Covering four city blocks in Birmingham, Alabama, this area has been in the National Park system only since 2017 and is the mid stages of development for visitors. The A. G. Gaston Motel, headquarters in 1963 for the local civil rights movement, will become a VC and museum.
Today you can visit Kelly Ingram Park, the center of the widely televised protests. The park is filled plaques and statues representing the struggle that took place here. Directly across the street is the 16th Street Baptist Church where a bomb set off by the KKK killed four little girls and greatly influenced the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It is a short walk to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute - an affiliate of the Smithsonian and a partner with the NPS. Indoor sites were closed because of the 2020 health concerns. We hope to return when the VC and Institute are open.
We stayed at Oak Mountain State Park about 8 miles from town. We found camping in the Alabama state parks to be reasonable, clean, well marked and very busy. We came to Birmingham for a friend’s wedding so had no need for restaurants after the wonderful rehearsal and reception dinners. The bride recommended the huge delicious cookies from Cookie Fix.
Kneeling Ministers statue
http://www.bhamwiki.com/w/Three_Ministers_Kneeling
Birmingham Civil Rights
https://www.nps.gov/places/birmingham-civil-rights-institute.htm
