On November 30, 2016 the Alabama Historical Commission (State Historic Preservation Office) received recognition from the national Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) for its work in helping to restore and protect the 500-year-old Native American cliff art known as Painted Bluff, Marshall County, Alabama. 

"The Painted Bluff project fulfills a number of the objectives we honor through the Chairman's Award, including the rehabilitation and stewardship of historic resources, as well as the public involvement of partners and stakeholders in preserving those resources," said ACHP Chairman Milford Wayne Donaldson, FAIA.  

Partners who received the prestigious national award. Stacye Hathorn, State Archaeologist, traveled to Washington, DC, to accept the award on behalf of the Alabama Historical Commission.

 

"The Alabama Historical Commission is honored to be recognized by the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation and to receive this prestigious award for its role in helping to preserve Painted Bluff, said Lisa D. Jones, Executive Director of the Alabama Historical Commission, State Historic Preservation Office. "It is a pleasure to work alongside such talented and passionate individuals who labor tirelessly to preserve our cultural resources," said Mrs. Jones. 

Places in Peril, a joint program between the Alabama Trust for Historic Preservation and the Alabama Historical Commission, annually recognizes Alabama's most endangered historic resources.

Please download the attached nomination form here. Each submission will be evaluated for its significance and level of threat.

Even with its elite musical legacy, Muscle Shoals, Alabama, has never quite gotten the same kind of accolades as Detroit or Memphis - that is, until recently.  In the 1960s and '70s, that tiny town - population around 13,000, according to the most recent census - on the south bank of the Tennessee River was the unlikely site of historic soul, rock and country recordings by everyone from Aretha Franklin and Wilson Pickett to Paul Simon and the Rolling Stones. Dozens of classics came from this place, including "When a Man Loves a Woman," "I Never Loved a Man (the Way I Love You)," "Mustang Sally" and "I'll Take You There." Read more here.

The Jail, listed for its association with African American heritage and for architecture, was built in 1912 with an addition in the 1950s.

 

The Old Coffee County Jail was constructed using bricks baked in a kiln on the banks of the Pea River. The same kiln also furnished bricks for the Elba United Methodist Church.

 

With the original blueprints retained by the county, the separate cells of men, women, White, African American, and the Insane can still be seen.

 

After the flood of 1990, a new county jail was built in New Brockton. The Old Coffee County Jail has been vacant since that time.

 

The Town of Elba plans to restore the old jail as a local county history museum.

The school, listed for its association with education and ethnic heritage, was constructed in the late 1950s with an addition of the gym and another classroom building in 1966 as the separate but equal facility for local African American school children.

 

The property on which the Mulberry Heights School sits was purchased by the Mulberry Baptist Association, an African American organization that includes several churches in the area. This organization built a Rosenwald school on the property in 1927. The school later burned and in the 1950s the Elba Colored School was built in its place.

 

The structure has now been purchased by the Elba Zion Missionary Baptist Church, which plans to restore the property as a community center. 

At the turn of the century, a group formed Saint John Methodist Church, the first Black Methodist Episcopal Church in South Anniston. The original building was constructed in 1922 on D Street.

In 1951 under the leadership of Reverend O.J. Leeth, a new church building was erected and served as a meeting space during the civil rights movement in the 1960s.

 

In 1967 the Black Central Alabama Conference merged with Alabama-West Florida and the North Alabama Conference. At that time, Saint John Methodist became known as Saint John United Methodist.

 

Saint John still stands as the only Black United Methodist church in the community.

Constructed in 1913, Saint Luke has served the local African American community throughout its history.

 

Organized in 1890, the congregation met in brush arbors, or in the homes of church members until a sanctuary was built. In 1913, three acres of land was acquired for the sum of sixty dollars, and construction on a permanent church building began soon after.

 

Saint Luke became a vital resource for the local African American school children. The congregation supported and provided teachers for the school until 1946 when the Marengo County Board of Education took over the task.

 

From the time the store was constructed in 1922 until its closure in the 1980s, it served the community of Chelsea.

The original store, burned in 1921 and rebuilt in 1922, provided dry goods, farm supplies, local produce, medicine, and other necessary goods for the community.

 

After George Washington Weldon passed away, his daughter, Valerie Weldon took possession of the store and its daily operation until her death in 1980.

 

The store and the property now belong to the City of Chelsea but are in danger of being demolished.  

On Friday, December 2, 2016, Elvin Land, Vice-Chair of Black Heritage Council, and Hannah Garmon, Alabama Historical Commission (AHC) Alabama Register and Historical Marker Coordinator, spoke at a ceremony dedicating a historical marker for the Escambia County Training School (ECTS) in Atmore, AL. 

	Hannah Garmon, AHC Alabama Register and Historical Marker Coordinator, and Elvin Lang, Vice-Chair of Black Heritage Council

The school began in 1920 as the Atmore Colored School. In c. 1926, with assistance from the Rosenwald School Building Fund, a new building was constructed and it was renamed the Escambia County Training School.  The ECTS was one of four schools built in Escambia County with assistance from the Rosenwald School Building Fund. The other three Rosenwald Schools in the county were the Pollard School, Mason School, and the Boykin School. Of the four, the ECTS was the largest and is the only one that has been documented to date still remaining in Escambia County.

AHC staff attended the Alabama Communities of Excellence quarterly meeting in Livingston on the University of West Alabama campus.  Pictured left to right: Hannah Garmon, Alabama Register Coordinator; Mary Shell, CLG Coordinator; and Chris Kinder,  ALDOT Liaison  

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