Lowndes County Courthouse

The Lowndes County Courthouse is located in the county seat in Hayneville, Alabama. In 1856, the Greek Revival courthouse, a style popular in the antebellum South, remains one of only four courthouses in Alabama still standing that were built before the Civil War, and it holds the distinction of being the oldest among them.

During the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, Lowndes County had a majority Black population, yet not a single Black resident was registered to vote due to a combination of intimidation, economic reprisals, and outright violence. The courthouse, once a symbol of justice, had become a symbol of exclusion for many African Americans. In response, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) specifically targeted the courthouse in their efforts to register Black voters. These attempts were met with fierce hostility from local officials and law enforcement, who were determined to uphold the racial status quo. As a result, the courthouse became a site where activists encountered the full force of white supremacy, manifested in both unjust voter registration practices and direct violence and intimidation.

The courthouse is perhaps best known for its association with the murder trial following the death of Jonathan Daniels, killed by Special Deputy Tom Coleman in 1965. Despite overwhelming evidence and the testimonies of five eyewitnesses, all Black, the trial ended with Coleman’s acquittal. The witnesses, including Ruby Sales, provided accounts of the incident, but their words were largely dismissed by the all-White jury. One eyewitness, Joyce Bailey, recounted how, during her testimony, the jury and White spectators laughed when she described running after Coleman’s threat. The trial concluded in less than an hour and a half, with the jury finding Coleman not guilty.

The courthouse also held the trial for the murder of Viola Liuzzo, a White Detroit housewife and civil rights activist who was killed by members of the Ku Klux Klan while returning from assisting with the Selma to Montgomery march in 1965. The trial of her murderers took place at the Lowndes County Courthouse, but like the Daniels case, the outcome highlighted the racial biases entrenched in the legal system. Despite substantial evidence against the men involved, an all-White jury could not reach a unanimous verdict, resulting in a mistrial declared by Judge Thagard.