Freedom Riders National Monument

The site of the 1961 bus burning and the former Greyhound station in downtown Anniston are now part of the National Park Service and are dedicated to the Freedom Riders’ achievements in the fight for civil rights. This bus station, along with the Trailways station, is also part of the Anniston Civil Rights and Heritage Trail. The Trailways station marks the location where a second group of Freedom Riders stopped during their journey to Birmingham. Though this bus was not attacked in the same manner as the first, a group of white men did board the second bus and harass the Freedom Riders on their two-hour journey to Birmingham. Today, you can visit these sites to honor the Freedom Riders’ influence on the Civil Rights Movement.