BLACK HISTORY MONTH IN MADISONVILLE

By Don Browder

The African-American Community of Mt. Moriah was founded in 1868 on Vinegar Ridge behind the current location of Madisonville Marine on U.S. Hwy 411.  By 1896 the community had a Baptist church and a school with 30 pupils in the first grade taught by Ms. Ada Donohoo.  By 1930, the church had been disassembled and the community dissipated.  Now, only the cemetery remains buried deep in the woods.  Why? What led to the disappearance of this once-thriving community?  One reason was the opening of Park City School in Madisonville in 1924.  Park City was one of the multitudes of modern Rosenwald Schools established by Booker T. Washington of the Tuskegee Institute and philanthropist Julius Rosenwald, president of Sears-Roebuck, for Black children throughout the South. Park City consolidated several nearby one-room schoolhouses which included Mt. Moriah, Stephens near Hiwassee College, and Westview on the Old Athens Rd. Park City School served as a centerpiece of Madisonville’s Black community up to and through the integration of Monroe County Schools in 1964.

The Park City community grew up around the school and the Park City Cemetery. This cemetery was founded in 1923 because the African-American section of Madisonville City Cemetery “had become about filled” according to the “1939 WPA description of Colored Cemeteries in Tennessee”.  The earliest African-American burials in Madisonville City Cemetery date to the 1820’s.

Laid to rest in the Mt. Moriah, Park City, and Madisonville City Cemeteries are individuals with familiar Monroe County names such as Davis, Upton, Wilson, Scruggs, Stephens, Carson, Latimore and McClendon.  In recognition of the importance of these families to the civic life of Madisonville, the public is encouraged to visit Park City Cemetery and Madisonville City Cemetery to honor the community’s African-American heritage.

A visit to Mt. Moriah will have to wait.  Cemetery restoration plans are in the works through cooperation with the property owners, volunteers, and Grave Concerns:-Restoring Pioneer Cemeteries Along the Little Tennessee River-, an endeavor of The Greenback Historical Society.  Anyone interested in participating in cemetery cleanup this spring should contact Don Browder at donbrowder@outlook.com.

Cutline for Photo: Madisonville Mayor Gus Davis in Madisonville City Cemetery beside the tombstone of his Great-Grandfather John Davis who died in 1887.