Alabama small-town wonders: Monroe County Museum
Fans of Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” often wonder what it would be like to visit Maycomb, the fictional setting of the famous novel. What many don’t realize though is that while Maycomb might not be real, the place that inspired it – Harper Lee’s hometown of Monroeville – is, and its Monroe County Museum is a small-town wonder that draws visitors from all over the world.
Monroeville might be Alabama’s Literary Capital, and given its where two famous authors, Harper Lee and Truman Capote, spent much of their childhood, it’s not hard to see why.
While Monroeville is a charming, quaint Southern town with lots of history in its own right, its role in Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” has made it a destination for those hoping to connect with the story’s beloved characters, and the Monroe County Museum allows them to do just that.
“We have had visitors from Japan, China, New Zealand – there are several places far, far away,” said Wanda Green, the Monroe County Museum’s executive director. “They want as close of a connection to Atticus, Scout and everybody in the book as they can get.”
The Monroe County Courthouse was built in 1903 and served as home to county offices and a working courtroom until 1963. By then, the building had already gained national recognition following the publication of “To Kill a Mockingbird” in 1960.
“Everybody who has ever read ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ is drawn to the museum because it makes them feel closer to the characters when they come here, especially if they’ve seen the movie,” Green said. “The courtroom looks almost identical to the one in the movie. Even though it was not filmed here, many people believe it was. We have to tell them that Hollywood just came to film and copied our courtroom.”
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It was this notability that inspired the community to transform the old courthouse into a museum dedicated to the works of Harper Lee and Truman Capote. The building opened as a full-time museum in 1991 with two permanent exhibits, “Truman Capote: A Childhood in Monroeville,” and “Harper Lee: In Her Own Words.”
Both exhibits feature artifacts, photographs and more from both authors’ lives, including a piece of the famed “Boo Radley” tree from “To Kill a Mockingbird” and Truman Capote’s baby blanket, which was one of his most cherished possessions.
In addition to the exhibits, visitors can move about the courtroom including the balcony, judge’s bench and tables used by the prosecutor and defense attorney – which has been restored to its 1930s appearance and served as the inspiration behind the courtroom set used in the popular film adaption of “To Kill a Mockingbird.”
For many fans of the classic novel and Academy Award-winning film, visiting the courtroom and sitting on the balcony Harper Lee sat on as a child, watching her father practice law, is a surreal moment.
“We have people who will come here and just sit down in the courtroom for an hour or longer sometimes,” said Green. “We had a visitor one time who had actually been sitting in the courtroom for like four hours, and I went up there just to check on them. We were getting ready to close, and she looked at me and said, ‘You just don’t understand. You’re here every day, and you just don’t realize what it means to me to be here.'”
Green, who has worked at the museum since 2009, said you do get used to being in the presence of so much history when you’re surrounded by it every day, but even after more than a decade, she still finds herself admiring the view of the courtroom from its balcony.
“I still love walking into that courtroom,” said Green. “The balcony is probably my favorite place in this building. I love to go up into the balcony and look down over the courtroom.”
It’s not only the museum that draws crowds though. There’s also a variety of special events hosted at the courthouse each year. That includes live performances of “To Kill a Mockingbird” put on by The Mockingbird Company, which take place outside for the first act while the second act is set inside the courtroom.
The museum isn’t the only place in Monroeville where you can find nods to the town’s literary history. In addition to several murals and art installations, some local businesses offer up “To Kill a Mockingbird”-themed goods, such as The Courthouse Café where you can dine on a lunch of “Boo burgers” and “Finch fries.:
Overall, Green said she hopes visitors who come to see the Monroe County Museum feel closer to the characters of “To Kill a Mockingbird” and have a better understanding of the role Monroeville played in inspiring it.
“I hope our visitors get what they’re seeking,” she said. “They want to find a connection with ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ and these characters that mean so much to them, and I hope when they come here, they get it.”
For more information, visit the Monroe County Museum’s website.