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Farming For A Better Future, page 210
(Top Left) 1936 USGS/TVA Topographic
Map of Flower Hill, Hillsboro, Alabama Quadrangle (Top Middle) 1951 USGS/ TVA Topographic Map of Flower Hill, Hillsboro, Alabama Quadrangle (Top Right) 1974 USGS/TVA Topographic Map of Flower Hill, Hillsboro, Alabama Quadrangle (Left) School Census Card for the Hill Family with Children at Flower Hill School, 1930 (Lawrence County Archives, Moulton, Alabama)
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Freeman Tabernacle Baptist
Church
The Freemen Tabernacle Baptist Church is located in southeast Moulton on the north side of the intersection of Byler Road and Rosenwald Street. The church was first organized in 1874 when former slaves and church Deacons King Crayton, George Pruitt, Tandy Crayton, and Ben Warren purchased the
land for 50 dollars. These may be the same men that are listed on the 1900 census as owning farms or their sons. Both Ben Warren and King E. Crayton are listed as owning a farm in 1900, and George W. Pruitt owned his farm since at least 1900 to 1920, indicating the significance of landownership on a community.
Together, the men and the community built the Colored Baptist Church, one of the earliest churches in the Muscle Shoals Colored Baptist Association. The local residents were helped by a man named John Harrison Freeman who came to Moulton with the Baptist Association in the 1870s. The Association was an organization that assisted communities of color in establishing churches and schools. Freemen opened a school for the children of former slaves in the spot where the church is now. He passed away in 1933, and the church was named in his honor. The current church was constructed in 1929. The church's history and its intricate brickwork are heralded on a historical marker nearby.
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Gibson Cemetery
The Gibson Cemetery is an abandoned cemetery used by the African American community until the early 20th century. There are only 10 marked graves and about 50 unmarked graves, which probably date to the 19th century. Of the 10 marked, only two have dates associated with them: W.B. Gibson (died June 14, 1909) and Georgia Gibson (died May 26, 1917). Others buried here include Shelia Brackins, Jonathan and Wise Gibson, Carolyn, Earika, and Harry Griffin, Rethro McDaniel, and Mattie Williams. The cemetery is located in a grove of trees on the north side of University of North Alabama Highway near County Road 205. It appears on the 1936 USGS topographic map northwest of Hodges Store, but it is not labeled. On the 1960 map, it is one of two Gibson cemeteries, the other located off State Route 36 near Flint Creek Road. To differentiate, the abandoned Gibson Cemetery is known as “Gibson African American Cemetery.”
* Indicates a Historical - Non-Extant Resource - (4738)