Great historical museum across from the state capital in Montgomery. The house is well maintain and has great self guided information in each of the rooms. The curator was friendly and very knowledgeable. Free to visit.

A beautifully maintained building that is completely decorated with period pieces, as well as many personal items of Jefferson Davis. It even displayed the blood sock that Davis was wearing when shot in the foot. This First White House is located directly across from the impressive state capitol. Metered parking is in front of the building, but free parking located a block away at the Department of Archives and History. The gentleman that greeted us at the door was extremely knowledgeable and kind, while also displaying great enthusiasm for his work. He even greeted us with a tray of free bottled water. Finally, there is also a nice little gift shop (with very reasonably priced items) and clean restrooms. Do not miss this hidden gem. And I should also add, it's free!

It's next door to the Alabama Department of Archives & History. There is no admission fee. There is limited free parking in the lot next door to the MOOseum. The house is just a short walk away. The house was built by William Sayre in 1834 . He is related to Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald who was married to F. Scott Fitzgerald. It was originally located at the intersection of Lee and Bibb Streets. It passed through many owners within a 30 year period. By 1861, the Confederacy was born in Montgomery, AL. The house was leased that year to the provisional Confederate government as an executive residence to Jefferson Davis and his family. They had only lived there a couple of months after his inauguration on the steps of the Alabama State Capitol. They moved to their new residence known as the "White House of the Confederacy" in Richmond, VA around May of 1861. With that said, the house was moved to it's present location after sitting in ruin for many years, and restored to what you see today. It's a historic home. It's a good representation of 19th century architecture and furnishings, or a century older than let's say Colonial Williamsburg. I think what interested me the most were the Civil War memorabilia and photos displayed on the 2nd floor. There were models of the CSS Alabama and the H.L. Hunley. I had never seen a Civil War era Navy warship or submarine until seeing the models displayed. There was a sketch showing how the 8 man crew operated it by turning hand-cranked propellers. Yikes! There's a blood stained sock that was worn by Jefferson Davis during the Mexican-American War. Oh, and he also had to sell his pocket watch to buy a pair of boots in Lennoxville, Canada after fleeing the USA. He was basically broke after the government seized all of his assets. Yes, this is all documented in history, but sometimes it's interesting to actually see history. It's a house to be visited just for the sake of history. If I had to say anything negative, it would be that I didn't see any mention of slavery (which is kind of odd) in any of the displays. Unless, I blinked and missed something. If anything, I'd couple this visit with the Museum of Alabama "Voices" exhibit in the archives building to get the full picture. Other than that, it was a good visit.

A beautiful home and museum that takes you back in time. You will learn history the way it was lived. This was the residence of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, and you will see where he slept, ate, relaxed, met with guests and planned history with other men of the South. The entire home is completely furnished to look like it did in the 1800s. While the house is a museum itself, the upstairs has a room with items from that era and from the Civil War such as clothes, swords, flags, letters, gifts from leaders, Confederate money and a lot more. This is a must-see and admission is free. You can spend a day in the area as the Alabama State Capitol is across the street, and that is filled with history as well. But start by enjoying the first White House of the Confederacy. I did. George Vreeland Hill

We visited Montgomery in March 2024 from the UK. The First White House of the Confederacy is located five minute walk across the road from the State Capitol building in Montgomery, so if you are visiting the Capitol, I would absolutely recommend taking the time to visit this piece of history. We were greeted at the entrance by the curator of this museum, who is a lovely, extraordinary man called Bob, and he took such great care of us during our time visiting the museum, he was very very hospitable offering us drinks of water when we arrived, and he had an abundance of knowledge to share with us about the history of not just the building, but the civil war as a historian. The museum is free and it will probably take you about 10 minutes to walk around the building, but we were there for about 30 minutes just spending time talking to Bob. He really did make the visit special!

We came in as a lot of other people did, we maybe should have waited. The house is small but has a lot of info but I feel with the amount of people I didn't have time to read I had to move as fast as possible so others could see. I feel like the house probably had spurts were lots of people come in then points where it's not as busy. The house is nice just wish I had more time to not feel rushed. We did come during the weekday so not sure of weekends are less busy. I would think not but there is lot of paid parking around the area another thing we were seeing graceful let us use their parking so we didn't have to move or pay.