American Village Celebrates 25 Years

The American Village in Montevallo will celebrate its 25^th anniversary this year. When it opened its gates for the first time on November 30, 1999, only four buildings existed: Washington Hall, inspired by George Washington’s Mount Vernon; the Courthouse, modeled after Colonial Williamsburg’s Courthouse of 1770; Founders Hall, which served as the first administrative building for American Village staff; and the original Barn that remained from the time when the 188-acre campus was a working cattle farm.

Today you will find more than 20 buildings on the American Village’s 188-acre campus, all inspired by some of our Nation’s most iconic and cherished historic sites. Replicas of the President’s Oval Office and the East Room of The White House; a Colonial Chapel reminiscent of Bruton Parish Church of Williamsburg; Concord Bridge, which spans a one and a half-acre lake; the National Veterans Shrine, patterned after Philadelphia’s Carpenters Hall; and Independence Hall West Wing are but a few of the additions to this unique place. But the American Village is not about its buildings, but rather it is about building in the hearts and minds of young people and adult alike a sense of stewardship of what George Washington called “the sacred fire of liberty.”

Here, nationally-acclaimed and richly-immersive programs engage 40,000 K-12 students annually in discovering America’s stories of independence, liberty and self-government. Since 1999 the American Village has served well over 750,000 school students from five Southeastern states, and at least that number of adult visitors.

In addition to its school programs, public programs draw large numbers of visitors. In 2016 the American Village Festival of Tulips made its debut, and now 120,000 tulips are planted annually, attracting visitors from around the Southeast to enjoy the flowers each Spring. The largest event of each year, Independence Day, continues to draw thousands for a family-friendly day of historical reenactments, music, games, and of course the best fireworks in the State of Alabama!

The goals of the American Village today are the same as they were twenty-five years ago:

• Teach Youth the Vital Lessons of Liberty
• Remember the Price of Liberty and Honor Those Who Have Paid It
• Promote Public Regard for the Constitution and America’s Charters of Freedom
• Engage Citizens and Leaders in the Stewardship of Liberty
• Foster renewal of the American spirit of E Pluribus Unum (from many, one)

The American Village was created to combat a growing national amnesia of our Nation’s founding and to help Americans discover the timeless relevance of the principles of equality, inherent rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and the foundations of self-government by consent of the governed.

From Concord Bridge in 1775, to Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge in 1965, and beyond, the American story has been the journey and struggle for liberty, independence, constitutional self-government, and the fulfillment of the promise of the ideals boldly proclaimed July 4, 1776 in America’s Declaration of Independence.

There was a time when American students knew those stories well. They could recite the opening lines of the Declaration of Independence, and they could say the preamble to the Constitution. But today our country suffers from historical and civic illiteracy. It endangers the very foundation of what George Washington called the “experiment in self-government.”

Jefferson said about such lack of civic knowledge, “If a nation expects to be ignorant and remain free, it expects what never was and never will be.” John Adams persuasively asserted, “Children should be educated and instructed in the principles of freedom.” And Madison declared that “…a people who mean to be their own governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.”

A non-partisan national commission warned: “The next generation of Americans will know less than their parents about our history and founding ideals.”

On July 4, 2026, America will celebrate its 250th anniversary of independence. As we look forward to that milestone, the American Village is endeavoring to help prepare a new generation of citizens and leaders to lead and serve our country.