July 5, 1819

In preparation for statehood, Alabama’s first constitutional convention was held in Huntsville, the state’s temporary seat of government. Forty-four delegates from 22 counties attended the convention, which lasted until Aug. 2, when the state ratified its first constitution. The state held the convention in a local cabinet shop, the only building large enough to accommodate the meeting. A replica of the two-story building, now known as Constitution Hall, stands in its original location at The Alabama Constitution Village. The site was listed on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage in 1975 and is part of the EarlyWorks Family of Museums, which hosts more than 50,000 visitors annually.

Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama. 

Map showing Mississippi and the Alabama territory, From the Samuel Lewis atlas, 1817. (Francis Shallus, Library of Congress Geography and Map Division Washington, D.C.)

Constitution Hall, shown here in this line drawing, was in Huntsville and was the site where Alabama’s first state constitution was signed in 1819. A re-creation of the building now stands on the same site in the Alabama Constitution Village living-history park. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, Courtesy of Alabama Department of Archives and History)

In 1819, the Alabama Territorial Legislature approved the new state’s first constitution in Huntsville, Madison County. Shown here is an image of the original title page of the document. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, Courtesy of Alabama Department of Archives and History)

Constitution Village, Huntsville. (The George F. Landegger Collection of Alabama Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith’s America, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division)

For more on Alabama’s Bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.