The Florence Times was the predecessor of the current newspaper for Lauderdale County, The Times-Daily. The Florence Times began in the nineteenth century by the O’Neal family. The O’Neal family of Florence produced multiple governors of Alabama and were pillars of the Florence community in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The Florence Times did not become the predominant newspaper in Lauderdale County until the twentieth century. In 1927, a man from Gadsden, Alabama named J.L. Meeks, Sr., after he sold his newspaper in Gadsden purchased The Florence Times from the O’Neal family. A story exists about J.L. Meeks that he had the same kind of open top car as a famous madam in Florence. Little did Meeks know that when he drove down the street that the reason why people would wave and grin at him was not to welcome him to Florence, but to make fun of his lack of knowledge about the preeminent madam in Florence and her car. In addition to owning The Florence Times, Meeks also owned the Tri-Cities Daily based out of Colbert County. In the 1940s, Meeks passed away and the ownership of the papers went to his son, J.L. Meeks, Jr. In the early 1960s, Meeks, Jr., sold The Florence Times to Worrell Newspapers, Inc. About twenty years later in 1982, The New York Times purchased The Florence Times from Worrell Newspapers, Inc. And the publisher at the time, Guy Hankins, changed the name of the paper to the Times-Daily, the newspaper Lauderdale County knows today. The Florence Times was on Court Street for many years during the early to mid-twentieth century before moving to West Tennessee Street where it stands today.
M.C. Fesmire, University of North Alabama
Text Sources: Wade, Gerald compiler. "Facts, Folks, Residents and Rascals: A Tourist Guide & Visitors’ Handbook to the Shoals Area." Florence, Ala.: Cypress Creek Publishing, 1990. Picture Source: UNA Archives & Special Collection. William L. McDonald Collection. “Florence Times.” Florence, Alabama. Box 12: Florence Industry, 12-51.
Justice John McKinley Federal Building and United States Post Office
The federal building is located at the corner of Seminary and Tombigbee and its address is 210 North Seminary Street, Florence, Alabama. The building is currently named in honor of Alabama’s first Supreme Court Justice, John McKinley. The United States Post Office and Federal Court House was erected from 1912 to 1913 at a cost between $120,000 and $130,000 dollars. The structure was built on property owned by the Florence Female Synodical College and bought by the government for around ten thousand dollars. The architect of the federal building was John Robie Kennedy, Jr., a native of Lauderdale County, with the supervising architect being a local contractor, James Knox Taylor, also of Lauderdale County. The architecture of the structure is a mix of Neo-Classical styles and includes elements of Greek Revival with the Ionic columns and Italianate with the cornices, red Spanish clay hipped roof, and white limestone facade. On the inside, the floors are Cherokee, Georgia marble in twelve-inch squares, the stairs are Alabama marble, and the rails are made of oak with wrought iron balusters. Two additions have been added over the years, one in 1946 and another in 1965, both for the purpose of the post office. Even with the additions, the building is still on the National Register of Historic Places because of the original architecture of the building.
Text Sources: UNA Archives & Special Collection. McDonald Collection. Florence, Buildings, U.S. Post Office and Court House. Florence, Alabama. Florence Times, exceprt. UNA Archives & Special Collection. McDonald Collection. Writings, Articles, WLM: Writings 10.24. Florence, Alabama. McDonald, William Lindsey. “The United States Post Office and Courthouse at Florence." Gamble, Robert S. “Historic Muscle Shoals Buildings and Sites: Muscle Shoals Architecture.” editor McDonald, Mary Jane. Journal of Muscle Shoals History, vol. X (1983). Picture Source: UNA Archives & Special Collection. William L. McDonald Collection. “Florence Federal Building." Florence, Alabama. Box 8: Post Office, 8-1.
Hill Auto Company, located on the southwest side of the traffic circle at Royal Avenue and Huntsville Road, is believed to be the second filling and service station built in Florence. The owner of the service station, Fred Hill, also ran the Hill Cab Company from the service station for the people of Florence. Also known as Hill’s Woco Pep Station, the station faced competition from two other automobile services right in that traffic circle area: the Oil Well service station and the Doc Phillips auto repair shop. The Hill family originated in Germany and Fred Hill’s father, Augustus Henry Hill immigrated to the United States in the mid-nineteenth century, when Augustus was a young boy. Augustus Hill is said to be the first plumber ever in the city of Florence. During the Great Depression, the Hill family, especially Augustus, had financial problems because the city of Florence could not pay money owed to the elder Hill. As a result, he lost a row of property and turned to barbering as a means of a new income. According to the Hill family, Augustus and Rube Martin, who owned a grocery store next door, are believed to be the first white barbers in Florence. Fred Hill owned and operated the Hill Auto Company, the Hill Cab Company, and was an automobile dealer for Oakland Motor Car Company. Without a doubt, the Hill family was an important part of the automobile servicer business in Florence at Sweetwater.
Text Sources: McDonald, William Lindsey. "Remembering Sweetwater: The Mansions, The Mills, The People." photos by L.D. Staggs, Jr. Killen, Ala., Bluewater Publications, 2002. McDonald, William Lindsey. "A Walk Through the Past: People and Places of Florence and Lauderdale County, Alabama." Killen, Ala., Bluewater Publications, 2003. Picture Source: UNA Archives & Special Collection. William L. McDonald Collection. “Hill Auto Company.” Florence, Alabama. Box 13: Downtown Business, 13-41.
The Hotel Negley was one of the more modern hotels built in the early twentieth century in downtown Florence. The Hotel Negley was constructed on the empty lot of the former Jefferson Hotel in 1925 after the Jefferson Hotel caught fire in the early 1920s. The Negley Hotel was located at the corners of Pine, Tennessee, and South Court Street. The owner of the hotel was Charles Negley, and he wished to construct a hotel that would encourage future in the city. The Negley, when built in 1925, had the most modern amenities for travelers to the city of Florence. With an investment of over one hundred and fifty thousand dollars in the hotel, the construction of the modern hotel took six months to complete, beginning in 1924. When the Hotel Negley was opened, it had fifty rooms with private baths and special Simonds steel furniture for the guests to use; in addition, plumbing was in every room and all rooms had both hot and cold water. Also, the Hotel Negley had a café and dining room for the guests to order and eat their food while staying there. The construction of the hotel was bided out to all local construction companies to return the investment of the hotel back to the community and its blue-collar workers. Craw Construction Company and Wiley Plumbing Company were the primary builders and Negley purchased the furniture from Young Furniture Company.
Text Sources: Barske, Carolyn. "Images of America: Florence." Charleston: Arcadia Publishing, 2014. Hamm, Jane Johnson. "Florence Wagons 1889-2002 History & More." Florence, Ala.: Privately Published, 2002. Florence/Lauderdale Public Library. Vertical History File. Florence, Lauderdale County, Historic Buildings, Hotel Negley. “Hotel Negley, New, Modern, Opens For Business May 1st.” The Florence Times. April 24, 1925, Florence, Lauderdale County, Alabama. Picture Source: UNA Archives & Special Collection. William L. McDonald Collection. “Hotel Negley.” Florence, Alabama. Box 13: Downtown Business, 13-37.
The Hotel Reeder was a staple of downtown Florence during the early twentieth century. The location of the Hotel Reeder was on Tennessee Street, and the hotel was so large that it covered an entire block. The three-story brick building had a European-style café for the guests. The Hotel Reeder was so large that it tended to dwarf some of the smaller structures located close to the building. The Hotel Reeder had 97 total rooms for guests in the main building, with 27 adjoining rooms in an annex. The Hotel Reeder originally had the “new building,” which served as the hotel, whereas the "old building" served as a livery where mules would be penned, bought, and sold on the upper floor of the older building. When the livery industry became an obsolete trade the mule pen closed, and the old building became a boarding house and a scrap iron business. Eventually the boarding house and the scrap iron business closed and the building was absorbed by the Hotel Reeder. The building was a part of the hotel until its closure in 1967. During the 1920s through the 1940s the Hotel Reeder was the prestigious hotel in Florence, housing the headquarters of the Democrats in Florence. Many congressional representatives and dignitaries stayed as guests at the hotel. Probably the most famous of these dignitaries were the staff of President Franklin Roosevelt when he came to visit Florence and Wilson Dam in the early 1930s. Other famous visitors included the singers, actors, and actresses of the musicals, plays, and operas that visited the Princess Theatre in downtown Florence- since the Hotel Reeder was across the street from the entertainment venue. Even fox hunting conventions were held at the Hotel Reeder, and the participants would stay at the hotel, wake up very early, and travel to Rogersville to release the hounds and hunt foxes. On in to the 1940s the Hotel Reeder would have many soldiers and their families as guests of the hotel because of the Courtland Air Base in the area during World War II. Unfortunately, after World War II, the Hotel Reeder became less and less popular until the doors of the hotel closed in 1967.
Text Sources: Hamm, Jane Johnson. "Florence Wagons 1889-2002 History & More." Florence, Ala.: Privately Published, 2002. Barske, Carolyn. "Images of America: Florence." Charleston: Arcadia Publishing, 2014. Florence/Lauderdale Public Library. Vertical History File. Florence, Lauderdale County, Historic Buildings, Reeder Hotel. “End Of An Area: Reeder Hotel Closing.” The Florence Times. October 11, 1967. Florence, Lauderdale County, Alabama, File 2-3. McDonald, William Lindsey. "A Walk Through the Past: People and Places of Florence and Lauderdale County, Alabama." Killen, Ala., Bluewater Publications, 2003. Picture Source: UNA Archives & Special Collection. William L. McDonald Collection. “Hotel Reeder.” Florence, Alabama, Box 13: Downtown Businesses, 13-22.
Early Twentieth Century-Mid Twentieth Century
The Jefferson Hotel was a massive building for turn of the twentieth century Florence. At three-stories it was a towering downtown business. The Jefferson Hotel opened up for business in 1902 just a short distance away from the Lauderdale County Courthouse. Before the Jefferson Hotel occupied the three-story building, the City of Florence used the building as its city hall for a short period of time. The Jefferson Hotel was located at Court Street and Tennessee Street in downtown Florence. The Jefferson Hotel met a need for Florence in 1902 because the city did not have a large hotel on the scale of the Jefferson at the end of the nineteenth century. The patrons of the Jefferson stayed at a hotel that had furniture of antique oak finish with metal beds that had perfection mattresses and downy pillows for the customers to sleep on at night. In all, the furnishings for the fifty room hotel cost over eleven thousand dollars. The Jefferson Hotel lasted until the early 1920s before the building was destroyed by fire. The modern Hotel Negley was built on the site.
Text Sources: Hamm, Jane Johnson. "Florence Wagons 1889-2002 History & More." Florence, Ala.: Privately Published, 2002. Barske, Carolyn. "Images of America: Florence." Charleston: Arcadia Publishing, 2014. “Florence As She Is." The Florence Times. 1903. Picture Source: UNA Archives & Special Collection. William L. McDonald Collection. “Jefferson Hotel.” Florence, Alabama, Box 13: Downtown Business, 13-9.
The Florence Hotel was constructed by The Florence Land, Mining, and Manufacturing Company, the company owned by Judge William Basil Wood, the father of the Sweetwater and Florence Industrial Boom. W.B. Wood had quite an impact in Florence since he was the president of W.B. Wood Furnace Company, the Charcoal & Chemical Company, the Florence, Tuscaloosa & Montgomery Railroad Company, the Florence & Chicago Railroad Company, and Secretary of the Alabama Improvement Company, so he was a true mover and shaker for Florence. The Florence Land, Mining, and Manufacturing Company had the Florence Hotel built in 1887-1888. The hotel was the first in the area to introduce both electricity and the telephone in 1888. On March 3, 1888, the Florence Hotel was successfully lighted and the next night at the Leap Year Ball, the Florence Hotel became the center of the social world for Florence. In November of 1888, Charles M. Brandon, founding member of the Cherry Cotton Mill, bought the lease for the Florence Hotel from the Florence Land, Mining, and Manufacturing Company until 1891. However, his lease was prematurely terminated in 1890 for reasons unknown. By 1904, the Florence Hotel had changed hands a few different times until A.D. Bellamy of the Florence Wagon Works bought the hotel and used it for the Florence Vehicle Company. Reports of the number of rooms the Florence Hotel vary, but the largest number seems to be 29 guest rooms for the Hotel. In 1909 or 1910, the Florence Hotel served as the temporary home of Rogers Surprise Store after Rogers experienced a devastating fire to their retail building on Court Street. In addition to serving Rogers, it also served the new owner of the Florence Wagon Works, John T. Ashcraft as an office building and suites for the Wagon Works executives. After the 1910s, the Florence Hotel building became strictly used for business, thus ending the life of the Florence Hotel.
Text Sources: Maness, Maurine. “A History of Lamar Furniture Building, Florence, Alabama.” Journal of Muscle Shoals History, vol. 6 (1978): 121-126. Picture Sources: UNA Archives & Special Collection. William L. McDonald Collection. “Florence Hotel.” Florence, Alabama, Box 12: Florence Industry, 12-23.
Late Nineteenth Century-Early Twentieth Century
The Lamar Furniture building in downtown Florence has a unique past considering it once held the old Florence Hotel and was the meeting place of the civic group the Knights of Pythias. The Lamar Furniture building’s location was on Court Street in downtown Florence. In 1944, Henry and Edna Lamar bought the building where Lamar Furniture was established from the Knights of Pythias. What led to the discovery for the Lamar’s that the building was a former hotel was the unearthing of sixteen fireplace hearths hidden under layers of walls in 1944. The sixteen fire hearths were indicative of a building that once housed tenants or guests. The Lamar family had a dream to open a furniture company and did so by 1945 once World War II ended and building materials were freely available again. The wife of Henry Lamar, Mrs. Edna Lamar, was the registrar at Florence State Teachers College in the 1930s. Henry Lamar was originally from New Orleans, but the couple liked Florence and did not want to leave the area. Thus, they decided to open Lamar Furniture in downtown Florence. The Lamar Furniture store was an example of modern design in downtown Florence. The store was the first to be fully air-conditioned and electrically heated in downtown Florence. The Lamar Furniture store is believed to be the first store to have an electric-eye door within Alabama. The building had experimental materials from the R.J. Reynolds Metals Company in the interior to coincide with the modern amenities of the store. And the front of the building was covered in black vitrolite, which matched the Art Deco sign. By 1976, Lamar Furniture was no more.
Text Sources: Maness, Maurine. “A History of Lamar Furniture Building, Florence, Alabama.” Journal of Muscle Shoals History, vol. 6 (1978): 121-126. Picture Source: UNA Archives & Special Collection. William L. McDonald Collection. “Lamar Furniture.” Florence, Alabama, Box 12: Florence Industry, 12-23.
The First National Bank in downtown Florence had connections to one of the more powerful Northern transplants to the Florence area in founder, Nial C. Elting. Elting, one of the founding partners of the Cherry Cotton Mill in Sweetwater, was a financial power broker in the industrial boom in Florence. Elting spent many years in Florence, eventually becoming the president of twenty-four businesses. Elting was an ambitious entrepreneur investing in a multitude of businesses in Florence while accumulating a massive amount of wealth. He and his wife, Annie Van Sickler, did not have any children, thus they left almost all of their estate to the First Presbyterian Church of Florence where the two were devout members of the congregation. When the First National Bank was founded in 1889, Elting partnered with Colonel Robert L. Bliss, who already owned a dry goods business, to form the First National Bank. Colonel Bliss was the first President of the bank; whereas, Nial C. Elting was the first cashier of the bank in 1889. When founded by Elting and Bliss, they had a capital stock of one hundred thousand dollars. Elting was an intelligent banker and did not make poor investments with the money he loaned out from the bank, because of his ability to judge proper character in loaning money from the bank, he was able to survive the economic depression of the 1890s in Florence. The original home of the First National Bank was in the Bliss Building in downtown Florence on the corner of Court and Tennessee Street. Then, in 1919, First National Bank moved from the Bliss Building to the corner of Mobile and Court street after building a new bank site. The First National Bank remained at the 1919 location before branching out into the community with new satellite branches in the 1950s. By 1983, The First National Bank was renamed The First National Bank of Florence. In 1985, The First National Bank of Florence moved to the multi-story building located at 201 South Court Street. In 1995, The First National Bank of Florence was renamed SunTrust Bank, Alabama, and became an independent bank associated with the SunTrust Bank organization out of Atlanta, Georgia. By 2000, SunTrust bought the independent branch of SunTrust Bank, Alabama, and merged it into its national organization of banks, therefore ending the First National Bank as an independent entity in downtown Florence.
Text Sources: McDonald, William Lindsey. "Remembering Sweetwater: The Mansions, The Mills, The People." photos by L.D. Staggs, Jr. Killen, Ala., Bluewater Publications, 2002. “First National Bank Was Organized 1889.” The Florence Herald, 1968, 20, sesquicentennial edition. “Florence As She Is.” The Florence Times, 1903. “Florence Main Branch.” last updated January, 2000. National Information Center. http://www.ffiec.gov/nicpubweb/nicweb/InstitutionHistory.aspx?parID_RSSD=623137&parDT_END=99991231. Picture Source: UNA Archives & Special Collection. William L. McDonald Collection. “First National Bank.” Florence, Alabama, Box 12: Downtown Business, 12-53.
Late Nineteenth Century-Early Twenty-First Century
Milner’s Drug Store was an important part of the downtown Florence area stretching back before the Civil War. The founder of Milner’s Drug Store, Joseph Milner, was an adventurous man who made his home in Florence in 1852 after returning from the California gold rush. Joseph Milner was a descendant of immigrants from Yorkshire, England who moved to Florence in the early nineteenth century. With the money he made from his gold prospecting, Milner bought out Barton’s Grocery Store at 104 North Court Street and established Milner’s Drug Store in 1853. The store was well received in Florence and became highly successful. Milner’s Drugs Store was especially popular with the rural farming community of Florence because Milner was trusted to provide them with a medicinal remedies for their aches and pains as doctors were hard to come by in 1850s Florence. During the pre-war years of the 1850s, Milner’s thrived. Milner had a reputation as an excellent bookkeeper and store clerk and was trusted to keep the people of Florence’s accounts up to date. In his store, he sold turpentine, paints, window glass, whiskey and ale barrels, and other dry goods in addition to the elixirs and medicines he sold as an apothecary. Milner’s was like most stores of the nineteenth century because he sold a bit of everything. Milner’s Drug Store had a reputation as a social center as well, news, politics, and gossip could be exchanged amongst the towns folk of the area in the store. Saturday was the special day for Milner’s and the people of Florence. Saturday was generally the day that all the rural farmers would travel to Florence to buy and sell goods, so the men and women of Lauderdale County would catch up on all of the week’s news. Former governors and mayors would come to Milner’s to sit, chat, and smoke a cigar, and others would arrive to just talk politics, amongst other topics, at the popular Milner’s Drug Store. Since Milner’s was a drug store of course it had plenty of snake oil remedies, elixirs, and medicines ready for the buying customer. In an era when medicine was not advanced, Milner’s carried a multitude of patented medicines for the patients of Lauderdale County. He carried opiates, herbs, tonics, and bitters for use by customers. But as nineteenth century medicine goes, Milner’s Drug Store was like many others of the same era, filled with ineffective remedies for customers whose illnesses could not be cured with the cure-all solutions provided in a nineteenth century drug store. Milner’s Drug Store was family owned and operated through the early part of the twentieth century, but was sold by the family in the 1960s. Today, Milner’s Drug Store exists as Milner-Rushing Discount Drugs in locations throughout Florence. Milner’s moved from Court Street during the 1960s to Sweetwater, leaving the home it had on Court Street for over one hundred years.
Text Sources: Mims, Jobyna. “An Ante-Bellum Drug Store.” The Journal of Muscle Shoals History, vol. 2 (1974):. Picture Source: UNA Archives & Special Collection. William L. McDonald Collection. “Milner's Drug Store.” Florence, Alabama, Box 12: Florence Industry, 12-20.
The Rogers Bros. Surprise Store, eventually Department Store, was a retail fixture in downtown Florence from the late 1890s to the early 2000s. Opened in 1894 as the Surprise Store in downtown Florence by Major B.A. Rogers and his sons, the Surprise Store was famous for its reasonable prices for high quality goods. From the corner of Court and Mobile Street, the Rogers Surprise Store sold almost anything a person needed from hardware to clothing and toys to textiles. The Surprise Store was a full-line merchandising store able to import high quality goods to downtown Florence. Rogers Surprise Store was the first retail store in the area to do something novel and simple to ease the buying experience: they introduced price tags with set prices on their goods. Instead of having customers coming in to haggle and barter prices and goods with the clerks, the owner, Major Rogers, created the price point system for their store. The pricing system was an advancement in retailing in the Florence area. The original Rogers Building for the Surprise Store burned to the ground in 1910, and the original wooden building replaced with a multi-story brick structure. The brick structure stood until 1946 when it was remodeled in the Art Deco fashion and modernized into the Rogers Building that stands today at the corner of Court and Mobile Street.
Text Sources: UNA Archives & Special Collection. McDonald Collection. Vertical History File, “Rogers’ 100th.” Downtown Florence Unlimited, Edition 93, May/June 1994, Florence, Alabama. McDonald Collection: Box 35 Factories and Mills, Factories and Mills Vol.2, Factories and Mills File 2.1, 2. Picture Source: UNA Archives & Special Collection, William L. McDonald Collection, “Hotel Negley,” Florence, Alabama, Box 12: Florence Industry, 12-46.
Late Nineteenth-Early Twenty-First Century
A place of business in the Sweetwater area that still exists and serves the community today is Staggs Groceries. Originally, Staggs Grocery was founded as Taylor Wylie’s Meat Market at the turn of the twentieth century. Taylor Wylie moved to east Florence to Sweetwater when Mountain Mills moved from Barton, Alabama to Florence to become the Cherry Cotton Mill. The original Wylie’s Meat Market burned to the ground and Wylie's son-in-law, L.D. Staggs, Sr., continued the business down the street on Huntsville Road. Staggs Grocery’s present location is where it has been since 1937. When L.D. Staggs, Sr. became proprietor of the grocery, he had his brother, Web Staggs, and his sons, L.D. Jr., Jack, and Billy Staggs become working members of the grocery. Staggs, Sr.’s family descendants run the operation today and have made the transition from grocer to restaurant. Staggs Grocery has a reputation for having one of the best hamburgers in all of Florence.
Text Sources: McDonald, William Lindsey. "Sweetwater: The Story of East Florence." Florence, Ala.: Florence Historical Board, 1989. Barske, Carolyn. "Images of America: Florence." Charleston: Arcadia Publishing, 2014. Picture Source: UNA Archives & Special Collection. William L. McDonald Collection. “Staggs Grocery.” Florence, Alabama, Box 12: Florence Industry, 12-11.
2005.36.154: M.L. Chester to Louisa Young, 1857 January 1
1857; Transcription; Lou; M.L. Chester; Oakland; Sabbath; Unrequited Love
This three-page handwritten letter from M.L. Chester to Louisa Young condemns Louisa for not reciprocating love for him. He is clearly angered that Louisa did not agree with the friends he kept. Following Chester's signature is a brief three-sentence handwritten response by Louisa claiming his "accusations are not worth refutation."
P.M.B. Young Collection, Bartow History Museum
2005.36.133: Ma & Mary Thompson to Caroline Elizabeth Jones, (Unknown Year) December 23
December; Ma; Mary Thompson; Caroline Elizabeth Jones; Washington; Kentucky; Uncle Thomas; Col. Harris; Louisa Young Jones; Christmas; Clothing; Pain
Ma authors the first page and writes about Christmas events. Mary authors the final pages to Caroline because Ma is in pain. She goes to write about her desire to travel the world and that Louisa has moved to Kentucky with Thomas. She also writes about the latest fashion. 5 handwritten pages.
Architectural drawings; Watercolors; Houses; Dwellings; Doors & doorways; Windows; Shutters; Porches; Columns; Balconies; Hand railings; Woodwork; Roofs; Chimneys; Moldings; Women; Trees; Landscapes (Representations)
This image is a watercolor painting of the Cole Home in Macon, Georgia (probably the Jerry Cowles House) done by Harry A. MacEwan sometime between 1917 and 1942. The year the house was built in is unknown. The painting shows the front exterior of the house with its doors, windows, shutters, columned porch, steps, balcony, wooden hand railing, sloped roof, and two chimneys surrounded by trees and landscaping. There is a woman in period dress at the base of the steps. The house is placed within framing art showing its architectural features including the molding under the roof, the columns, the wooden railing from the balcony, a side view of the house, and a floor plan. In the lower right corner, there is an Alabama Polytechnic Institute School of Architecture stamp with the handwritten inscription "2nd Medal", a red star, and an artist block which reads: "Measured drawing, Harry A. MacEwan, Alabama Poly. Inst., Auburn, Ala." The painting is in good condition with a minor piece missing from the upper right corner and is encapsulated.
MacEwan, Harry A. (rendering) ; Alexander, Elam (house)
Auburn University Libraries. Special Collections and Archives Dept. Architecture, School of -- Architectural Renderings Student Projects
This image is the property of the Auburn University Libraries and is intended for non-commercial use. Users of the image are asked to acknowledge the Auburn University Libraries. For information about obtaining high-resolution copies of this and other images in this collection, please contact the Auburn University Libraries Special Collections & Archives Department at archive@auburn.edu or (334) 844-1732.
Library of Congress (Historic American Buildings Survey): http://www.loc.gov/item/ga0035/
Macon -- Bibb County -- Georgia ; 4596 Rivoli Drive (moved from 519 Walnut Street (corner of Walnut Street and Vine Street) after WWII), Macon, Bibb County, GA
Bernard LaFayette Jr. (Author, director of SNCC’s Alabama voter registration project)
Co-author of In Peace and Freedom: My Journey in Selma
Emory University While he did not march in Selma, Bernard was an integral part of the movement and it has often been said that it the planning and execution would not have been possible him.
From page 124 In Peace and Freedom: My Journey in Selma Bernard LaFayette Jr. Emory University Kathryn Lee Johnson University of Rhode Island "Other leaders at the front included Rev. Frederick Reese; Mrs. Boynton; Charles Mauldin, a student leader of the Selma movement; and Benny Tucker and James Austin, two of my first recruits in Selma." Tucker was one of MLK's local bodyguards during the Selma protests. Tucker was aligned with SNCC in Selma. He cooperated with SNCC organizers to plan Selma protests.
In Peace and Freedom: My Journey in Selma Bernard LaFayette Jr. Kathryn Lee Johnson
From page 124 In Peace and Freedom: My Journey in Selma Bernard LaFayette Jr. Emory University Kathryn Lee Johnson University of Rhode Island "Other leaders at the front included Rev. Frederick Reese; Mrs. Boynton; Charles Mauldin, a student leader of the Selma movement; and Benny Tucker and James Austin, two of my first recruits in Selma."
American Baptist Theological Seminary (American Baptist College)
"Selma, Alabama Flossie Menifee, 67, who marched on "Bloody Sunday" in 1965, stands in front of the A.M.E. Church where the march started as she commented on a billboard within sight of the Edmund Pettus bridge in Selma, Alabama that is sponsored by a group dedicated to honoring Ku Klux Klan founder Nathan Bedford Forrest on Friday, March 6, 2015.(Photo By: Jefferson Siegel/NY Daily News via Getty Images)"
Marries Zenobia Robertson SNCC The Selma Campaign 1963-1965 Wally G. Vaughn
Senior at Hudson High School The Selma Campaign 1963-1965 Wally G. Vaughn
17 years old at the time of the march The Selma Campaign 1963-1965 Wally G. Vaughn Near end of line
11th grader at Hudson High School The Selma Campaign 1963-1965 Wally G. Vaughn
Pregnant at the time of the march The Selma Campaign 1963-1965 Wally G. Vaughn Mother of Johnny James & Carrie Lee
Student at Hudson High School 50-70 yards from front The Selma Campaign 1963-1965 Wally G. Vaughn Brown coat
Lee County, Auburn, John J. Harper, Alabama Confederacy, Auburn Heritage Association
Pine Hill is the oldest cemetery in Auburn and was established in 1837. Auburn’s founder, Judge John J. Harper, donated six acres to be used a community burial ground for white settlers and their slaves. The oldest marked graves are dated 1938. There are no early cemetery records. The first survey was conducted in in the 1950’s and over 1,100 graves were cataloged. Of those, only one grave belong to a black individual. People who have been interred at Pine Hill include slaves and university presidents. For decades, Pine Hill was the main burial ground for local whites. Auburn’s confederate marker is at the rear of the cemetery standing over 98 common graves of Texas soldiers who died in a temporary hospital. Before 1995, Pine Hill was neglected and vandalized until the Auburn Heritage Association began to restore the cemetery. In 1978, Pine Hill was placed on the Alabama Register and is currently owned by the City of Auburn.
Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church
Montgomery County, Religion, Baptist, Civil Rights Movement, African American, Vernon Johns, Martin Luther King Jr.
Located in Montgomery Alabama, the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church is most known for being at the forefront of the Civil Rights Movement and being led by then pastor, Martin Luther King Jr. However the church had a long history, going back to the late-nineteenth century, of being led by politically and socially conscious religious leaders. Created in 1877, the church was originally known as the Second Baptist (Colored) Church. A few years later, in 1884, the church was renamed the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church after the street it was built on was renamed Dexter Avenue in honor of Montgomery’s original founder, Andrew Dexter. The first pastor for the church was Charles Octavius Boothe, a freedman and author. Overall the two most renowned pastors of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church were Vernon Johns and Martin Luther King Jr. Under Vernon John’s leadership, the church members became more politically active and began to challenge Montgomery’s structured segregation. The next pastor, King, followed in Johns’ footsteps and insisted that all of his flock become registered voters and join the local NAACP. King also orchestrated the Montgomery Bus Boycott from the church. In 1978, the church was officially renamed the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church in memory of Martin Luther King Jr. Nowadays the church is under consideration to become a World Heritage Site. Visitors can also tour the church and parsonage, where king and his family lived.
Cullman County, Hanceville, Religion, Catholicism, Monastery, Mother Angelica
Construction began on the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, Alabama in 1996. The Our Lady of the Angels monastery was consecrated in 1996. Mother Angelica, who also founded the Eternal World Television Network, established the shrine and the monastery. According to its website, the shrine is modeled after the great Italian churches of the 13th century. Visitors walk across the piazza before entering the church in order to reflect upon the separation between faith and secularism. The church doors are adorned with Seven Joys and Sorrows of the Virgin Mary.
http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/m-3425 http://olamshrine.org/about/
Religion, Islam, Jefferson County, Hoover, Masjid
The Hoover Crescent Islamic center is one of the three branches of the Birmingham Islamic Society (BIS). The BIS started in 1990 when local Muslims in the Birmingham area were looking for a common place to worship. In the following years, the BIS established locations in Homewood, Hoover, and Fairfield. The Hoover location was bought in 2006 and the first Jummah prayer was held on December, 28, 2007. The new Masjid was later named the Hoover Crescent Islamic Center (HCIC). The members of the HCIC include Muslims of varying nationalities from states in the Arab and Indian subcontinents, and also the United States. The political leaders of the HCIC are the board of directors who are elected by the community. The board is responsible for laying down the policies at the center and also making sure that the center follows the bylaws. The current president of the board is Ashfaque Taufique. The current religious leader is Imam Tamer Salim. His responsibilities include leading the community in the ways of Islam. The Islamic community in Hoover is a very tight-knit community. The religion is the strongest affiliation for all members. The majority practice Sunni Islam; however, those who practice Shi’a Islam are welcome at the center. The center also welcomes non-Islamic members of the community to come and learn about Islam, and invites everyone to take part in activities like the Day of Dignity, a day where Muslims attend to the needs of the less fortunate within society. If anyone would like to contact the HCIC to learn more about center or just about Islam, you can email them through the website, http://www.bisweb.org/, or call the following number: 205-879-4247.
T. Salim, personal communication, October 13, 2015.
Cathedral-Basilica of the Immaculate Conception
Religion, Catholic, Mobile County, Mobile, National Register of Historic Places, Father Michael Portier
Located in Mobile, the Cathedral-Basilica of the Immaculate Conception was consecrated in December of 1850, fifteen years after the first cornerstone had been laud. Father Michael Portier was the leader in the construction of the cathedral after being made the founding bishop of the Diocese of Mobile in 1829. Originally this diocese included all of Alabama and Florida. The cathedral has gone through a series of enhancement and repairs over the years including in 1865 when the explosion of a magazine shop destroyed all of the plain glass windows in one of the walls and in 1954 when a fire collapsed the sanctuary floor, and the basement was flooded to stop the fire. In 1963, Pope John XXIII designated the Cathedral as a Minor Basilica. This designation is awarded based on several criteria including antiquity, historical, cultural, and artistic importance. On December 8th, 2004, the Cathedral celebrated the tercentennial of its establishment. A three-year plan for restoration was also completed at this point. Today the Cathedral offers daily mass and is open all day to everyone for private prayer.
http://www.mobilecathedral.org/cms/index.php/history/in-depth-history http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-3499
Religion, Judaism, Mobile County, Mobile, Mayer Mitchell
Ahavas Chesed was founded in 1894. In 1911, the community moved to its first building at the corner of Conti and Warren streets. In 1956, the location was moved across the street to Dauphin street. The congregation would move to its present location in 1989 on Regents Way. The synagogue has affiliated groups, a pre-school, and a Hebrew school. The synagogue also offers a range of worship services and burials services for men and women. The current rabbi is the 21st rabbi of Ahavas Chesed. One of the most famous members of the synagogue was Mayer Mitchell, who served as president of the Israel Public Affairs Committee, an organization that lobbies for Israel and Jewish interests.
Religion, Christianity, Cullman County, Cullman, Saint Bernard Abbey, Brother Joseph Zoettel, National Register of Historic Places
In Cullman, the Ave Maria Grotto is a collection of miniature replicas of shrines and other buildings. The Grotto is located on the grounds of the Saint Bernard Abbey. The Grotto was created by Brother Jespeh Zoettel, a monk originally from Bavaria who immigrated to the United State after being recruited by an American priest. Zoettel began creating his masterpieces in 1918 from leftover construction materials. His crafts were inspired by the Bible and real life historical buildings and accounts. Over fourty years. Zoettel created 125 images including miniatures of St. Peter’s Basilica, Noah’s Ark, the Alamo, and even a representation of the City of Jerusalem. Zoettel created his last miniature when he was 80 years old, the Lourdes Basilica Church. Zoettel died on October 15, 1961. The site was named the Ave Maria Grotto in 1934, after Zoettel’s most unique creation, the Ave Maria Grotto, a wholly original creation. The Grotto is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is one of the most famous tourist attractions in Alabama.
Religion, Islam, Calhoun County, Anniston
The Anniston Islamic Center (AIC) is a non-profit organization that serves the Islamic educational and social needs of Muslims on Northeast Alabama. The mission of the AIC is to promote brotherhood, peace, and family values in the Muslim community. The center offers five daily prayers, weekly congregational prayers, Quran reading lessons, hadith reading after Isha prayers, weekly halaqa, Ramadan services, and family night gatherings. The center also has other events which are listed on its website. In 2007, the AIC added a Sunday school for ages four to fourteen. The AIC has a list of missions and goals that includes but is not limited to representing and serving the interest of Muslims in Anniston, AL, to promote Islamic principles among Muslim and non-Muslims, to conduct religious, social, cultural, and other activities in the traditions of Islam, and to promote friendly relations between Muslims and non-Muslims. The website for the Anniston Islamic Center is http://annistonic.org/index.php
Religion, Islam, Madison County, Huntsville
Originally the local Muslim community in Huntsville practiced Islam in their own homes. However as the community grew, it consolidated and purchased to houses in Huntsville to practice their faith. Around 1990-1991, 1645 Sparkman Drive was purchased and the current Huntsville Islamic Center was built. Now the center has a gymnasium, meeting rooms, and a community hall. It is also credited to teach school up to eighth grade. The Huntsville Islamic Center practices Sunni Islam but those who practice Shi’a are also welcome to worship at the center. The function of the center is to serve the religious, educational, and social needs of the community. It also promotes good citizenship, social justice, and good relations with other communities. One of the most important functions of the community is outreach efforts into the general community and also countering islamophobia through education and dialogue. The Islamic community in Huntsville is ethnically, racially, and culturally diverse. Muslims are converts and immigrants that go on to a variety of careers with one universal identifying faith. The Huntsville Islamic Center would like everyone to know that they believe in one God. At the center they enjoy the freedom to worship with the First Amendment and now feel they are truly an integral part of the Huntsville community.
Javed Haider, Personal Communication, November 2 2015.
Religion, Islam, Education, Jefferson County, Birmingham,
In 1996, the Islamic Academy of Alabama (IAA) was founded in order to provide an Islamic education to Muslim children in the greater Birmingham area. The IAA uses Islamic education to encourage moral behavior, rigorous academics, and social awareness in its students. Islam is integral in the school. Islam and Arabic as subjects are part of the study requirements. Since 2005, The IAA has been accredited by SACS CASI. The IAA has several core values including self-discipline, respect for others, accountability, positive self-identity, integrity and sincerity, good personal hygiene, being appreciative, to strive for excellence, and critical thinking.
Religion, Catholicism, Catholic, Bishop Michael Portier, Mobile County, Mobile, Education, College, American Civil War, Desegregation, Martin Luther King Jr., “Letter from the Birmingham Jail”
In 1830, Spring Hill College was founded by Mobile’s first catholic bishop. Originally most of the students were male from wealthy families in the Mobile, Pensacola, and New Orleans areas. However most of the students were not catholic. In 1954, Spring Hill College was the first college to desegregate in the Deep South. Bishop Michael Portier originally intended for it to be a boarding school that housed students under the age of 12. However the age restriction was soon relaxed and by 1832 there were almost 130 students. During the American Civil War, high officers of the Confederacy sheltered their sons from the draft at Spring Hill. Eventually the college formed two military companies. After the war, Spring Hill recruited among sons of Central American and Cuban leaders. Latin American culture was introduced to the mostly American student body. In the 1920’s the school expanded to include high school ages, yet the high school was closed in 1935. In 1932, the college opened Saturday classes for adults and began admitting women. The first two women, Marie Fidelis Yeend and Genevieve Cordilia Jarvis, graduated in 1937. In 1953 was the hiring of the first full-time female faculty member, Ella Morris, who lectured in biology. The school desegregated the following year, and in 1956, Fannie Motley became the first black graduate of a previously white college in Alabama. In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote about Spring Hill in his “Letter from the Birmingham jail” mentioning the school’s moral significance. Currently the school has a diverse student body with approximately 1.450 students. The school offers degrees in the liberal arts along with master’s programs in business, education, nursing, and theological studies.
Religion, Christianity, Jefferson County, Birmingham, Education, College, Edgar J. Rowe
Southeastern Bible College (SBC) was organized in 1933 as a four-year, nondenominational, evangelical institution. The school was created by northern fundamentalists as a training school in Christian ministry. Classes began in October 1934. Originally the college served Baptist and Presbyterian congregations but eventually spread to several independent churches. In 1927 Southern Baptist Edgar J. Rowe, his wife, and several friends attended a Bible conference led by fundamentalist teacher Harry A. Ironside. He inspired them to launch a Baptist institution in Birmingham. Rowe investigated the structure of schools and in 1933 wrote a prospectus to approximately 30 local pastors and laymen. With their support, Rowe laid the foundation for the SBC. Currently all SBC graduates receive a Bachelor of Arts degree in the Bible and theology. The Department of Education also offers a dual major in Biblical studies and elementary education. The Department of Biblical Studies allows students to minor in biblical studies, Christian ministries, pre-seminary, and world missions. There is also a church education major.
Lee County, Auburn, Baptist, Cemetery, African American
Baptist Hill cemetery is a part of Alabama’s first separate black community and is a critical part of Auburn’s black history. According to oral history, a white man gave most of the land in the 1870’s. Currently the cemetery is four acres and has over 500 marked graves and many unmarked. The oldest grave dates back to 1879. Many of the buried at the cemetery were born into slavery but later became teachers or people in business. The cemetery gets its name from the Ebenezer Baptist Church close by.
Lee County, Auburn, Religion, Baptist, African American, Baptist Hill Cemetery
Ebenezer Baptist Church was the first black church formed in Auburn after the civil war. Erected in 1870, the church was located on land donated by a white man, Lonnie Payne. The impressive church gave the local area the name “Baptist Hill”. The church also has claims to the nearby cemetery, Baptist Hill Cemetery, which was the first separate black community cemetery in Auburn. Members of the church were the first buried in the cemetery; however, currently members of other churches have been interred there.
Mobile County, Mobile, Religion, Baptist, African American, National Registrar of Historic Places
The original congregation of the group of Baptist was organized in Mobile in 1835 settling in a plain brick church building. This group disbanded in 1840 before immediately reorganizing under the name St. Anthony Baptist Church. This group moved to a building at the corner of Chestnut and Tunstall Streets. In 1870, the property was transferred to the trustees of the Stone Street Baptist Church. Over the next one-hundred and fifty years there have been many changes made to the church including in 1846 the creation of a separate African Church branch. The Baptist congregation has been a continuous black congregation in Mobile. One of the church’s most influential pastors was Rev. M. C. Cleveland who was also on the Selma University Board of Trustees as Chairman. Cleveland instituted a program for rebuilding the church in the early-20th century. By 1931, the new modern brick church was completed. In 1979, Stone Street Baptist church suffered damage from Hurricane Frederick and while in the process of rebuilding the roof, also built an educational building. Currently Stone Street Baptist Church is one of the most influential black Baptist churches in Alabama. The church building itself represent the achievement of laymen who utilized resources available to them to build a lasting and supportive congregation. Stone Street Baptist Church is on the National Registrar of Historic Places.
Talladega County, Sylacauga, Cemetery, Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage
In 1898, the Marble City Cemetery officially opened after the city of Sylacauga bought one acre from James T. Persons. Although there are earlier marked graves, it was originally a burial ground for the Pearson family. The original deed, notarized by J. W. Langley, was dated August 27, 1898. The land was divided into lots and numbered. Currently the cemetery contains 2,520 graves dating back to 1876. Over the years the cemetery has gone under renovations for cleaning and improvements. Eight Sylacauga mayors are interred at the cemetery along with a Union solider and Sylacauga’s first mayor. In 1995, the cemetery was added to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage.
Walker County, Dora, Cemetery, Louisa Hoover
Davis Cemetery was the first cemetery in East Walker County. It is located behind where the Old White Church (Dora Second Baptist) now stands. The gravestones in this cemetery date back to the earliest settlers. In 1888, Louisa Hoover, wife of Daniel Davis, decided to build a church for the minders who moved into the area after 1886 when the railroads were built. Louisa Hoover gave the land and built the church on her own. The church became known as the “White Church” because of the color it was painted. Methodist, Nazarenes, and Baptists have worshipped at the church.
Montgomery County, Montgomery, Monument, American Civil War, Confederacy, Alabama Soldiers, Historical Monumental Association of Alabama, Jefferson Davis, Governor Robert Bentley
In 1865, the Historical Monumental Association of Alabama (HMAA) decided to request $5000 from the Alabama state legislature in order to build a marble monument dedicated to the 122,000 Alabamians who fought for the Confederacy during the American Civil War. Original efforts were delayed by appeals from Virginia in order to help protect the remains of Alabama soldiers who lay in shallow graves at the sites. Montgomery postponed the project in order to care for soldier’s graves on battlefields. Fundraising for the project began in 1865 and was mainly headed by the Ladies Memorial Association. This organization raised $47,000 though several efforts in order to build the monument. On April 29, 1886, former Confederate President Jefferson Davis laid the cornerstone. The dedication ceremony was on December 7, 1898 with the grand unveiling. On June 24, 2015, Governor Robert Bentley order the removal of four Confederate flags after a national controversy over displaying the flag in public places.
Montgomery County, Montgomery, Education, Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame
In 1914, Margaret Booth opened the Margaret Booth School as a college preparatory school for girls. This school occurred in Booth’s home. Margaret Booth was a longtime proponent of women’s education after receiving her own education in Montgomery public schools, the Agnes Scott Institute, and Mt. Holyoke College in Massachusetts. When she returned to Alabama, Booth became the first principal at the new Demopolis High School. She was also the founder of the Demopolis Public Library after donating a single volume. Booth is now a member of the Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame Between 1914 and 1915, Miss Booth stated in the Margaret Booth school bulletin, “It is my hope to be the instrument in the hand of Providence of founding an institution which shall accomplish for young women in Alabama what our college preparatory schools are accomplishing for boys”. The school/home was located on 529 Sayre Street Montgomery, AL.
http://preserveala.org/pdfs/AR/AR_Property_Listing_4_9_15.pdf http://www.awhf.org/booth.html
Jefferson County, Birmingham, Religion, Catholicism, Bishop Jeremiah O’Sullivan, Brother Charles Todd
Holy Rosary Catholic Church began as a mission church out of Saint Paul’s Cathedral. Mass was offered in the parishioner’s homes. Most of the parishioners worked in limestone quarries, iron ore mines, and iron manufacturing plants. In 1889, Maclin Ross, the president of Gate City Land Company, bought the original property of Holy Rosary for only one dollar. The land was then deeded to Bishop Jeremiah O’Sullivan who built a simple church with a hand carved altar to accommodate the eighty or so parishioners of the time. In 1955, Archbishop Toolen placed Holy Rosary under the sole care of Don Bosco thus making the church its own parish. In 1986, Brother Charles Todd arrived to the Salesian Oratory where the youth oratory began to grown and eventually developed into an after school program. He later organized a food pantry and clothes closet for the needy. In 2014, the remaining Salesian priests relocated to U.S. provincial headquarters. Holy Rosary Church, the Youth Oratory, food pantry, and clothes closet are now owned and operated by the Diocese of Birmingham.
Choctaw County, Lisman, Plantation, Slavery, Alabama Register of Landmarks & Heritage
In 1838, the Allen family arrived in Alabama in the area known as Lisman. The Allen family built one of the largest plantations in Choctaw County that continues to thrive to this day. Over the years the plantation expanded to over 8000 acres. The family also established the Allen general store, a school house, a mill, and the Allen Gin Company. The Allen plantation was also the first commercial hunting lodge in Alabama. Currently, the plantation is occupied and be carefully restored by the owner. The Allen Plantation is an example of a late 19th century plantation surviving to modern day in Choctaw County. The plantation has also been added to the Alabama Register of Landmarks & Heritage.
Green Pond Presbyterian Pond and Cemetery
Bibb County, Green Pound, Religion, Christianity, Church, Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage
In the community of Green Pond in Bibb County, a complex of 4.5 acres houses the Green Pond Presbyterian Church and Cemetery. The church dates back from 1884. Behind the church building is a cemetery dating from the time of the construction. Over 650 bodies are interred there. In the cemetery are notable markers from the Victorian period and the early -20th century. Historically, the congregation dates back to 1871 in Birmingham with the founding of the 5th Avenue Presbyterian Church. The present day Mountain Brook Presbyterian congregation was formed from this church. The Green Pond Church merged with the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (PCUSA) in 1906. Green Pond Presbyterian Pond and Cemetery was added to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage in 1999.