Every October, the Huntsville/Madison County Convention & Visitors Bureau puts a bow on the whole month and calls it Huntsville History Month. Ghost walks, cemetery strolls, self-guided tours through the historic districts. The month features events in and around the historic districts east of the square.
The event organizers and association calendars differ across the two districts. Twickenham's October events include programs organized by outside groups, while Old Town's association organizes events such as Spooky Fest. Both districts are also served by the Ghost Walks, which begin at Harrison Brothers Hardware on the Southside Square.
Huntsville Ghost Walks: Three Routes from One Storefront
Huntsville Ghost Walks begin the first Friday of September and run every Friday and Saturday night through Halloween, leaving from Harrison Brothers Hardware at 124 Southside Square at 6 p.m. Tickets run $13 for adults and $8 for kids twelve and under. Walkers choose one of three guided routes: Twickenham, Old Town, or the Downtown Square.
The Twickenham route passes through the district. The walk is a Convention & Visitors Bureau program, staffed by local storytellers who research the district's past and lead paying visitors through it.
The association's calendar offers another point of comparison.
Events on the Twickenham Association Calendar
The Twickenham Historic Preservation District Association's website lists two annual events: a members' meeting held every third Wednesday of September at the Weeden House, where board officers are elected, and the Spirit of Christmas Past Homes and Luminary Tour, held every second Saturday of December.
The Ghost Walk route through Twickenham and the Maple Hill Cemetery Stroll nearby are organized by the CVB and the Huntsville Pilgrimage Association, respectively. The Weeden House itself, built in 1819 and the oldest house in Alabama open to the public, hosts the association's September members' meeting.
One of those October programs, the Maple Hill Cemetery Stroll, brings visitors to the district each year.
Maple Hill Cemetery Stroll
The Maple Hill Cemetery Stroll is an October event near Twickenham. The Huntsville Pilgrimage Association stages it every third Sunday of October, this year landing on October 18, from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m., with a rain date the following Sunday if needed.
More than 75 costumed characters populate the grounds, according to the Pilgrimage Association's own count, portraying Huntsvillians buried there while an antique auto procession rolls through the cemetery's southern end and kids work through scavenger hunts built for different age groups. Admission is free, donations welcome.
Visit your family, friends and neighbors, meet new residents and greet visiting tourists from afar.
That's how the Pilgrimage Association frames the invitation on its own site, and it's a fair description of what actually happens: half reunion, half open house for the dead. The money matters too. Over three decades, the HPA has put nearly $400,000 into restoring more than 1,650 monuments and iron fences across the cemetery, funded almost entirely by stroll donations and a $35 annual "Angels of Maple Hill" membership. The stroll connects visitors with both the cemetery's history and its ongoing preservation.
Maple Hill sits closer to Twickenham than to Old Town. The cemetery stroll is organized by a cemetery preservation nonprofit, not either neighborhood association.
Old Town's Association Calendar
The Old Town Historic District Association organizes events throughout the year, including spring and fall events described below.
The year already opened with the association's Tour of Hidden Gardens & Art Stroll, held June 7, 2026, a ticketed walk through nine private gardens with a new art stroll component added this year featuring residents' own work. Tickets sold in advance and at Harrison Brothers, the same storefront that anchors the Ghost Walks three blocks over.
Old Town's Spooky Fest is organized by the district's association. The association's site says it plans to revive its long-running Porch Parties, informal front-yard gatherings with a local band and neighbors bringing food and drink, once Spooky Fest wraps for the year. Exact 2026 dates for both are on the association's events page; check it directly if you're planning around them.
Old Town's association organizes its spring garden tour and fall Spooky Fest, and its site says it plans to revive Porch Parties. Twickenham's October schedule includes the CVB Ghost Walk and the Pilgrimage Association's cemetery stroll.
What the Event Calendars Show
Twickenham has 527 documented historic structures, 360 of them officially "contributing" to the National Register district according to the Encyclopedia of Alabama. Those figures describe the district's historic built environment; its fall events are coordinated by several organizations.
The distinction is organizational: the CVB and Huntsville Pilgrimage Association run Twickenham's October programs, while the preservation association lists a September meeting and a December tour. Old Town's Spooky Fest, by contrast, is organized by its neighborhood association.
Old Town's association held its garden tour in June 2026, and its events page says it plans to revive Porch Parties after Spooky Fest. The area's event calendar therefore includes both association-organized events and programs run by other local organizations.
Both districts sit blocks apart, share a Ghost Walk starting point at the same hardware store, and answer to the same October branding. The buildings tell one continuous story. The calendars include events organized by the associations and by other local organizations.
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