Published On: 08.19.19 | 

By: 14236

On this day in Alabama history: Historical commission founded

Aug 19 feature

Belle Mont Mansion, near Tuscumbia, Colbert County, was built c. 1828 for plantation owner Alexander Williams Mitchell. The dramatic front entrance is a hallmark of the Palladian architectural style, likely influenced by the designs of President Thomas Jefferson. The mansion's builder, Alexander Williams Mitchell, lived near Jefferson's Monticello estate in Virginia before relocating to Alabama in 1820. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of the George F. Landegger Collection of Alabama Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith's America, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division)

Aug. 19, 1966

In 1966, the U.S. Special Committee on Historic Preservation, chaired by former Congressman Albert Rains, released the report “With Heritage So Rich,” which would lead to the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). The NHPA would then establish the National Register of Historic Places and other federal institutions. Alabama followed suit as Gov. George C. Wallace signed a law establishing the Alabama Historical Commission on Aug. 19, 1966. Today, the AHC owns and maintains Fort Mims, Fort Morgan, Fort Toulouse-Fort Jackson, Confederate Memorial Park, Old Cahawba Archaeological Park, Bottle Creek Indian Mounds, Forks of Cypress, Belle Mont, Fendell Hall, the Freedom Rides Museum, Gaineswood, Magnolia Grove, Pond Spring, Mobile Bay Middle Lighthouse and the State Capitol.

Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama

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