Browse Items (1458 total)

Founded in 1923 near the intersection of Highway 280 and Lee County Road 147, pot-bellied stoves heated this three-room school. This facility, located near the Farmville community, served students from the first to the seventh grades. Former student…

Frog Pond School, also known as Jones Academy, was on Lee County Road 279 near the intersection with Lee County Road 259. Professors S.J. Holder and J.H. Bradshaw instructed students at Frog Pond around the turn of the twentieth century. Frog Pond…

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One of the largest Rosenwald schools erected in Alabama, the ten-room Lee County Training School served first- through twelfth-grade African-American students in the Auburn area starting in 1928. Lee County Training School became the first black…

Located on Wrights Mill Road in close proximity to the entrance of Chewacla State Park, the Mount Moriah Rosenwald School was founded in or around 1932. The one-room school functioned for around thirty years, until the Lee County Board of Education…

Formerly located 4.5 miles south of Opelika on Highway 51, Little Zion School serviced Lee County African-American students starting around the turn of the century. Gladys Owens, a teacher from Tuskegee, commuted to Little Zion School to teach…

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A factory community appeared after the opening of Pepperell Manufacturing Company’s Opelika textile mill in 1925. A school founded in the new neighborhood under the aegis of the county school system served the first- through sixth-grade students of…

John Fletcher Yarborough established this one-room educational facility in 1854. He became the school’s first principal, while his wife, America Walton Leftwich, taught music. Contemporary Loachapoka High School resides on the site of the old…

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In 1923, several rural one-room schools (including Whatley, Thompson, Hopewell, Hinson, Parker’s Crossroads, and Dorsey schools) in the vicinity of present-day Beauregard, AL consolidated to form the Whatley School. The school at Parker’s…

Formerly the lone educational institution in the community of Chewacla, this tiny log cabin Christian school was built around 1840 run for two years by the Reverend William M. Mitchell. The one-room facility was located near the Methodist church on…

One of Lee County’s first academic institutions opened in the now-defunct community of Browneville in 1837. The school lay four miles south of the modern-day unincorporated community of Salem, AL, near Marshall’s Hill. James McGreen founded the…

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Located at 205 South Gay Street, Wittel Dormitory represents an example of the colonial revival architectural style. Built in the early 1900s as the private residence of Samuel S. Wittel, the building first served as a boarding facility for…

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Under the management of Professor Franklin Little, Beulah Academy opened its doors in November 1894. In 1928, the Lee County Board of Education passed a motion to erect a consolidated first through twelfth grade school in Beulah. Beulah Academy, Pine…

Opelika Baptist Church established a school in 1873. Local members of the denomination opened the Baptist Female College inside Opelika Baptist Church and named Professor J.J. Langham as principal. It later moved to a new two-story brick building…

After Opelika’s 1854 town incorporation, citizens concerned with the educational prospects of the hamlet’s youth opened several private academies. Two of the early private schools were the Opelika Male School and the Opelika Female Academy, both…

Located in northwestern Lee County, the Gold Hill community coalesced during the mid-1830s. Originally located in Chambers County, the settlement fell within Lee County’s boundaries after its 1866 inception. Resident Nathaniel Robertson donated…

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In 1914, the city of Auburn successfully petitioned the Lee County Board of Education to strip Opelika’s high school of the title “Lee County High School” and bequeath that distinction to a new high school in Auburn. Auburn provided seven acres…

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In 1899, Auburn Mayor Charles Little and the town council appropriated bonds of $6,000 to build a large public schoolhouse. The 74x58 ½ foot building included a 40x70 foot auditorium on the top floor. Amenities included wood and coal pot-bellied…

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Auburn’s first post-Civil War public school, possibly founded as early as 1870, was actually a women’s school. Auburn Female Institute was located on Tichenor Avenue. Under Principal George W. Duncan, Auburn Female Institute offered instruction…

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In the early 1850s, Colonel Nathaniel Scott petitioned Auburn’s local Masonic lodge (Auburn Lodge #76) to sponsor a female educational center in town. In 1853, Auburn Masonic Female College became the town’s first women’s educational…

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In 1857, this institution opened on the corner of what is now Tichenor Avenue and North Gay Street. Slaton’s Academy functioned as a preparatory school for young men pursuing admission to East Alabama Male College. William F. Slaton, a local…

Auburn Methodist School.jpg
Judge John Harper led a party of Methodists to the future site of Auburn, Alabama in late 1836. The next year, members the new community collaborated to erect a log Methodist church, located on the corner of modern-day East Magnolia Street and South…

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Southern Union State Community College began its institutional life as Bethlehem College on June 2, 1922. John M. Hodge, a Wadley banker, donated forty acres to the Southern Christian Convention of Congregational Christian Churches as a site for the…

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As World War II neared culmination, Congress passed the G.I. Bill of Rights, ensuring a paid college education for American military personnel. America’s universities saw a massive influx of veteran students, and Alabama Polytechnic Institute’s…

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Alabama Polytechnic Institute built the Graves Center – actually a complex of thirty cottages, an amphitheatre, a large dining hall, and a brass bust of New Deal era governor Bibb Graves – piecemeal throughout the 1930s. The complex of 30 Greek…

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Irritated by the state’s flat refusal to fund a gymnasium for Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical College, Tom Bragg, the president of the Auburn Alumni Association, solicited funds from Auburn graduates all over the country. In February 1916,…

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The largest building on Auburn University’s campus, the Haley Center is capable of accommodating 8,000 students at any given moment. The labyrinthine, 357,000-square-foot structure includes four quadrants centered around a central ten-story tower,…

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By the late 1950s, Alabama Polytechnic Institute’s Carnegie Library exceeded its storage capacity. The Board of Trustees recognized the immediate need for a larger facility, and in the early 1960s the university planned the construction of a major…

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The institution that would come to be known as Auburn University’s first library operated out of three rooms on the second floor of William J. Samford Hall. These rooms quickly became overcrowded with an excessive amount of volumes. In 1908, Andrew…

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Erected in 1888 on the foundation of Old Main Hall (which burned down in 1887), William J. Samford Hall is one of Auburn University’s most easily recognizable buildings. Bruce and Morgan Architectural Firm fashioned the four-story Italianate-style…

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Established by charter in 1856 as East Alabama Male College, the academic institution that would come to be known as Auburn University was founded ten years before Lee County’s inception. Local residents, such as John Bowles Glenn, the pastor of…

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This image is a watercolor painting of an old fire house in Mobile, Alabama done by Darcy Tatum, Jr. sometime between 1917 and 1942. The fire house was built in 1823. The painting shows the front exterior of the firehouse with its doors, windows,…

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From T. Farrow to Dr. Thomas Foster Jones in response to an invitation to Foster's upcoming wedding. Farrow informs Dr. Foster that he will be unable to make the wedding, but sends his best. 2 handwritten pages

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This handwritten one-page receipt, with envelope, from Stephens Hammond & Co. describes the purchase of ___________ and window glass by R.M. Young in February 1836.

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A letter from Sister to Brother, detailing family events and the conditions of Sally, Carrie, and others. The author mentions the Summer plans of the family, as they plan to reside in Virginia Springs for the season. Additionally, a visit with Dr.…

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This poster was created for the Indian Court exhibit at the Golden Gate International Exposition in San Francisco, CA. It depicts an antelope hunt and its style is similar to that used in Navajo art works. This poster was created as part of the…

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This image is a watercolor painting of the G.C. Thompson House (also known as the Tate-Thompson House) in Tuskegee, Alabama done by James D. Shenesey in 1931. The house was built in 1840. The painting shows the front exterior of the house with its…

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Woman, on tricycle followed by men on high-wheelers.

The building was built around 1925 and then later remodeled in 1975. It is a one story building with a flat roof. The building is designed in the early 20th century commercial block style. It has a brick veneer and was built on a brick foundation.…

The building is a two story early 20th century commercial building that was built around 1930. It has a flat roof and the building faces to the west. The building has a brick veneer and is currently in good condition. The building was and is still…

The building was built circa 1935. It is a two story building in the early 20th century commercial style. The building has a flat roof and faces west. Its primary use was as a store. The building was remodeled around 1985 and then again in 2000. The…

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P.B. Swoopes Dry Cleaners was a business run by P.B. Swoopes in Sheffield Alabama. Swoopes was a graduate of Sheffield school. He would go on to open his dry cleaning business in downtown Sheffield. Swoopes started his dry cleaning business in 1927.…

As far back as 1912 there is a record of a fair for African Americans taking place in Colbert County. The fair took place at a location called the Fair Grounds. The fair was popular, with a large turnout for the event. The event officially began on a…

George Colbert’s House was built on the Natchez Trace along the Tennessee River near the ferry he owned and operated. This house was one of the first buildings in the area to have a clear record of its completion. Historians have placed the…

Colbert’s Ferry was a ferry service and an inn run by George Colbert. In 1801, the United States government managed to secure the right to build roads on the Natchez Trace. However, Colbert managed to secure all ferry routes over the rivers for the…

First Baptist Missionary Church was originally founded in 1886. The first church consisted of two wooden buildings. These buildings would later be destroyed in a fire. The congregation was then forced to use the Masonic Hall as their new meeting…

The First Baptist Church of Tuscumbia was originally formed by a small group of African American worshipers. The church was established in 1866 shortly after the Civil War under the guidance of Elder W.E. Northcross. The church members did not have…

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During Indian Removal, Tuscumbia’s Landing served as the point of disembarkation for the water route used to move Native Americans west of the Mississippi. The train to Tuscumbia brought the Cherokee Nation to Spring Park, where they were held…

The Tuscumbia-Courtland & Decatur railroad was established by a group of investors led by Benjamin Sherrod in 1841. Originally a two-train car, the railroad was established to allow ships to bypass the shoals of the Tennessee River. In 1843, the…

The LaGrange Rock shelter is considered to be where the first natives lived in the southeastern United States. Archaeologists have put the earliest human activity in this area between 11,000 and 9,000 years ago. Researchers have found evidence of…
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