Located in the heart of central Alabama, Montgomery is home to the religiously affiliated Faulkner University as well as a number of top-ranked schools in the state, including Montgomery Community College, the University of Alabama at Montgomery, Montgomery State University, and Huntingdon College.

Montgomery also offers a variety of private schools, including parish schools that offer college prep classes.

The local baseball team is Double-A Montgomery Biscuits, one of the oldest professional baseball teams in the United States and the only one in Alabama.

Historic venues include the First Confederate White House, where Jefferson Davis resided, and the Alabama Department of Archives and History, which houses a historical museum and genealogical facilities. Next to it is Bicentennial Park, which is dedicated to the 150th anniversary of Montgomery's participation in the Civil War. Today, visitors can stop by the state capital building where Jefferson Davis was sworn in as President of the Confederate States of America.

Other attractions include the F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Museum, dedicated to the author and his wife who first met in Montgomery in 1918, and a historic district depicting 19th century Alabama life. There is also the Alabama Department of Archives and History, the Montgomery Museum of Natural History, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Montgomery became the region's wholesale district, and Montgomery and West Point Railroad joined their terminals in Georgia to connect central Alabama to the Northeast and Midwest.

The city also attracts visitors from all over the United States and the world. The Civil Rights Memorial and Memorial Center and its memorial park, which commemorates the people who lost their lives in the Civil Rights movement, are also located in the capital.

Montgomery is also home to the Wynton M. Blount Cultural Park, which houses the largest collection of art and cultural artifacts in the United States. The Festival of Montgomery and the Museum of Fine Arts, located in the Cultural Park, are on the eastern edge of the city. History and art lovers should visit the museum as well as the W.W. Blount Center for the Arts.

The state capital served as the site of the first Civil Rights march for voting rights in the United States. It was also where Martin Luther King Jr. preached the gospel of nonviolent revolution, calling for equality for all people, regardless of race. King delivered his speech to an estimated 25,000 people on the steps.