Vaughan Smitherman Museum

Story

The Joseph T. Smitherman Historic Building, also known by a variety of other names throughout its history, is a historic Greek Revival building in Selma, Alabama. Completed in 1847, it has served many functions in the more than 160 years of its existence. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 20, 1975, due to its architectural and historical significance. It currently houses the Vaughan-Smitherman Museum, a museum depicting Selma's history.HistoryThe building was completed by the Selma Fraternal Lodge No. 27 of the Free and Accepted Masons in 1847. The organization had it built, at a cost of $15,000, to serve as a school for orphans and the children of indigent Masons. It first opened its doors in October 1848 as the Central Masonic Institute. The school was not a success, and within a few years the mortgage on the property was lost by the Masons. The structure was next used as a Confederate hospital during the American Civil War. It survived the Battle of Selma near the end of the war and served as a Freedman's Bureau Hospital for a short time following it. It was then purchased by local civic leaders in an effort to lure the Dallas county seat from Cahaba to Selma. The effort was successful, with Selma becoming the seat of government for the county in 1866. The building served as the Dallas County Courthouse until 1902, when a new courthouse was built at the corner of Alabama Avenue and Lauderdale Street.