On May 17, the Historic Huntsville Foundation (HHF) hosted its second annual “Cornerstones of History” walking tour, guiding residents through the city’s downtown core to explore the often-overlooked legacy of Black masons, entrepreneurs, and civic leaders who helped shape Huntsville’s economy and culture after the Civil War. Led by HHF Executive Director Donna Castellano and free to the public, the tour offered more than historical facts—it revealed how Black enterprise laid the groundwork for the city’s growth, brick by brick.

The tour centers around the work of Henderson Brandon & Son, a Black-owned masonry firm. Three of their buildings remain standing today as physical and symbolic cornerstones of Huntsville’s post-Reconstruction development. From the enduring Harrison Brothers Hardware façade, Alabama’s oldest operating hardware store, to the Baker-Helms Building, these structures are testaments to craftsmanship, economic determination, and resilience in an era marked by racial segregation and disenfranchisement.

Henderson Brandon, born into slavery in the 1840s, later purchased his freedom and founded a brickmaking and construction business in the 1870s—at a time when formerly enslaved individuals had few opportunities. By the 1880s, his son Daniel joined the business, and together they formed Henderson Brandon & Son, one of North Alabama’s most successful Black-owned enterprises. Their work included homes, businesses, and infrastructure, such as the pumping station at Big Spring Park that once supplied downtown’s water.

Daniel Brandon’s impact extended beyond masonry. He was elected to the Huntsville Board of Aldermen in 1897 and again in 1901, becoming one of the last Black officials to hold public office in the city until 1988, after Alabama’s 1901 Constitution disenfranchised thousands of Black voters. A civic leader and labor advocate, Daniel also organized unions and promoted economic self-reliance.

The tour also honored William Hooper Councill, another former slave who reshaped Huntsville through education. Councill founded Alabama A&M University which quickly grew into a center for Black advancement. His advocacy extended to law, politics, and journalism. Councill filed a complaint with the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) in 1887 after being treated unfairly on a train due to his race. This action was notable because it predated the more well-known civil rights cases by decades and marked an early attempt to seek justice through formal legal channels.

Living History with Ollye Conley

While the tour focused on these enduring legacies, an unexpected presence made the experience even more powerful. Among the attendees was Ollye Conley—Huntsville’s first Black female principal after integration and a lifelong educator who helped bring overlooked chapters of Black history into local school curricula. In the early 1990s, she led student research projects that uncovered sites like Glenwood Cemetery, a historic Black burial ground, and inspired systemic changes in how local history is taught.

Though she arrived simply to listen, Conley quickly became a key voice during the tour. When Castellano paused to explain the history of a bank, Conley stepped in to clarify that Black customers were required to enter through the basement—not from the street. She also shared that her great-great-grandfather, Charles Miller Coleman, became a patron of that bank in 1865—just one year after his emancipation from slavery. Conley’s quiet interjections underscored the importance of lived experience in interpreting history. Her ongoing work as a historian, including an exhibit in her own home, continues to preserve local stories that might otherwise be lost.

The tour concluded in front of the very building where William Hooper Councill was first sold into slavery—a structure he would later purchase as a free man and fold into the AAMU campus, transforming a site of oppression into one of empowerment. As Huntsville continues its rise as a high-tech metro, the stories of the Brandons, Councill, and community historians like Conley offer more than reflection—they offer a roadmap. Their legacy, moulded from clay, courage, and community, still speaks.