CULLMAN, Ala. – Folks will have an opportunity for a little education on local history and a fair bit of fun tonight by taking part in the candlelight walking tour, a 10-year-old Cullman Oktoberfest tradition, led by the Cullman County Museum’s Julie Burks and former Burgermeister Michael Sullins.
Sullins described the event as an “informal walking tour” looking at the period from 1920-29. Participants will receive a booklet with photos and maps from the 1920s. Costumed actors will represent members of two well-known Cullman families, and they will talk about the families’ roles in the community, and in a German biergarten-turned underground liquor store during the era of prohibition. If you come, you will find out how a handful of flour might have helped you get a bottle of “wildcat whiskey” right down on First Avenue!
Cullman Mayor Woody Jacobs will kick off the event at the Depot with a presentation about Cullman’s longest-serving mayor, Maurice Lindon Robertson, who served from 1910 to 1932. Robertson’s concern with the condition of area roads is credited as a major reason why the area has so many paved roads, and he capitalized on Cullman’s location at the junction of U.S. Highways 278 and 31 and Alabama Highway 69, which were also paved during his term, to connect the community to numerous other Alabama cities.
The history presented during the tour will be based on family histories and 1920s newspaper articles drawn mainly from The Cullman Tribune with additional material from The Tribune’s big era rival, The Cullman Democrat.
According to Sullins, the tour will take place completely within the city’s entertainment district, so “adult beverages” will be welcome. The tour is generally family-friendly, but he advised that this particular tour may get into the “PG-13” range, with discussions about prostitution and Cullman’s underground alcohol industry during the Prohibition era.
And if you come, look for another Oktoberfest tradition: Sullins’ mother Joyce Hardeman has walked at the head of every evening walking tour with her German mother’s kerosene lantern.
At a glance
Cullman Oktoberfest Candlelight Walking Tour
Thursday, Oct. 3, 2019
Admission is free.
Meet at 7 p.m. at the Old Depot at Depot Park
Tour will likely last an hour to an hour and a half.
Be prepared to walk.
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