Centennial Hill - Montgomery, Alabama - Alabama Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

The area called Centennial Hill was the center of African-American life in Montgomery in the years after the Civil War and into the 20th Century. Many notable individuals such as Dr. Martin Luther King lived in this area. This marker is located on the grounds of the First Congregational Church at the corner of South Union Street and High Street.

Marker Name: Centennial Hill Marker Type: Urban Addtional Information:: The text of the marker reads: This neighborhood evolved around historic First Congregational Church established through the American Missionary Association (AMA) October 6, 1872, by Pastor George Whitfield Andrews. In 1867 the AMA and the Freedmen's Bureau, headed by General Wager Swayne, opened Swayne Primary School, Montgomery's first school for blacks, just two blocks south of here. Alabama State University, begun in 1867 as the "Lincoln School of Marion" by nine ex-slaves and taken over by the AMA in 1868, was relocated nearby in 1887. The area gained prominence as the civic, religious, educational, business and residential center for such black notables as Dr. Cornelius Dorsette, the city's first black physician; businessman Victor Tulane; Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; and other well-known leaders such as Alabama's first black congressman, James W. Rapier, John W. Jones; Nathan Alexander; Peyton Finley; and reverend G. Franklin Lewis, long-time pastor of First Congregational Church. Erected 1992 Date Dedicated / Placed: 1992 Marker Number: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   07/31/2022 Markerman62 visited it