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Farming For A Better Future, page 135
from 1920 show a similar percentage of African American households and landowners. By 1930, the number of families remained the same, but there were only half as many landowning farmers. The community recovered by 1940 to roughly 12% families of color with 10 African American landowners.
The Rice, Hewitt, Brewer, and Perkins families each had multiple farms in 1900. T. Brewer owned a farm from about 1900 to 1920, while Oscar Brewer owned a farm from 1900 to 1930. The Hewitt family had two long-term landowners: Abraham Hewitt, who owned a farm from at least 1900 to 1930, and Isom Hewitt, who owned a farm from at least 1900 to 1940 - the longest in the community.
(Above) 1936 USGS Topographic Map of Bailey Springs and Hewitt School, Pruitton, Alabama Quadrangle
(Above) 1952 USGS Topographic Map of Bailey Springs and Hewitt School, Pruitton, Alabama Quadrangle
At a bend in County Road 27, south of Bailey Springs, is the Bailey Spring AME Church. While the AME church had been established in this area since about 1886, it first met in homes and clearings. In the early 20th century, the Hewitt School was located in the bend. According to the historical marker, the Hewitt School was built in 1920 on land donated by A.H. Hewitt and family - most likely Abraham Hewitt. Labor for the construction of the school was given by the
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(Above) 1972 USGS Topographic Map of Bailey Springs, Pruitton, Alabama Quadrangle
community, including Private Anthony Brannon, a Civil War veteran of the 111th USTC. The Hewitt School was one of six Rosenwald schools in Lauderdale County.
The one-room schoolhouse was one of the early schools built under the direction of the Tuskegee Institute from 1913 to 1915. It cost a total of $1,000, with half of the funds contributed by the local African American community and the other half from the Rosenwald Fund. There are no known images of this school, but it does appear on topographic maps. Immediately after the school was constructed, it was recorded on the 1916 topographic map of the Muscle Shoals area. The school is unlabeled, and the roads are slightly different, but it is most likely the Rosenwald school. The school is first labeled as “Hewitt School” on the 1936 topographic map.
In 1953, the church purchased a parcel adjacent to the school and constructed the Bailey Springs AME Church. The school served the community until 1961, when Lauderdale County initiated an integration plan, and students from Hewitt School were sent to East End High School in Rogersville. The school was demolished shortly thereafter.
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Bailey's Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church* and Bailey's Chapel Cemetery
Bailey's Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church is just northwest of the town of Killen. By 1920, the area around Bailey's Church was nearly 30% African American, many of whom owned farms through the 1930s. Landowning families in the area included the Brooks, Gordons, Harrisons, Ingrams, Hardins, and Homers.
(Above) 1936 USGS Topographic Map of Bailey Chapel, School, and Cemetery, Pruitton and Center Hill, Alabama Quadrangles
135 - LAUDERDALE
(Above) The New Historical Marker for Bailey Springs AME Church Erected in June 2018 (Florence-Lauderdale Public Library via Facebook.com)
(Above) 1952 USGS Topographic Map of Bailey Chapel and Cemetery, Pruitton and Center Hill, Alabama Quadrangles - (4663)