Marengo County Historical Society invites you to its fourth annual Rooster Day, April 13, 2019, on historic Public Square in Demopolis, Alabama. Celebrate the 100th anniversary of the 1919 Rooster Auction, a truly unique event in Alabama history, at this year’s Rooster Day! Join us for a jam-packed, family-friendly, fun day.

Try to beat the rooster at the Cock’s Crow 5K or 1K at 8am. Register online for the races at RoosterDayDemopolis.com. Rooster Fair in Public Square, open 9am-4pm, features all handmade arts and crafts and local food. The entertainment stage is filled with singers, dancers, a 4H chicken demonstration, skits, and more. Let the kids be kids at Coop Games which include a petting zoo, bouncy houses, crafts, and games.

Wrap up the evening at the Rooster Auction at Lyon Hall where guests can bid in the silent and live auctions for donated goods and services. This year’s Live Auction features nine amazing packages, including a stay at The Grand Hotel Golf Resort & Spa, a two-person guided deer hunt on 3000 acres, a ten-couple dinner soiree at Soggy Bottom Lodge Shack 33, and so much more! Foster Farm’s Fowl Play stage features Taylor Hunnicutt and band, she’ll play before and after the auction. The gate opens at 6pm, and the band plays until 11pm. The Rooster Auction at Lyon Hall is a BYOB event with heavy hors d’oeuvres and set-ups. Admission is $20 at the gate.

In 1919, Demopolis hosted the great Rooster Auction to raise funds to build a bridge over the Tombigbee River connecting Marengo and Sumter counties, the last link in the Dixie Overland Highway. President Woodrow Wilson was among the many who donated roosters to the 1919 auction. Helen Keller didn’t think it very lady-like to donate a rooster, so she donated a little blue hen! The Rooster Auction helped to raise the funds that built the infamous Rooster Bridge. This year marks the 100th anniversary of this achievement. 

The Marengo County Historical Society created Rooster Day as a fund raiser that celebrates our unique heritage, talented artists and craftspeople, great local food, and community spirit! Funds raised are used for the continued historic preservation efforts of MCHS.