Bright Horizons Academy

a ministry of Mt. Era United Methodist Church, Columbiana, AL

P. O. Box 1412
Alabaster, AL 35007
ph: 205-669-7979
alt: 205-796-4273

PLACES TO GO ...

Here are some of the wonderful places in and around Shelby County that you may want to visit!  If you are interested in a field trip, please let me know and I will try to get it set up!

Please check with them to confirm hours of operation:

 

  •  Aldrich Coal Mine Museum
205-665-2886
Hours:  Thursday - Saturday 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Sunday 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. or by appointment
This historic attraction features coal mining memorabilia, a mine replica and vintage equipment photographs of the town of Aldrich at it's coal-mining peak.
  • The American Village
205-665-3535  or  877-811-1776
Hours: 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Fall/Spring Days, Monday - Friday;
Summer Days - Tuesday - Saturday
The American Village is a stage and theater, a museum of ideas. A recreated colonial village and historic park on 113 acres features interactive programs with costumes historical interpreters who help visitors relive the great American experiment in liberty and self-government.
  • DeSoto State Park 
Childersburg, Alabama
  • Alabama Power Environmental Museum
Clanton, Alabama
Alabama Power has provided an abundance of educational material through this website.
  • Cahaba River Wildlife Management Area 
County Road 91, west of Helena. 
For information:  Alabama Division of Wildlife and Fisheries. 
205-339-5716 or www.dcnr.state.al.us
  • Old Baker Farm:
Harpersville, AL 
205-672-7209
Open to the public in April & May and from the end of September through mid-November.  During these months, the farm is open weekdays from 3:00 p.m. ro dark, Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to dark and Sunday from 1:00 p.m. to dark.  They have the Cotton Picking Festival every year!
  • Alabama Wildlife Center and Treetop Trail
Located inside Oak Mountain State Park, the AWC recieves more than 2500 injured and orphaned wild birds, mammals and reptiles of more than 100 species each year. 
The center is open to the public, for self guided tours, daily from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
  • Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum
Calera, Alabama 
205-668-3435 
This volunteer run museum has exhibits of the people and the equipment that made railroading critical to the region and the state.  Board a train at the turn-of-the-century depot and view the scenic forest of Shelby County on the 5 mile stretch of track.  Closed January through March.  Special events throught the year including the Santa Express, Thomas the Tank Engine and the Halloween Train!
  • Shelby Springs Confederate Cemetary
Shelby Springs, AL 
205-669-3912
www.rootsweb.ancestry.com will have a list of the young soldiers that died and are buried there.
The Shelby Springs Confederate Cemetary was established in Shelby Springs when the Confederate Hospital was moved from Vicksburg, Mississippi.  There are 277 Confederate Veterans buried in the cemetary which is owned by the Shelby County Historical Society.
  • Shelby Iron Works
County Road 42 in Shelby, Alabama
205-669-2465  or  205-669-6306
One of only two such mills existing in the South at the outbreak of the Civil War, this plant produced the armor that covered the hull of the famous Confederate gunboat "Tennessee".  The park features living history demonstrations and tours by request.
  • Karl C. Harrison Museum of George Washington
50 Lester Street, Columbiana, AL 35051  205-669-8767
This museum houses one of the largest privately owned collections of George and Martha Washington memorabilia outside of Mt. Vernon.
  • Birmingham Museum of Flight
205-833-8226
This museum not only offers a wide variety of flight information, planes and more, but also offers a great deal of educational information regarding weather and its impact on airplanes and our environment.  There is a fee for the tour but it is generally $5.00 or less.

Friends of the Cahaba River National Wildlife Refuge meet the 1st Monday of each month at 6:00 p.m. in the West Blocton Municipal Building.  For more info, visit http://cahabafriends.org

P. O. Box 1412
Alabaster, AL 35007
ph: 205-669-7979
alt: 205-796-4273