Step back in time and walk through more than 100 years of local history this April as Foley hosts free downtown walking tours each Saturday of the month.

The tours are part of a statewide initiative organized by the Alabama Department of Tourism, which coordinates April walking tours in more than 20 communities across the state. Alabama remains the only state to offer such a broad, simultaneous history tour program.

In Foley, the one-hour guided tours begin at 10 a.m. each Saturday and start from the Foley Welcome Center at the intersection of Alabama 59 and U.S. 98. Local community members lead the walks, which span about five city blocks and spotlight historic sites dating back to the early 1900s.

The Welcome Center itself has its own story. Originally home to the Foley Public Library from 1927 to 1984, the building was expanded in 1962, later housed the South Baldwin Chamber of Commerce and became the city's official Welcome Center in 2013.

From there, the tour moves next door to the L&N Railroad Depot. Built in 1909 to replace a previous depot lost to fire, the station served as a hub of commerce and travel in South Baldwin County for more than 60 years. Today, the restored depot houses a city-operated museum.

Participants will also visit Centennial Plaza, the Holk Building, Magnolia Hotel, and the Holmes Medical Museum, which once served as Baldwin County’s first hospital. Other landmarks on the tour include the historic Foley Hotel building and the former Foley Bakery building, now home to the newly opened Colt Grill.

The first tour, held April 5, was led by retired Baldwin County Probate Judge Tim Russell, who served as Foley’s mayor from 1996 to 2006, along with his wife, Sandy Russell, a retired Foley High School teacher.

Upcoming tours are scheduled for April 12, 19 and 26.

For more information, call (251) 943-1200.