Download
[Page]
[Document]mcc-ns1-186
Farming For A Better Future, page 160
271
Shiloh School (Rosenwald)*
The Shiloh School was one of seven Rosenwald schools in Lauderdale County. According to the Fisk-Rosenwald files, the school was a one-teacher, one-room schoolhouse built in 1927. It cost a total of $1,800 to construct. The African American community donated $1,150, the majority of the funds. The county provided $450, and the Rosenwald Fund gave $200.
GUMv/ALErOKD
'> Point
Vy /
The building was insured for $1,312. The school was located in the “Bend of the River” on the north side of Lauderdale County Road 2. The USGS topographic map is missing for the 1930s, but on the 1954 map, Shiloh School is located across the road from Mt. Zion Church, known today as Mt. Zion Primitive Baptist Church. The school was closed by the 1970s.
(Below) 1936 USGS Topographic Map of Shiloh School, Sinking Creek Alabama Quadrangle (Bottom) 1972 USGS Topographic Map of Shiloh Church, Sinking Creek Alabama Quadrangle
281
Smithsonia
Though the small community of Smithsonia is not significant for its population of landowners, it is located on the Tennessee River on the far west side of the “Bend in the River” and is part of the larger community including Woodland and Oakland. The majority of the African American community was located in the census district of Cave Springs in 1900
and 1910, changing to Smithsonia in 1920. The 1900 census records the area as 80% African American. Even as its population declined over the early 20th century, the area remained largely African American throughout, dropping only to 70% in the 1940s. Still, there were never more than four African American landowning farmers between 1900 and 1940. Jack Reed and J.B. Thompson both owned farms in 1900.
J.B. Thompson was the only landowning farmer in
"???"
(Bottom Left) 1936 USGS Topographic Map of Smithsonia, Sinking Creek and Cherokee, Alabama Quadrangles (Below) 1954 USGS Topographic Map of Smithsonia, Sinking Creek and Cherokee, Alabama Quadrangles (Bottom) 1988 USGS Topographic Map of Smithsonia, Sinking Creek and Cherokee, Alabama Quadrangles - (4688)