Travellers have been lured to Montgomery, Ala. since conquistador Hernando de Soto planted a Spanish flag on the banks of the Alabama River in 1540.
The site's growth as a productive and populous hub led to it's being named the first capital of the Confederate States of America.
Jefferson Davis was sworn in as president of the Confederacy on the steps of the capitol. It was he who sent the April 11, 1861, telegram from the Winter Building on Dexter Avenue that ignited the Civil War: "Fire on Fort Sumter."
When the Confederate government moved abruptly to the more-strategically-located Richmond, Va., Montgomery's status dropped dramatically, a dip... more