Munford, AL

Munford is a Talladega County town at the foot of Mount Cheaha, along Alabama Highway 21 about halfway between Talladega and Anniston. Its name is tied to the Munford family and the settlement's long school history, but the town is best known for the Battle of Munford on April 23, 1865. The clash came two weeks after Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox and is often described as the last Civil War battle east of the Mississippi. A marker remembers A.J. Buttram, described as the last Confederate soldier killed east of the Mississippi.

Munford's current map includes Talladega County schools, a library, recreation center, walking track, police and water departments, baseball fields, and a football field. Old Munford High School, built in stages from the 1920s through the 1940s, is listed on the Alabama Register and is being considered as a historical town center and community campus. The Cedars plantation and nearby Cheaha State Park add older and outdoor dimensions to the surrounding landscape. Munford is an Alabama town where Civil War memory, a school-centered history, and the road to the mountain meet.