By Staff
Hartselle’s Depot Days Festival is featured in the new “Year of Alabama History” brochure. Gov. Bob Riley released the 94-page publication last week to promote the 2009 tourism campaign.
The Depot Days Festival celebrates the town’s railroad past. The week’-long event is held in September each year and includes worship services, historical displays, and a all-day event featuring arts and crafts, entertainment and food.
The brochure, “Historic Alabama: A Guide to Landmarks and Events,” gives readers insight into the history of some 163 towns and cities across the state and features more than 700 museums, events and historically significant sites, from north Alabama to the Gulf Coast. Old Alabama Town in Montgomery is featured on the front cover while the back cover depicts a scene from the “Miracle Worker” at Helen Keller’s birthplace in Tuscumbia. It was written by Marilyn Jones Stamps and designed by Amy Shell, of the Alabama Tourism Department.
The tourism department will officially kick off the “Year of History” celebration on Dec. 12 at the state Department of Archives and History in Montgomery to coincide with the 189th birthday celebration of Alabama’s statehood. Alabama became the 22nd state admitted to the Union on Dec. 14, 1819.