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Burning of British Ships / American Encampment

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Ontario, The Municipality of Chatham-Kent, near Chatham
East of the Forks, the Thames River becomes shallower and not navigable for larger ships. With the American forces close behind, the British vessels were threatened with capture. One cargo ship, probably the Miamis, had already been set on fire closer to the Forks. Near this site, two other ships, the Mary and the Ellen, were moored perpendicular to the shore and much of their contents dumped into river. They were then set on fire to block the river to any American gunboats.

The American forces encamped in this area on the night of October 4 and were entertained by fireworks as the ammunition left on the ships exploded as the vessels burned.

(Colonial Era • War of 1812 • Waterways & Vessels) Includes location, directions, 9 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Whitaker Cemetery

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Alabama, Madison County, near New Hope

John Whitaker, born 1761 in Pitt County, NC, was a Revolutionary War Soldier and established this cemetery. He and his second wife Winnie sold their land in Pitt County in 1801 and migrated to Rowan County where Winnie died, then to Mulberry, TN and finally to Madison County, AL. Whitaker, an early settler in the Bend of Paint Rock, arrived here as a widower with seven children. He married Susan Graham and they had 11 children. John Whitaker was the first person buried here after his death in c. 1835. There are now and have been many Whitakers living in Madison, Marshall, and Jackson Counties. Families buried here include Whitaker, Keel, Stapler, Ikard, Seaton, Vann and Webster. In the early years of the cemetery, families maintained their family plots. As late as the 1990s, this practice was still the only way of upkeep. On June 11, 1999, the Whitaker Cemetery Perpetual Care Trust Fund was established. This rural family cemetery is maintained by family, friends and many generous donations. This cemetery remains "a family cemetery" as John Whitaker intended.

Listed on the Alabama Historic Cemetery Register in 2010

(Cemeteries & Burial Sites • Settlements & Settlers • War, US Revolutionary) Includes location, directions, 10 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

The Gowdy Community

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Mississippi, Hinds County, Jackson
The Gowdy community was first settled prior to 1903. Named for Mr. W.B. Gowdy, former president of the Delta Cotton Oil and Fertilizer Plant. This African American community was awarded its own U.S. postal stop in 1915. The Gowdy community is located along the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad and west of Terry Road, and is bordered by Lynch, Hattiesburg, and Dansby Streets. The community encompasses the areas known as Washington Addition, Jackson College Addition, and Washington Annex.

(African Americans • Industry & Commerce • Man-Made Features • Settlements & Settlers) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Lincoln Cemetery / Rufus Payne, 1884-1939

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Alabama, Montgomery County, Montgomery

Side 1 Lincoln Cemetery
1907

In 1907 the American Securities Company opened Lincoln Cemetery for African Americans and Greenwood Cemetery for whites, the first commercial cemeteries in the city. Landscape design indicates Olmstead influences with curving drives and two circular sections. Space allotted for 700 graves with first interment in 1908. Most graves are simple concrete slabs with evidences of African-American funerary art and late-Victorian motifs. Marble markers denote members of Mosaic Templars of America, black benevolent society, or graves of veterans. American Securities owned site until tax-exemption ended in 1957. Vandalism and neglect have seriously damaged graves and landscape.

Side 2 Rufus Payne, 1884-1939
"Tee-Tot," Mentor of Hank Williams

Born in Lowndes County, Alabama, Rufus Payne grew up in New Orleans in midst of jazz musicians. Young Payne learned every instrument possible. At death of his parents, he came back to Greenville where he soon had a following of both races, playing jazz and blues for all segments of society. In nearby Georgiana, he met young Hank Williams, an eager student of the rhythm and beat of Tee-Tot's music. In 1937, Williams moved to Montgomery and soon thereafter Tee-Tot came to the city where he lived until his death in 1939, a friend of Williams' family and mentor to the singer-composer. Hank Williams stated that Payne was his only teacher. Tee-Tot died a pauper and lies here in an unmarked grave.

(African Americans • Arts, Letters, Music • Cemeteries & Burial Sites • Entertainment) Includes location, directions, 7 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Walnut Grove Cumberland Presbyterian Church

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Alabama, Madison County, near New Hope

Side A
On July 19, 1847, Chistopher and Mary Harless Sears deeded two acres (with meeting house, brush-arbor, and camp-stand) to the Elders of the Walnut Grove Society of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church for one penny. The Union Army burned the original church in 1862. A walnut tree with scars from the fire still bears walnuts. A ring used to tether horses during services has grown into the tree and is still visible. The original bell, hand-dug well, and pre-Civil War cemetery also remain.
(Continued on other side) Side B (Continued from other side) The present church was erected after the Civil War. The pews were replaced circa 1926, and Sunday School rooms were added in 1956. In 1992 the tongue-and-groove walls were restored. Membership records include the Smith, Buford, Scroggins, Haden, Woody, Douglas, Overton, and Nichols families.

(Churches, Etc. • Settlements & Settlers • War, US Civil) Includes location, directions, 12 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Alabama State University / Tatum Street

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Alabama, Montgomery County, Montgomery

Side 1
Alabama State University
The Early Years

Founded in 1867, the Lincoln School in Marion, Alabama became the first state-assisted normal school for African Americans in 1874. The school prospered in that location for 13 years, training teachers, preachers, and scholars. Following a racial incident in Marion in 1887 the main building was burned down and the school was moved to Montgomery where it would become the State Normal School for Colored Students. The state reneged on its promise to support the school after the move to Montgomery and suspended its funding for three years, during which period the college held classes in churches and survived largely because of contributions from the black community and northern philanthropies.

Side 2 Tatum Street
For three years, the American Missionary Association (AMA) teachers, President William Burns Paterson (1849-1915), his wife, Margaret (1853-1904), and his deputy, John Beverly (1858-1924), kept the school going. After state funding was restored in 1890, Tatum St. and nearby Hall St. became “faculty row.” There, Paterson built a house, a greenhouse, and Rosemont Gardens, which would contribute to the support of the school and his family. Beverly, who would be the school’s next president, also built his house on Tatum St. AMA teachers from NY, MA, and VT boarded on the street.

(African Americans • Education) Includes location, directions, 5 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Vienna (New Hope)

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Alabama, Madison County, New Hope

Originally known as Cloud's Town, this community was incorporated in 1832 as Vienna. It prospered as a market town before the Civil War. On May 29, 1864, the 12th Indiana Cavalry, commanded by Lt. Col. Alfred Reed, seized the town. They built a stockade and named it for General Peter J. Osterhaus. The hit-and-run tactics of Confederate Col. Lemuel Mead and Lt. Col. Milus E. (Bushwhacker) Johnston caused Union officers to retaliate by burning Vienna to the ground on December 15, 1864. Only the Masonic Lodge and the Post Office/Tavern remained. By 1883, Vienna was back to is pre-war size and was reincorporated as New Hope.

(Settlements & Settlers • War, US Civil) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Aurelia Eliscera Shines Browder

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Alabama, Montgomery County, Montgomery
Side 1
Aurelia Eliscera Shines Browder was born January 29, 1919, in Montgomery, Alabama. She graduated with honors in 1956 from Alabama State Teachers College (now Alabama State University).

In April 1955, Browder's refusal to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus to a white passenger led to her arrest. During the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which began in December 1955, she was a volunteer driver for those who declined to ride the buses. On February 1, 1956, serving as lead plaintiff, Browder in conjunction with Claudette Colvin, Mary Louise Smith, and Susie McDonald, also arrested for the same offense, filed suit in U. S. Federal District Court challenging the constitutionality of Montgomery's bus segregation statutes.

A three-judge panel ruled in a 2-1 decision on June 5, 1956, that the bus segregation statues were unconstitutional and in violation of the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause. In an appeal on November 13, 1956, the U. S. Supreme Court unanimously affirmed (Continued on other side) Side 2 (Continued from other side) the Federal Court's ruling in the case of Browder vs. Gayle. As a direct result of the case, Montgomery city buses were desegregated on December 22, 1956.

Continuing her involvement in the Civil Rights Movement, Browder worked with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). Locally she worked with the Women's Political Council, the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), and tutored blacks for voter registration exams.

Browder's primary residence during the bus desegregation case and until her death in 1971 was this one-story brick house at 1012 Highland Avenue in Centennial Hill, once Montgomery's most prestigious black community. Portions of Centennial Hill are listed on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage.

(African Americans • Civil Rights) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

South Jackson Street / Victor Hugo Tulane

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Alabama, Montgomery County, Montgomery

Side 1
South Jackson Street

Long a home to African-American professionals, politicians, and businessmen, South Jackson Street is in the heart of Centennial Hill, a neighborhood which developed in the 1870s. One block north at No. 309 is the house where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. lived during the Bus Boycott; No. 341 was the home of John W. Jones, Lowndes County senator in the Reconstruction legislature. Building on NE corner is former Ben Moore Hotel, site of many Civil Rights meetings and activities. Alabama State University at south end of street.

Side 2
Victor Hugo Tulane

Almost penniless, Tulane came from Elmore County in 1880s, opening a grocery store on SE corner of High and Ripley in 1905 (National Register of Historic Places). While living at 430 South Union, he was cashier at the African-American-owned Penny Savings Bank, as well as a druggist. Served as Chairman of the Board of Old Ship AME Zion Church, member of Board of Trustees of Tuskegee Institute and of Swayne School, and first African-American honorary member of the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce. Died 1931: city honored business leader by naming Victor Tulane Court in his memory, 1951.

(African Americans • Industry & Commerce) Includes location, directions, 5 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Abram Mordecai / Mordecai's Cotton Gin

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Alabama, Montgomery County, Montgomery

Side 1 Abram Mordecai
1755-1849

Born October 24, 1755 in Pennsylvania; settled 1783 in Georgia where he became a successful trader among the Cusseta Indians. First U.S. citizen to settle (1785) in what became Montgomery County. Living and marrying among the Creeks, he established a trading house for skins, furs, and medicinal barks two miles from Line Creek. Alabama historian A.J. Pickett visited him in Dudleyville in 1847. Fiercely independent to the end, he died and was buried there two years later. (Continued on other side)
Side 2 Mordecai's Cotton Gin
Alabama's First

(Continued from other side) In 1785, Abram Mordecai, a Jewish veteran of the Revolutionary War, settled in this area which was still Indian country. On the Alabama River near here in 1802, he installed a cotton gin manufactured by Lyons & Barnett of Georgia. Until Indians burned his equipment, he ginned his own cotton and that of his Indian neighbors. His gin, the first in Alabama, was the forerunner of those that sprang up after the Territory was formed in 1817 and pioneers with "Alabama Fever" rushed to claim the fertile soil. The restored Old Alabama Town gin is typical of those operated until the early 20th century.

(Industry & Commerce • Settlements & Settlers • War, US Revolutionary) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Lucas Tavern / Lafayette

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Alabama, Montgomery County, Montgomery

Lucas Tavern
Stood four hundred yards
north of this point

Lafayette
Spent the night here
April 2, 1825

(Notable Persons) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

William Lowndes Yancey

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Alabama, Montgomery County, Montgomery
In the house just north
William Lowndes
Yancey


Statesman, Orator, Secessionist,
Confederate Diplomatic
Commissioner

Died July 28, 1863

(Politics • War, US Civil) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Montgomery and Electricity / Hydroelectricity in the River Region

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Alabama, Montgomery County, Montgomery

Side 1 Montgomery and Electricity
Gaslights in 1854, electric lights in 1883 and the electric trolley in 1886 made Montgomery a state leader in applying modern technology for lighting and motive power. Steam was used first for generation, but in 1902 local businessmen built a dam on the Tallapoosa River to provide electricity for the city. Several companies competed fiercely to supply the growing demand. Montgomery Light and Power and Montgomery Light and Traction struggled to survive and were in receivership in 1923 when acquired by Alabama Power Co. Today, Alabama Power continues to serve the city and state. Montgomery Water Power and Electric Company, although short-lived, built this classically inspired structure in 1901.

Placed in recognition of Alabama Power's centennial, 1906-2006

Side 2 Hydroelectricity in the River Region
Hydroelectricity played a vital role in the growth of Montgomery and the state. The 1902 dam at Tallassee was the first major hydroelectric plant in Alabama. The Great Flood of 1919 destroyed the dam, causing acute power shortages, a problem not fully resolved until 1920, when workers completed a transmission line linking the city to the Alabama Power Co. dam at Lock 12 on the Coosa River. In 1926 Martin Dam was completed on the Tallapoosa River, creating what was at the time the largest artificial lake in the world. In 1928 work was completed on Jordan Dam north of Wetumpka and Yates Dam at the site of the 1919 dam failure. Thurlow Dam, also near Tallassee, was completed in 1930. Today, Alabama Power operates 14 hydroelectric projects on the Coosa, Tallapoosa and Black Warrior rivers.

Placed in recognition of Alabama Power's centennial, 1906-2006

(Industry & Commerce • Waterways & Vessels) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Confederate Military Prison / Civil War Military Prisons

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Alabama, Montgomery County, Montgomery

Side 1 Confederate Military Prison
Near this site, from mid April to December 1862, a Confederate military prison held, under destitute conditions, 700 Union soldiers, most captured at Shiloh. They were imprisoned in a foul, vermin-abounding cotton depot, 200 feet long and 40 feet wide, without blankets and only the hard earth or wood planks as a bed. The cotton shed was situated between Tallapoosa Street and the Alabama River. Of the 700 Union prisoners, nearly 198 died in captivity. The survivors were moved to Tuscaloosa, Alabama in December 1862.

Side 2 Civil War Military Prisons
Records of the Commissary General of Prisoners list 198 Union prisoners, from the Montgomery military prison, buried at Montgomery. Most of these were listed as unknown. Subsequently, in 1868, the remains interred in the Montgomery cemetery were removed to the National Cemetery at Marietta, Georgia. Over 674,000 soldiers were taken captive during the Civil War. Often prisoners were crammed into facilities with disregard of capacity limits, hygiene, nutrition, or sanitation needs. These deplorable conditions existed in military prisons of both sides. More than 56,000 prisoners died in confinement, 30,218 in Confederate and 25,976 in Union prisons.

(Cemeteries & Burial Sites • War, US Civil) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Encanchata

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Alabama, Montgomery County, Montgomery
Here at the Indian village of Encanchata, future site of Montgomery, Col. John Tate, last British agent to the Muscogee Nation, recruited and drilled Creek warriors in 1780 to relieve Tories in Augusta, Ga. being besieged by American patriots.

(Colonial Era • Native Americans • War, US Revolutionary) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Montgomery Freemasonry

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Alabama, Montgomery County, Montgomery
Side 1
Freemasonry is a fraternal order which promotes a spirit of brotherhood, devotion to family, and service to God and country. Local Masonic Lodges and affiliated organizations, such as the Eastern Star, Scottish and York Rite bodies, the Shrine, Rainbow Girls, and Order of DeMolay, support many beneficial charities, medical facilities, and educational foundations.

Side 2
1821: Nine Masonic Lodges formed Grand Lodge of Alabama F. & A.M and Montgomery Lodge No. 11 organized. Town founder Andrew Dexter among charter members. First hall built west side, upper Commerce Street, 1823. When city became capital in 1846, Grand Lodge located here. 1852: Andrew Jackson Lodge No. 173 organized. Temple built at Bibb and Commerce, 1872. Grand Lodge of Alabama dedicated new Temple at Washington and Perry, 1898. Masonic Home built on Vaughn Road, 1911. New Grand Lodge Temple built at same site, 1964.

(Fraternal or Sororal Organizations) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

The Legend of the Paw Paw

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Ontario, The Municipality of Chatham-Kent, near Chatham
The Paw Paw tree (Asimina triloba) is native to the southern, eastern, and mid-western United States and extends to Canada only in the extreme southern part of Ontario. It has the largest edible fruit native to North America. The fruit looks somewhat like a small banana and has a custard taste.

Popular attributes relates the presence of several groves of this thicket-forming understory tree along this section of the Thames River to American soldiers who carried the fruit with them from Kentucky in 1813 and discarded the seeds along their advance route as the Paw Paws were consumed.

(Environment • War of 1812) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Huntingdon College

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Alabama, Montgomery County, Montgomery

Coeducational liberal arts college of the United Methodist Church

1854: Founded as Tuskegee Female College
1872: Acquired by the Methodist Church, renamed Alabama Conference Female College
1909: Moved to this site as Woman's College of Alabama
1935: Renamed Huntingdon College for patron of British Methodism
Motto: Enter to grow in wWisdom; go forth to apply wisdom in service

(Churches, Etc. • Education) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Sidney Lanier High School

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Alabama, Montgomery County, Montgomery
Established in 1910 on South McDonough Street, this school was named for the well-known southern poet, Sidney Lanier, who resided in Montgomery 1866-67.

This late Gothic Revival building was constructed 1928-29 to consolidate the original Lanier & Montgomery County (Cloverdale) High Schools. The name of the new school was decided by the outcome of the football game between the two schools in the fall of 1929. Frederick Ausfeld was the architect, Algernon Blair the contractor & consultants from Columbia University were called in to ensure that the building incorporated all the latest educational innovations & requirements. The building opened for classes in September 1929 & was dubbed “The Million Dollar School” due to its approximate cost.

Lanier is recognized throughout Alabama & the Southeast as a model for academic excellence & for its tradition of intellectual integrity & scholastic accomplishment.

(Education) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Beulah Baptist Church

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Alabama, Montgomery County, Montgomery
Beulah Baptist Church was organized in the home of Monday and Dora Duvall, on the corner of Hull and Winnie Streets. Rev. William (Billy) Jenkins served as the pastor when the first church building was erected on Norton Street. Beulah served as the first classroom for the Alabama Colored People's University, which later became State Normal College, then Alabama State University. During the Church's centennial celebration, the University's president, Dr. Levi Watkins, who was a member of Beulah, hailed the contribution. Beulah also was the home church for Nat King Cole's family.

Beulah's edifice served as a gathering place for many civic, political, and spiritual meetings, including a mass meeting on January 23, 1956 which affirmed support for the on-going bus boycott. Beulah has housed the Boys and Girls Club, and several church congregations and hosted the Alabama Baptist and Southeast Antioch District Conventions. The Montgomery community has benefitted from Beulah's clothes closet, meals-on-wheels, and other health and welfare programs.

(African Americans • Churches, Etc. • Civil Rights • Education) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
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