The station street market fundraiser has a new home this year. The Bessemer Hall of History Museum will host the annual fundraiser on April 9 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The event started years ago as the Alabama Folk Festival and was held at a local church. After a few moves during the pandemic, this year’s event is moving to the Hall de l’Histoire de la Gare in the heart of downtown. The event is family friendly and free.

“People were reluctant to go out during COVID,” says Hall of History Museum president Don Sharpe. “Having this event downtown is great. The Chamber of Commerce brought the Marvel City Family Fun Fest back here in October, and they’re already planning to do it again. I hope the pandemic is behind us and that we can move forward to revitalize downtown Bessemer.

Sharpe expects more than 60 vendors to be on hand, offering everything from food to arts and crafts to shopping. There will be antique sellers and Birmingham Underground co-author Jeff Newman will be on hand to chat and sign copies of his book. A classic car show will also coincide with this year’s event. The Pullman car will also be open to visitors, which includes a scale model of the town of Bessemer as it appeared in the 1950s.

The Bessemer History Hall is a non-profit organization with many special collections. Recently, the Hall of History was able to digitize Woodward Employee News magazines from 1945 to 1970. The Museum was also able to digitize La Tribune de l’Annonceur, which appeared in Bessemer in 1939-1940. This work has been beneficial to many local residents in their genealogical research efforts.

The Hall of History museum depends on memberships, grants and sponsorships. Referrals are still accepted for Street Market fundraising. To learn more about how to sponsor the event, visit bessemerhallofhistory.blogspot.com.