The first site designated as part of the national monument is the former Greyhound bus depot at 1031 Gurnee Avenue in Anniston, where, on May 14, 1961, a mob attacked an integrated group of white and black Freedom Riders who demanded an end to racial segregation in interstate busing. The mob slashed the bus's tires, threw rocks, broke the bus's windows, and pursued the bus after it pulled away from the depot.Freedom Riders National Monument, The Conservation Fund (last accessed April 28, 2017). Today the wall of the building adjacent to the former depot features a mural and educational panels describing the incident; a similar mural has been installed adjacent to the former Trailways station where the other Freedom Riders arrived in 1961. The former Greyhound station was later owned by the City of Anniston prior to its donation to the United States government. It is one of nine sites that are part of the Anniston Civil Rights and Heritage Trail, and is commemorated with a historic marker, erected in 2016.
