By Associated Press
Montgomery, AL – The state of Alabama's 187th birthday was celebrated at the state archives with the dedication of a giant bronze map that weighs several thousand pounds. The map was dedicated Thursday and is located on the lawn of the Alabama archives building. Its decorated with some diverse symbols of the state's past and present -- a steamboat loaded with cotton, a covered wagon rolling along the Federal Road and a Saturn rocket soaring into orbit. The map also includes key figures in the state's history like Olympic hero Jesse Owens, civil rights leader the Reverend Martin Luther King Junior and Helen Keller, the blind and deaf woman from north Alabama who became an inspiration to people around the world. One of the images is of the rattlesnake rodeo in Opp. It depicts a snake coiled around a cowboy boot and wearing a cowboy hat. The map is made of bronze a half-inch thick, reinforced by stainless steel beams. It cost 250-thousand dollars and was paid for by an anonymous donor. It was dedicated on the 187th anniversary of Alabama becoming the 22nd state.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)