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Farming For A Better Future, page 347
topographic map. According to Madison County land records, the parcel containing the school was owned by Richard Moore from 1920 to 1938. Richard's father, Offie Moore owned the adjacent parcel to the west.
Land records from 1933 show that two acres of the Moore parcel were set aside for a church, where the school most likely began. Although Moore no longer owned the land, the records from 1945 and 1959 clearly show the symbol for a school just north of the church.
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Horton-Joiner Cemetery
This cemetery is located on the Redstone Arsenal on the west side of the Pond Beat community. Also known as Community Cemetery, there are only two markers in this cemetery. One is for Ophelia Horton, “Dau. Of Sofie Horton, died at age 10 yrs, monument erected, 1925, Asleep in Jesus.” Ophelia was the daughter of Yancy Horton, Sr. and his wife, Sofie. She was born in 1892 and recorded on the 1900 census. If she was 10 years old when she died, then the year was 1902, and the monument was erected 23 years later. The other marker is for Richard Joiner (18781906). Joiner was the son of Felix and Millie Joiner.
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Horton School (Rosenwald)*
Horton School, located on what is now Redstone Arsenal, was one of nine Rosenwald schools in Madison County. It was an early school built about 1913 under the direction of the Tuskegee Institute. The Horton School was a one-teacher school that cost $950 to construct, $350 collected from the local African American community, and another $300 each was provided by public funds and the Rosenwald Fund.
The Horton School is named for Yancy Horton, Sr. who donated the two acres. Other members of the African American community that were intricately involved in making Horton School a reality were Adolphus and Moses Love, Walter Jacobs, Everett T. Horton, and Paris Bransford. The school was located in the community of Pond Beat, but all local residents and farmers were bought out by the U.S. government in 1941.
(Top and Above) The Community of Pond Beat Clearing the Land for the Horton School (Curry 2006) (Left) Photograph of Horton School, Circa 1940s (Curry 2006) (Bottom Left) Drawing of Horton School (Courtesy Ms. Horton Jordan)
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Huntsville
Settled in 1805, Huntsville was the first incorporated town in Alabama and the center of early state politics. Huntsville became the center of the cotton industry for North Alabama due to its well-producing soil and position near the Tennessee River that allowed for easy transport to the Mississippi River and beyond. The cotton mills of Huntsville remained a vital part of the economy well into the 20th century, providing some stability through the Great Depression.
“After leaving Redstone, my parents got enough money to buy a home on West Clinton Street [Huntsville] and a small farm, which they rented out because nobody, none of us [children] wanted it. I went to the city high school, Councill High School, graduated and went to Alabama A&M and graduated. And, I worked at Alabama A&M in accounts receivable, student accounting area for 25 years and retired.
- Ms. Maureen Davis Cathey
347 - MADISON - (4875)