This Old Shed

Many Selmians remember this old shed as a heap of boards with a crumpled roof

 until recently when the homeowners restored it. But originally, this structure

 was built from a 1940's Sears-Roebuck garage kit.

It stands on the Kayser-Turner-Searcy property where the home will be

 on tour during Spring Pilgrimage next weekend. Come see!

Linking to Weekend in Black and White and City Daily Photo Blogs

Antiquing with Elodie

This year's Selma Pilgrimage guests are invited to Antiquing with Elodie,

 a luncheon in an historic home on Dallas Avenue.The lunches on March 15 and 16

 will include a menu of chicken salad, turkey/ham sandwich or grilled chicken salad.

Elodie (whose fine memorial is in Old Live Oak Cemetery) was  President Abraham Lincoln's 

sister-in-law. Born in Kentucky in 1840, Elodie Breck Todd met her future husband,

  N.H.R. Dawson, while visiting a sister in Selma. It is said that she and her sister

 smuggled medicines and other supplies to the South after visiting Mary Todd Lincoln

 at the White House. Elodie was active in other efforts for the Southern Cause,

 including raising funds for the Confederate monument that stands in the same cemetery.

 She died while only in her 30s, and her husband, who served as a Confederate officer

 and later as U.S. Commissioner of Education, memorialized

 his beloved Elodie with this monument.

Linking to Taphophile Tragics, Our World Tuesday and City Daily Photo Blogs

Baker-Brooks House

If you have never visited Selma, Spring is a beautiful time of year,

 and Pilgrimage Weekend (March 15-16) is filled tours of historic homes,

 buildings, art shows and a cemetery "ghost" tour.

For the letter "B" over at ABC Wednesday, I chose a photo

 of the 1858 Baker-Brooks House. It was built by George Baker, 

a Philadelphia native who moved South and developed uses 

for cottonseed oil. He built Selma's first cottonseed oil mill 

and was a major financial contributor to many community projects.

During the Civil War, the house was in the flight path

 of Battle of Selma forces that fled to Valley Creek and the Alabama River.

 A mortally wounded Union soldier found refuge inside but died in the front hall.

 If you are very astute, you might be able to locate the area

 in the yard where a tunnel was dug to store food. 

Linking to ABC Wednesday and City Daily Photo Blogs