Outdoor cityscape albumen CDV. [Montgomery, Alabama]: n.p., ca late 1860s. Mount verso features a contemporary typed label strip: "2. Dexter Ave, Montgomery, showing old a[?] / in which Confederate Government was orga[nized?]..." and with partially obscured pencil notation "Montgomery." 

This expansive streetscape looks up Market Street (later Dexter Avenue) from Court Square directly toward the Alabama State Capitol building crowning Capitol Hill in the distance. This was the site where the Provisional Confederate Congress met and Jefferson Davis was inaugurated as President of the Confederate States of America on 18 February, 1861.

In the immediate foreground is the historic Court Square artesian water basin, enclosed by an ornate cast-iron railing and surrounded by local townspeople, horse-drawn carts, and commercial advertising signboards, including prominent signage for "D. Browder & Co. / Dry Goods." Flanking both sides of the unpaved avenue are commercial blocks housing storefronts, awnings, and merchant signs.

Early photographic street views of Confederate cities immediately following the Civil War are difficult to acquire. This is a superlative example. 

[Confederate History, Civil War, Montgomery Alabama, Alabama State Capitol, Dexter Avenue, Court Square, Southern Photography, Cradle of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis, CDV, Carte de Visite, 19th Century Photography, Urban Street View, Reconstruction, Deep South]

Very good condition. The albumen print exhibits warm tones, sharp focal perspective, and clear detail. The mount shows slight corner clipping and minor handling wear. Later pencil notations to verso.