title of Selma's Top Amateur Sleuth!

According to publicity, "Rhett Beauregard Butler and his lovely wife Hortensia Hufflemeyer Butler" will host the revelry. Their "actor" guests include Gethan and Merrygold Rutgers, Cliff and Maybell Snodgrass, Archibald and Vesta Willingham, all long time friends of Hortensia, and a mysterious guest. Before the evening is over, one of these people "meets an unfortunate end."

So, buy a ticket, don a costume and bring along your best detective skills.
Mystery Night is sponsored by Arts Revive, and proceeds go toward restoration of the Carneal building on Water Avenue that will become an art gallery and workshop.

Up the Haunted Staircase

A haunting we will go!

Here is the staircase at Sturdivant Hall where the ghost of Selma bankerJohn Parkman has briefly been seen and felt. (Okay, I know it's blurry, but I "softened" the photo to give it a ghostly appeal.)
Sturdivant is among the sites that guests will visit this weekend on Selma's Haunted History Tours. They will hear stories of its resident ghosts, view other haunted houses and meet a few of the spirits at Old Live Oak Cemetery. More ghost tours are scheduled at Old Cahawba Archaeological Park.

BEWARE!