Bank Street Players
Carol and Ellis Chenault
Decatur Morgan County Tourism
Decatur Orthopedic and Sports Medicine
Dream Weavers
Frameworks Architecture, PC
iStudio Design
Currently, the 2023 Historic Decatur Christmas Tour is scheduled for December 9. For the latest information, please continue to monitor our Facebook page. Tickets will be available here as the event get closer.
The 2021 Historic Decatur Christmas Tour was canceled due to the continued impact of COVID-19. In 2020, the Historic Decatur Christmas Tour did go on. In a nod to COVID-19 health concerns, the 2020 event featured a virtual tour of homes on this website. No sponsors were solicited in 2021 and 2020. Thank you for all those who donated via this website.
Outdoor sites in the districts still will glow with lights and sparkle in Christmas finery for your strolling pleasure, and our grand historic houses will continue to be a feast for the eyes in all their Christmastime glory.
Decatur’s two downtown shopping districts also will beckon visitors to enjoy their festive beauty and delight in the wonders of each shop’s particular specialty.
Presented yearly on the second Saturday in December, the Christmas Tour showcases a unique selection of historic homes curated by the Historic Decatur Association, a nonprofit devoted to the preservation of the homes within and character of the two districts that comprise Historic Decatur.
The event is historically a walk-through tour of exquisitely-appointed homes and notable historical sites dressed up in their seasonal best. Refreshments and music abound in the festive atmosphere of “Tour Headquarters.”
In the districts themselves, residents compete in a friendly competition for best-decorated homes. Competition is stiff.
The tour has been held annually for over 40 years and serves as a critical fundraiser for the organization.
The town of Decatur, named after Commodore Stephen Decatur Jr., hero of Barbary Pirate war fame, was founded in 1820 and was the site of the northern branch of the State Bank of Alabama which opened in 1833. Bank Street was the commercial center of the town with residential streets flanking its perimeter.
For many years, Decatur was the primary place in the Tennessee Valley where riverboats, wagons and railroads converged, thereby making it a key strategic site before, during and after the Civil War. The town suffered considerable damage during that war with only 3 buildings predating the war still standing. The town was rebuilt in Victorian and other more modern styles beginning in 1865.
Its sister town to the southeast, “New Decatur” rose to prominence after the Civil War, was renamed “Albany” in 1916, and the two towns merged in 1927 pursuant to an Act of the Alabama Legislature.
In the early 1980s, through the efforts of local resident volunteers, together with a professional historic preservation specialist, “Old Decatur,” including Bank Street, was surveyed, nominated, and accepted for placement on the National Register of Historic Places. Every home in the historical overlay served by the Historic Preservation Commission of Decatur is detailed and listed on the National Register.
Many fine examples of Italianate, Victorian, Shingle-style and Craftsman bungalow architectural styles line the streets of Old Decatur, including one Art Deco dwelling, “Fort Nash,” which was built in 1939.
Old Decatur residents take great pride in their period and eclectic décor indoors and out. Their attention to detail is never more on display than Christmastime. Drink it in. You will be amazed!
Organized in 1887 and officially charted by the Alabama Legislature in 1889 as “New Decatur,” this “Gateway City” flanking the Tennessee River was built alongside existing “Decatur,” Alabama. Touted as a “modern industrial community” and the “Chicago of the South”, it was designed with wide main streets (alternately named for Union and Confederate generals) by one of America’s premier landscape architects, Nathan Franklin Barrett. He designed its focal point, the sprawling Delano Park, to break up the grid design of the city with a green space as a relief from the stresses of urban life.
In 1916, New Decatur was renamed “Albany,” and, in 1927, the two cities merged pursuant to an Act of the Alabama Legislature. In the early 1980s, much of the original Albany residential area was nominated and accepted for listing on the National Register of Historic Places through the work of both residential volunteers and an historic preservation specialist. All homes in the historical overlay district served by the Historic Preservation Commission of Decatur are detailed and listed on the National Register.
Architectural styles represented in Albany are Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, American Foursquare, Dutch Colonial Revival, Greek Revival and Bungalow. The majority of the homes in the Albany Historic District date from the 1880s through the 1940s.
We hope you are inspired by the wonders of Albany as you drive or stroll the streets tree-lined streets.
Be forewarned — Albany residents take their Christmas decorating seriously from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day. Enjoy!
804 Jackson Street SE,
Decatur, AL 35601
Bank Street Players
Carol and Ellis Chenault
Decatur Morgan County Tourism
Decatur Orthopedic and Sports Medicine
Dream Weavers
Frameworks Architecture, PC
iStudio Design
Jeremy Jones, Parker Real Estate, LLC
Mark Moody, MarMac Real Estate
Morgan County Association of Realtors
Pepsi Cola of Decatur
Redstone Federal Credit Union
TownHouse Galleries
Apple Lane of Decatur
Bank Street Antiques and 810 Antiques
Bank Street Grill
Blackburn, Maloney and Schuppert, LLC
CB&S Bank
Chick-fil-A
Chicken Salad Chick
Cordova’s Painting, LLC
Cricket by the Creek
DeAnn’s Art Studio and Gallery
Decatur Downtown Redevelopment Authority
DoubleTree by Hilton Decatur Riverfront
Dr. Rodger Henson
Glee Interiors
Hartlex Antique Gallery
Jamie Hood Jewelers
Java Jaay Café
Jessica Burch, MeritHouse Realty
Kilgro & Associates, Insurance
King Insurance Agency
Larry’s Signs
Lynn Layton Chevrolet
Morgan Price Candy Company
Nick and Julia Roth
ReNew Properties
Robin Williams, RE/MAX Platinum
Shops on 2nd Avenue
Tennessee Valley Pecan Company
The Studio on Bank by Tracy Roberts
The Yarn Boutique of Decatur
Tore Haavik, Edward Jones, Financial Advisor
Two Fish & a Toad
Whitney Clemmons, MeritHouse Realty
Anderson Home Consignment
BB Perrins
Bud and Charlene Brueggeman
Carriage House
Chel’Den’s
Cook’s Pest Control, Inc.
Cross-Eyed Owl Brewing Company
Elevate Studio LLC
First Choice Printing
Freedom Light Productions
Gary Pope, Realtor
Goody 2 Shoes
Green Matters Lawn & Landscape Management
Harris, Caddell, and Shanks, PC
HCS Engineering Company
Jim and June Odom
Jimmy Smith Jewelers
JoAnn and Kevin Malcolm
Johnson Precision Fitness
Littrell Lumber Mill, Inc.
Margaux
Mark and Tracy Cooper
Marsha Ercegovic
Miss Muldrew’s
Nancy Greenleaf and John Davis
RE/MAX Platinum-Kim Hallmark Group-Bill Nelson
RE/MAX Platinum-Kim Hallmark Group-Kim Hallmark
Renasant Bank
Riverside Counseling and Consulting
Sherwin Williams of Decatur, Alabama
Simp McGhee’s
Southern Oak Properties
Surface World
Tammy Eddy Antiques & Interiors
Texas Roadhouse
The Cupboard
Trevor Butcher, State Farm Agent
Whitt’s Barbecue
Let’s Do Lunch