Going to the annual Eufaula Pilgrimage is like entering a time machine and going back 100 years. Nay, 150 years. Back to the Old South. Back to a time that is gone. Gone with the wind. The time is gone, but the place is still here, in Eufaula.
The 2024 pilgrimage, put on by the Eufaula Historical Association, starts Friday, April 5, and runs through Sunday, April 7. This year’s tour will offer old South homes for viewing, candlelight homes, tablescapes, an antique show, ‘Tales from the Tomb,’ Sunday brunch, tea at the Shorter Manson, lunch on the porch of the Shorter Mansion and the Spring Arts Gala.
Details and ticket purchase found here.
Complimentary tickets can be obtained at the above link for active or retired military and veterans.
Eufaula, in southeast Alabama, boasts an amazing number of sites listed on the .National Register of Historic Places The city’s main street, North Eufaula Avenue, lined with dogwood, magnolias and oaks, is flanked by antebellum mansions that “rise like ornate wedding cakes,” as described by Alabama Tourism director Lee Sentell, author of “The Best of Alabama.”
Eufaula was the site for Reese Witherspoon’s award-winning 2002 film, “Sweet Home, Alabama.”
It’s as if you’ve gone back to the 1800s when you walk down beautiful North Eufaula Avenue, or even when you drive it slowly. The historic mansions. The overhanging limbs I call "the canopy." The tree-lined median.
People from all over make special trips to visit Eufaula on their own schedules or during the annual Eufaula Pilgrimage.
Eufaula is a treasure. A part of our Southern heritage. A piece of our history worthy of preserving.
The Eufaula mansions are reminiscent of “Gone with the Wind.” No, Tara Plantation is not in Eufaula, but the Shorter Mansion is. And Fendall Hall is. And the Hart House. And Gracelyn Mansion. Altogether, there are over 20 antebellum homes in Eufaula on the National Historical Register.
Between time-traveling in the mansions of the Old South, you can do other things while in Eufaula.
It is called the “Bass Capital of the World,” with Lake Eufaula.
On the shores of the lake is Lakepointe State Park, with boating, camping, hiking and fishing.
The Creek Heritage Trail offers an immersive experience of the culture and history of Alabama’s Creek Indians.
Sample all things made from pecans at Superior Pecan & Goods.
Shop at the "Southern Charm" Boutique.
View or buy Southern art at "Cotton and Kudzu" art gallery.
Eufaula is located on Alabama’s border with Georgia on the banks of the Chattahoochee River, which is the Georgia/Alabama state line for the entire southern part of the two states.
With a population of 13,000, Eufaula is the largest city in Alabama’s Barbour County, the birthplace of governors. A record-setting six governors were born or lived in Barbour County: John Gill Shorter, William Jelks, Braxton Bragg Comer (namesake of B.B. Comer High School), Chauncey Sparks, George Wallace and Lurleen Wallace (born in Tuscaloosa County, lived in Barbour County’s town of Clayton). The family of one of the governors, Eli Sims Shorter II, built and lived in a mansion in Eufaula which is still featured in the Pilgrimage, the Shorter Mansion.
Eufaula is on U.S. Highways 82 and 431 adjacent to Georgetown, Georgia to its east. It is 47 miles south of Phenix City/Columbus, 51 miles north of Dothan, 41 miles southeast of Union Springs and 90 miles southeast of the state capital of Montgomery.
The final day of the 2024 Eufaula Pilgrimage coincides with the 85th anniversary of "Gone With the Wind," the classic Civil War movie. In commemoration, the film is returning to the big screens April 7-9 in theaters across the nation, including in major theaters in Alabama.
See you in Eufaula. See you in 1899.
Jim Zeigler is a former Alabama Public Service Commissioner and State Auditor. You can reach him for comments at ZeiglerElderCare@yahoo.com.
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