Montgomery County combines historic sites and museums with opportunities to enjoy the outdoors. The diversity of perspectives is especially compelling: from accounts of civil rights history to art and everyday life, as well as collections about animals and nature, visitors can gain a multifaceted view of Montgomery.
Civil Rights History Through Firsthand Accounts
The Rosa Parks Museum is located at the site of Rosa Parks’ arrest in the city of Montgomery, Alabama. It is the only museum in the nation dedicated to her. Exhibits include Rosa Parks’ original arrest record with her fingerprints, a 1950s Montgomery city bus, and a restored 1955 Studebaker used to transport protesters. These objects connect a personal historic moment with the vehicles that played a role in the protest. The museum also offers educational programs, research resources, and cultural events.
The Legacy Museum also provides a broader timeframe for a visit: most visitors spend three to five hours there. This is a helpful reference point for planning your day if you’d like to combine a museum visit with other discoveries. Free shuttles connect the Legacy Sites every 15 minutes. As operating details may change, it’s a good idea to check the current schedule before your visit.
The National Memorial for Peace and Justice is the first comprehensive national memorial dedicated to the legacy of Black Americans who were enslaved, terrorized by lynching, humiliated by racial segregation, and regarded as guilty and dangerous. The sites where the Montgomery Bus Boycott was planned include both Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church and the historic Parsonage Museum.
Art, History, and Collections
The collection at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts includes more than 4,000 works of art, mostly by American artists from the 18th through the 21st century. Its scope spans several centuries, while its focus on American art gives the collection a clear thematic direction.
Old Alabama Town focuses on work and manufacturing in central Alabama. The Working Block shows how people worked and produced goods there in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The furnishings in the Ordeman-Shaw House, also located in Old Alabama Town, reflect the period when the Mitchell family lived there in the late 1850s. The house opened for public tours in 1971. Check the opening days before your tour.
Other collections offer different perspectives: the Mann Wildlife Learning Museum houses one of the largest collections of preserved North American wildlife, artifacts, and fossils in the southeastern United States. The Montgomery Zoo is a 42-acre zoological facility with animals from Africa, Asia, Australia, and North and South America. These offer different ways to explore nature and wildlife—from a collection of specimens and artifacts to the diversity of animals from five continents.
Along the Alabama River and at the Market
The Freedom Monument Sculpture Park spans 17 acres and overlooks the Alabama River. A 15-minute boat ride along the river takes visitors to the park. As this information about the boat ride comes from a 2024 operator notice, check before your trip whether it is currently available.
The Montgomery Curb Market offers another glimpse into the local scene: its offerings include locally grown seasonal fruit and vegetables, handcrafted goods, preserves, baked goods, plants, and teas. The mix of vendors may change. The market’s seasonal produce and goods add an everyday perspective on local products to the historic and artistic collections.
Discover more destinations: Montgomery, Hope Hull, Clarke County, Jackson, Pickens County, Morgan County, St. Clair County, Colbert County.
For the main travel overview: Alabama.
