Civil Rights Hotel in Selma Gets Second Chance at Life

The historic Edistone Hotel in downtown Selma, Alabama, nearly became a parking lot. Instead, it's getting a dramatic rescue that could transform it into a vibrant community hub celebrating American history.

The Conservation Fund stepped in last year to purchase the three-story brick building, which has stood since 1855 and played a crucial role in the civil rights movement. The nonprofit is racing to stabilize the structure after part of the exterior collapsed in August, likely due to years without a proper roof.

"We're really in a race against time to save these spaces," says Phillip Howard, director of the Legacy Places Initiative at the Conservation Fund. "Not only are we losing the places, we're losing the people who were there, who can tell the stories."

The building's history reads like an American timeline. It was constructed on a site that once housed Dallas County's largest market for enslaved people. After the Civil War, it became home to a Freedmen's Bureau office, helping formerly enslaved people start new lives.

During the 1960s civil rights movement, the hotel provided lodging for demonstrators marching for voting rights. It sits just blocks from the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where 600 marchers faced brutal violence on Bloody Sunday in 1965.

By the late 20th century, as Selma's population declined, the building fell into disrepair. Its last occupant, a barbershop, left when the roof began leaking. In 2022, the hotel landed on Alabama's Places in Peril list, and demolition seemed inevitable.

Rex Jones, who owns a business across the street, watched the deterioration with sadness. "It appears like it's so far gone," he told the Selma Times-Journal. "I didn't think it was possible for them to salvage it, but anything is possible with the right investors."

The Ripple Effect

The Conservation Fund is partnering with the City of Selma and Boston-based MASS Design Group to reimagine the space. Plans include a museum telling the story from Civil War to civil rights, along with a co-working space and possibly a grocery store to serve the community.

The nonprofit doesn't plan to own the building forever. Their goal is to stabilize it, then hand it over to a development partner who can bring the vision to life while preserving the main frame and historic façade.

Sarah Aghedo, executive director of the Selma Redevelopment Authority, sees the potential. "I'd love to see those things saved, at least the main frame and the main façade, even if you do change the interior a little bit," she says.

The building that once witnessed some of America's darkest and brightest moments is ready to welcome visitors again and tell its powerful story for generations to come.