Download [Page] [Document]
mcc-ns1-456
Farming For A Better Future, page 430
who served the school for the next 13 years until leaving for another school in Hale County. Fredd's successor was Professor I.F. Stallworth. Although referred to by various names, the Rosenwald School, the Rosenwald Training School, etc., it shows up in the 1920 land books as simply “Negro School.” The school had an unlucky start as it was destroyed by fire in 1931, but the community was able to rebuild by 1934. In late 1935, the school was dedicated as the Morgan County Training School. The school had a library, a football team, a choir, a drama club, and was known for its excellence. The school closed in 1970 due to integration. The following year, it was completely abandoned and in 1977, the building burned for the second time. A historical marker was placed at the site of the school in 2014. Moulton Heights The community of Moulton Heights is located approximately 2.5 miles to the southwest of downtown Decatur. At the turn of the 20th century, it was home to Lilian Ray Nelson and her husband, George Asa Nelson, a white couple who owned the Moulton Heights Land Improvement and Industrial Company. The Nelsons lived at their estate in Moulton Heights called Tenglewood and owned much of the land in the area. Mrs. Nelson was known as a philanthropist and spent much of her time and money on community improvement efforts. The Nelsons (Above) 1888 Plat Map of Forest Addition, No. 1 to West Decatur within the Moulton Heights Neighborhood (Morgan County Archives, Decatur, Alabama) (Left) 19281937 Land Book Showing Area of the Forest Addition to Moulton Heights, Here Labeled the Nelson Addition (in Red) (Morgan County Archives, Decatur, Alabama) supported and partially funded a streetcar line from Decatur to the suburb of Moulton Heights. However, Mrs. Lilian Ray Nelson is better known for her so-called Cedar Lake Colony, arguably one of the more successful attempts at what was known at the time as “Negro Colonies, or Settlements,” or more condescendingly as “experiments.” Moulton Heights as a neighborhood predates Cedar Lake, as evidenced by an 1888 plat map labeled Forest Addition to West Decatur; however, this neighborhood continued to develop into Moulton Heights. But by the 1920s, land records indicate that African Americans owned land and small farms in the vicinity. Although Moulton Heights was never intended to be like Cedar Lake, the community did gather a significant population of African American families and developed a church and a school. This might have been due to Mrs. Nelson's willingness to sell her land to African Americans. Because much of the Forest Addition was originally owned by the Nelsons, 1920s land maps refer to the section as the Nelson Addition. 27 ■ Moulton Heights Missionary Baptist Church Located in the old Griffin Addition of Moulton Heights, at the corner of 9th Street and 22nd Avenue, this church, or at least one in the same location, is noted on the 1936 USGS topographic map. The Griffin Addition was a predominately African American community in the early 20th century. Many of the homeowners within the platted town were also landowners of parcels of farmland outside of the city. - (4958)