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Farming For A Better Future, page 367
a previous white landowner does not particularly discredit this as being the Toney High School for African American students of the 1930s and 1940s. 65 ■ Toney Rosenwald School* The Toney School was one of the nine Rosenwald schools in Madison County. The two-teacher schoolhouse cost $3,700 to construct, with the local African American community contributing $1,150 and $1,000 of public funds allocated to the school. The local white community collected $900, and the Rosenwald Fund added the remaining $700. The school was approved for the 1924-1925 budget year and was insured for $2,400. The two acres of land were purchased from Tee (T.) Carter, a local African American landowner and farmer. The community fundraising was headed by Calvin Tibbs who owned land just west along the county line. (Below) Toney Rosenwald School on Madison County Land Records, 1933-1944 (Index of Land Records, Madison County, Alabama) (Above) Toney Rosenwald School on Madison County Land Records, 1945-1954 (Index of Land Records, Madison County, Alabama) (Below) Photograph of the Toney Rosenwald School (Huntsville Revisited Facebook Page) Prior to the Toney School's construction, classes were held in a church or lodge building. School was held for two months in the summer and seven weeks in the winter of 1922 and 1923. By the end of that decade, the school was granting elementary diplomas, and by 1937, it was issuing junior high diplomas. Senior high classes were added in 1939, and its first graduating class was in 1941. According to the historical marker for the school, “from 1939 to 1948, Toney School served as the only public high school for African American students in the county.” By 1948, the Councill Training High School in Normal was opened and the Toney school reverted back to a junior high school until 1953. By the 1950s, the school was overflowing. Some children were sent to the nearby churches including Turner CME Church, Mt. Zion Steadfast PB Church, and New Zion MB Church until a new school was built on the other side of Toney. The Toney School served as more than a school. It was also a meeting place for the Boy Scotts, led by local Willie E. Burwell and other parents. The athletics at the school were competitive and participated in the North Alabama Athletic Association. Unfortunately, despite the long history of community involvement, the school was demolished in 2000. 661 Triana and the Triana Cemeteries Triana is a community along the Tennessee River in the southwest corner of Madison County. As of 2000, the 458 people of the town of Triana were 86.5% African American. Historically, Triana has always been predominately a community of color. From 19001920, when Triana was its own enumerated census district covering the southwest corner of Madison County, the majority of households were people of color. Of about 360 households, 90% or more were people of color in the first two decades of the 20th century. The census of 1910 records a high of 94% households that were people of color. In 1900 and 1910, there were 27 and 29 farms owned by people of color in Triana. This number declined in 1920 to 25 farms; however, the average percentage of households of color that own farms remains about 8%. Although Triana has been predominately a community of color for over 100 years, in the early 20th century, an average of 9% households of color owned their land, while an average of 35% of the total white households owned their property. Triana was not specifically enumerated in the census after 1920; therefore, it is difficult to determine the boundaries of the community. However, later social studies of the area and current statistics do not indicate much change within the community in the latter part of the 20th century. For instance, the community of Triana was investigated in the late 1970s by the Environmental Protection Agency for Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) pollutants. In 1977, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued warnings that fish and waterfowl from the Huntsville Spring Branch had shown high levels of (Below) 1936 USGS/TVA Topographic Map of Triana, Triana, Alabama Quadrangle 367 - MADISON - (4895)