Selma, Ala. Daily Photo: St. Andrew's Hall

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

St. Andrew's Hall

St. Andrew's Hall stands adjacent to Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Church downtown. In the book, Selma, Queen City of the Blackbelt, the author states that Jesuit priests moved Cahaba's Masonic hall to Selma in 1880, and the building became St. Andrew's Hall, a school for boys. However, an article in the June 6, 1884, edition of The Times-Argus newspaper states that work was progressing on this three-story building, and the bricks and lumber were from "...a large, untenanted building" at Cahaba. The supplies were shipped upriver from Cahaba to Selma. While some of the construction materials could have been from a masonic hall, Old Cahawba Park archaeologists have no evidence of one, so it is possible the Masons met in a portion of one of the town's public buildings

Cahaba, which lies at the junction of the Alabama and Cahaba rivers, was Alabama's first capital, and its ghost town lies about 10 miles west of Selma. The capital was moved due to flooding and political reasons. A federal prison was located there during the Civil War, and the town made a good comeback only to be vacated later. Several homes and buildings in Selma are Cahaba originals or have "recycled" materials from Old Cahawba structures installed in them.

WELCOME!

Selma is among the oldest cities in Alabama and has the largest contiguous historic district. It is known for its Civil War and Civil Rights history. The Battle of Selma was one of the last fought in the War Between the States, and the town was a center for the Voting Rights Movement in the 1960s. Today, with a population of about 20,000, Selma is the largest town in the western Black Belt region. The Black Belt, named for the color of its soil, stretches across Central Alabama from Mississippi to Georgia.