Old Cahawba to host Civil War walking tour
Published 10:40 am Tuesday, March 27, 2018
Old Cahawba Archaeological Park is ready to take visitors back in time to the Civil War era as they tour the grounds where Union and Confederate soldiers once inhabited the area.
Tour goers will get to see where the old Cahaba Federal Prison stood, also called Castle Morgan, which housed more than 3,000 Union soldiers.
“The topic is going to be the Civil War and the accommodation between the home front during the Civil War and the prison of war camp here at Cahawba,” said Linda Derry, site director.
“If you look closely, you can actually see the outline of the prison that was here. So, we’re going to go to all of the places where there is something visible that remains from that era and I’ll give a tour of what happened during that period.”
The Civil War Walking Tour is part of a first Saturday series where the park invites guests to come in and learn about various parts of Cahawba. But the Civil War tour is one of the guests favorites to attend, and one of Derry’s favorites to guide.
“We usually have the most interest in this topic,” she said. “We give a lot of tours during the year and this one seems to be one that we have the most people [to come].”
Many times, the visitors will have information or stories of how their family members were connected to Old Cahawba, and Derry said that’s one of her favorite parts of her job is learning history from others.
“Sometimes the best part of the tour is coming from the people that are taking the tour, rather than the tour guide. That’s always a pleasant surprise,” Derry said.
“Those kinds of things are what makes it really fun.”
The tour will be at the park April 7 from 10-11 a.m. The cost is $8.
For more information, contact the park at (334) 872-8058.
Derry said she is looking forward to the tour and showing people around the park.
“I’m looking forward to having fun with the people that show up because this is always a really fun tour,” she said.