COLBERT COUNTY-As the 150th anniversary of the Civil War winds down, an upcoming series of walking tours provide an opportunity to step back in time and experience what life was like in Tuscumbia during the war.
The free tours, which are being organized by Colbert County Tourism and Convention Bureau and Colbert County Historic Landmarks Foundation, will be on Saturday mornings in April. The hour long tours begin at 10 a.m.
“Participants in the tours will walk in the footsteps soldiers who passed through
Susann Hamlin
Tuscumbia and the residents who lived there during the Civil War,” said Susann Hamlin, executive director of Colbert County Tourism and Convention Bureau. “Re-enactors, musicians and living history displays will help bring to life some of the stories about the role Tuscumbia played in the Civil War.”
Hamlin said participants should wear comfortable shoes and dress appropriately for the weather that day. The tours are handicap accessible.
The weekly outings are part of the Alabama Tourism Department’s April Walking Tours program. All of the tours begin at 10 a.m. Walking tours of Sheffield are included in the statewide program. The Sheffield tours, which are organized by the Sheffield S.H.I.N.E. Committee, begin at the Sheffield Municipal 
Building on Montgomery Avenue.
The April 4, 11 and 18 Tuscumbia tours begin at Coldwater Books, 101 W. 6th St. The April 25 tour begins at Tuscumbia Oakwood Cemetery.
The April 4 Tuscumbia tour will feature Locust Hill, one of the oldest brick homes in Alabama. Ben Carpenter will lead the tour.
“Locust Hill was Gen. (Grenville) Dodge’s headquarters during the Civil War,” Carpenter said. “We are going to have actual equipment and weapons that the soldiers would have used while they were in Tuscumbia. We will tell the story about Tuscumbia’s involvement in the war. It’s going to be really interesting.”
Buddy Whitlock will lead an April 11 tour of First Presbyterian Church in Tuscumbia. The church was organized in 1824. The tour will include music from the Civil War era.
The Maj. Samuel Jones home on Third Street in Tuscumbia will be featured during the April 18 tour. It was also the home of William Cooper, who kept a detailed account in his diary of life in Tuscumbia during the Civil War.
During a tour of Oakwood Cemetery April 25, re-enactors will portray Gen. James Deshler, Capt. Arthur Keller and soldiers buried in Confederate Rest at the historic cemetery. The actors will tell stories about the lives of the person they are portraying.
Carpenter said north Alabama has a rich Civil War history and the walking tours are a great way to showcase that heritage.
For more details on the Tuscumbia or Sheffield tours call 256-383-0783.
