Download [Page] [Document]
mcc-ns1-365
Farming For A Better Future, page 339

(Above) Berkley School on Madison County Land Records, 1959-1968 (Index of Land Records, Madison County, Alabama) (Left) Photograph of the Berkley School, or Berkley Junior High School, Date Unknown (Huntsville Revisited Facebook Page) (Bottom Left) Photograph of Parents Gathering at the Berkley School in the 1970s (Huntsville Revisited Facebook Page) 7 ■ Big Cove Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church and Hayes Chapel School* Just west of Berkley stands the Big Cove Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church, once known simply as Ebenezer Church. Hayes Chapel School, which once stood next door, is now gone. The church and school were built on the property of Sidney B. Hayes, an African American farmer who owned the land from at least 1902-1935. The land records show a symbol for a church in the 1920-1932 land book, but by 1937, the parcel was sold to Albert Drake, a white man. Albert passed the parcel onto his son, Paul Drake. Even though the government topographic maps do not depict the church and school, the land records continue to show the church and school in the southeast corner of their parcel from 1945-1968. It is likely that the school was demolished after it no longer had a use due to integration. (Above) Big Cove Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church and Hayes Chapel on Madison County Land Records, 1945-1959 (Index of Land Records, Madison County, Alabama) (Below) Big Cove Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church and Hayes Chapel on Madison County Land Records, 1959-1986 (Index of Land Records, Madison County, Alabama) 8! Cedar Grove Church* The Cedar Grove Church was once located in the community of Pond Beat on what is now Redstone Arsenal. It was originally located on Cedar Grove Mountain on land donated by James Lacy. Lacy was the son of a white slave owner and an unknown enslaved woman. According to Early Lacy, his (Above) Drawing of Cedar Grove Church in Pond Beat Done by Local Artist upon the Request of Ms. Deborah Horton Jordan (Courtesy Ms. Horton Jordan) 339 - MADISON (Above) Photograph of Cedar Grove Church, Date Unknown (Huntsville Revisited Facebook Page) - (4867)