The United States’ semiquincentennial – or 250th birthday – is still a year-and-a-half away, but organizers in Alabama are planning events that will begin in April and culminate on July 4, 2026.
“This is going to be a year-long celebration,” said Natalie Steed, the executive officer of the Alabama USA Semiquincentennial Commission. “We hope that the celebration will be something everyone in Alabama has an opportunity to participate in.”
Many events are planned at the American Village in Montevallo, but organizers also want communities and schools to participate.
“American Village has the best Independence Day program,” Steed said. “And it’s going to be even better in 2026, we’re going to do amazing things. But we know everybody in the state can’t come. So we want to make sure that these local communities also have resources to celebrate on that day and maybe follow a similar itinerary and have some of the same speeches and create some sense of unity throughout the state.”
In spending bills in the upcoming legislative session, Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, said there is about $3.4 million requested for the Alabama USA Semiquincentennial Commission, including about $1 million for school programs and $1 million for community grants.
Orr was involved in the planning of the state’s bicentennial celebrations in 2019 and sponsored in 2021 a resolution creating a semiquincentennial commission to plan and promote activities for the nation’s 250th birthday.
“We’ve been working with (Gov. Kay Ivey) to get sufficient funds to push out some grant funding for the smaller towns and counties across the state for celebration purposes, to help them and support them,” Orr told ADN.
The celebration events and educational resources can be found at america250al.org Information and events will be added to the site, including how local communities can get involved and share their plans.
“We have an interactive map so that communities can input their local events so any visitor to the site can click on their county and see what kind of events are close to them,” Steed said.
The state’s kickoff will be in April of 2025 to commemorate Paul Revere’s ride from Boston to Lexington and a reenactment from the Battles at Concord and Lexington.
The state will also be marking the 250th anniversaries of the Army, Navy and Marines next year.
Schools are also encouraged to participate.
“We’re going to have a semiquincentennial schools initiative as well for the 2025-2026 school year,” Steed said. “We’re going to provide them with lesson plans and activities for elementary, middle and high school.”
Steed said the plan is to provide resources to communities and schools to incorporate activities with minimal to no cost.
For example, Green Valley Farms, a nursery in Montevallo, is growing Princeton Elms so every county in the state will receive a “Liberty Tree” to plant to commemorate the tree in Boston that was a meeting place during the revolution.
The Legislature has given American Village funds to help prepare for the events, Orr said, including the expected completion of its Independence Hall by July 2026.
It will house a significant George Washington artifacts collection.
“It’s the largest collection outside of Mount Vernon,” Orr said.
There are also more plans for a colonial village.
“The whole point in making the village the epicenter was because Alabama doesn’t have many existing pre-or colonial 1776 era sites,” Orr said. “So we’re making the village the epicenter, and hope Alabamians will come to visit the village and raise the profile of the village, not just in Alabama, but in neighboring states, because it has a lot to offer about our history and our values as Americans, the importance of liberty and freedom and what a special country the United States is based on its founding principles.”