Bloomin Festival

Bloomin' Festival is a two day juried arts festival attracting thousands of visitors to the beautiful campus of St. Bernard Abbey and Prep School.  

Located adjacent to the school is the world famous Ave Maria Grotto.  The picturesque landscape of stone cut buildings on the grounds of Alabama's only Abbey provides a backdrop for the out-of-doors show.  

More than 140 booths are filled with artists demonstrating and exhibiting their work.  The festival is the largest fundraiser annually for the operation and maintenance of the school.

Ave Maria Grotto

Known throughout the world as "Jerusalem in Miniature," the Ave Maria Grotto is a beautifully landscaped, four-acre park designed to provide a natural setting for the 125 miniature reproductions of some of the most famous historic buildings and shrines of the world. 

The masterpieces of stone and concrete are the lifetime work of Brother Joseph Zoettl, a Benedictine monk of St. Bernard Abbey. Begun as a hobby, with various materials he could find, and infinite patience and a remarkable sense of symmetry and proportion, Brother Joseph re-created some of the greatest edifices of all time.

Janney Furnace Park

Located in Ohatchee, Al, Janney Furnace Park is also home to the Calhoun County Civil War Memorial and The Civil War and Native American Museum.

In mid-1863, Alfred A. Janney had the furnace constructed at this site due to the proximity of iron ore, lime stone for flux and abundance of hardwood trees for charcoal.



The furnace was built of local sandstone, employing 200 slaves. Their tool marks are clearly visible, indicative of the immense effort required to quarry, shape and lift the stone blocks in to position.

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After a skirmish at Ten Island Ford on July 14, 1864, Union Major General Lovell H. Rousseau learned of the nearby furnace. Captain Ed Ruger and a detail of men were dispatched to destroy the iron works. All wood structures were burned and the chimney above the furnace was demolished.

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The Calhoun County Confederate Memorial was dedicated June 1, 2003. The center panel is engraved with the names of 908 men from Calhoun County who perished during the war. The left panel, known as the General Lee panel, holds the names of those who fought in and survived the war and whose last names start with ‘A’ through ‘K’. The right panel is known as the Major John ‘Gallant’ Pelham panel and bears the names of those who fought in and survived the war whose names start with ‘L’ through ‘Z’.



On the hill above the Memorial Wall, stands the Daniel House. This preserved cabin was the home of Henry and Mary Ellen Daniel in 1843. The cabin was carefully moved from its original site on Daniel’s Rd and reconstructed at Janney Furnace Park.

The Janney Furnace Civil War and Native American Museum was opened October 17, 2009. The museum displays information and artifacts about civil war era and earlier Native American habitation in Calhoun County.

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To the east of the museum are the reenactment grounds. We attended a civil war skirmish reenactment on April 6, 2013.

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For more information, check out www.janneyfurnace.org



We highly recommend a visit to Janney Furnace Park.