Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site
On 27 March 1814, Major General Andrew Jackson ‘s army of 3,300 men attacked Chief Menawa’s 1,000 Red Stick Creek warriors fortified in a horseshoe shaped bend of the Tallapoosa River. Over 800 Red Sticks died that day. The battle ended the Creek War, resulted in a land session of 23,000,000 acres to the United Sates and created a national hero of Andrew Jackson.
Little River is unique because it flows for most of its length atop Lookout Mountain in northeast Alabama. Forested uplands, waterfalls, canyon rims and bluffs, pools, boulders, and sandstone cliffs offer settings for a variety of recreational activities. Natural resources and cultural heritage come together to tell the story of the Preserve, a special place in the Southern Appalachians.
The Natchez Trace Parkway is a 444-mile drive through exceptional scenery and 10,000 years of North American history. Used by American Indians, "Kaintucks," settlers, and future presidents, the Old Trace played an important role in American history. Today, visitors can enjoy not only a scenic drive but also hiking, biking, horseback riding, and camping.
Russell Cave is an archaeological site with one of the most complete records of prehistoric cultures in the Southeast. Thousands of years ago a portion of Russell Cave's entrance collapsed, creating a shelter that, for more than 10,000 years, was home to prehistoric peoples. Today it provides clues to the daily lifeways of early North American inhabitants dating from 10,000 B.C. to 1650 A.D.
On August 6, 1965, President Lyndon Johnson signed, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which extended equal voting rights for African-Americans. As both White and Black non-violent supporters led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. fought for the right to vote in Central Alabama, today, you can trace their march toward freedom on the 54-mile trail and connect with their stories at the Interpretive Centers.
Remember and commemorate the survival of the Cherokee people, forcefully removed from their homelands in Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee to live in Indian Territory, now Oklahoma. They traveled by foot, horse, wagon, or steamboat in 1838-1839.
Before the first African American military pilots became known as the "Red Tails" they wore striped tails as they began their flight training in the Army's PT-17 Stearman bi-plane. Their flying adventure started at Moton Field, in Tuskegee, Alabama, where the Army Air Corps began a military "experiment" to see if Negroes could be trained to fly combat aircraft. Come--share their adventure!!
In 1881, Booker T. Washington arrived in Alabama and started building Tuskegee Institute both in reputation and literally brick by brick. He recruited the best and the brightest to come and teach here including George Washington Carver who arrived in 1896. Carver’s innovations in agriculture, especially with peanuts, expanded Tuskegee’s standing throughout the country. The story continues….
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Download the summary »These numbers are just a sample of the National Park Service's work. Figures are for the fiscal year that ended 9/30/12.