City unveils historic marker for Edmonton Heights
Residents of North Huntsville’s historic Edmonton Heights neighborhood gathered together with historians and city officials to unveil a new historic marker at the corner of Meridian Street and Wilkenson Drive.
The U.S. National Register of Historic Places listed the neighborhood in 2021, the first historically-Black neighborhood in Huntsville to be so distinguished.
The neighborhood, first platted in 1958, housed African-Americans displaced by the Heart of Huntsville urban renewal program.
Elected officials such as Mayor Tommy Battle and State Representative Laura Hall mingled with long-time residents of the historic neighborhood.
“This neighborhood provided homes for veterans and a base for civil rights leaders,” said Hall. “It has survived war and recessions, and the era of the McMansion. I’m proud to have one of these historic places – literally! – in my backyard.”
Vernita Chandler, the President of the Edmonton Height Neighborhood Association, called the ceremony “A celebration of African-American excellence in North Huntsville,” before drawing attention to the significance of the neighborhood playing host to Reverend Martin Luther King Junior and Dr. Ralph Abernathy. As the two men were denied service at hotels due to segregation, they stayed with Reverend Ezekiel Bell during their 1962 visit to Huntsville.
Reverend Bell’s house, 101 Whitney Avenue NE, is depicted on the new, brown street signs that denote Edmonton Heights’ status as a historic district.
Historian Dr. Caroline Swope spoke about the wide variety of people who called Edmonton Heights home. As the old phone directories listed occupations as well as addresses and phone numbers, the records stored in the library enabled her to paint a picture of the myriad of people who lived in the neighborhood.
“It wasn’t just faculty of A&M,” she said. “There were nurses and custodians, cab drivers and Redstone workers, preachers and schoolteachers who made this place their home.”
The Director of the William Hooper Councill Community Development Corporation, Joseph Lee, picked up on the thread of the history of the everyman.
“When historic preservation in the United States first started, it was focused primarily on the homes and estates of the Founding Fathers or other big, prominent names,” said Lee.
“But in more recent decades, the focus has shifted towards preserving the history of everyday people, whether they are working-class whites, African-Americans, Hispanic or Native Americans. It’s a history of all of us.”
