MAGNOLIA SPRINGS, Alabama -- The National Park Service listed the Magnolia Springs Historic District in Baldwin County in the National Register of Historic Places on January 27. The 163-acre district encompasses the historic portion of the town and includes residences plus commercial, public, and religious buildings.

The rural area's natural springs and semi-tropical climate attracted Mrs. Lizzie Breed, a widow from Vermont, who acquired Magnolia Plantation with its antebellum house in 1871. This began the town's transition into a resort for affluent Northerners. Recreational opportunities included hunting and fishing in the Magnolia River. By the early 20th century, Magnolia Springs included a mix of permanent and transient residents with the Northerners generally living on the north side of the river and the local Creoles residing on the south side. Since then the town has evolved into a bedroom community of permanent residents.

The National Register of Historic Places is a program of the National Park Service and is the nation's official list of cultural resources worthy of preservation. The Alabama Historical Commission administers the program in Alabama.

For more information about the National Register of Historic Places, visit: www.preserveala.org/nationalregister.aspx.

To protect, preserve, and interpret Alabama's historic places is the mission of the Alabama Historical Commission, the State Historic Preservation Office.