Rogersville

NOTED FOR BEING HUNTSVILLE’S OLDEST AFRICAN-AMERICAN NEIGHBORHOOD, ROGERSVILLE IS ROUGHLY SITUATED BETWEEN 7TH AND 10TH STREETS AND OLD MADISONVILLE ROAD AND AVENUE N. MICAJAH C. ROGERS, HUNTSVILLE’S FIRST MAYOR, ORIGINALLY OWNED MOST OF THE LAND AND BEGAN SELLING IT AFTER THE CIVIL WAR. ALTHOUGH IT IS NOT CERTAIN WHETHER ROGERSVILLE WAS MEANT TO BE AN AFRICAN-AMERICAN NEIGHBORHOOD, ROGERS SOLD AT LEAST SIX TRACTS OF LAND TO FORMER SLAVES IN 1866 ALONG WHAT IS TODAY 10TH STREET. AMONG THE NEW LANDOWNERS WAS JOSHUA HOUSTON, SAM HOUSTON’S FORMER BODY SERVANT. BY BUYING PROPERTY, BUILDING HOMES, AND ESTABLISHING BUSINESSES, INCLUDING A WAGON YARD, BLACKSMITH, CARPENTRY SHOP, BARBER AND BEAUTY SHOPS, CAFES AND OTHER STORES, RESIDENTS CONFIRMED THEIR NEW INDEPENDENCE WHILE HOLDING A STAKE IN THE COMMUNITY.

CHURCHES WERE CENTRAL TO ROGERSVILLE, REFLECTING THE FREEDOMS TO WORSHIP AND TO GATHER PREVIOUSLY DENIED TO AFRICAN-AMERICANS. IN PARTICULAR, FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, ESTABLISHED BY “MOTHER” SARAH ROLLING AND REV. J.J. RHINEHARDT, STRENGTHENED COMMUNITY IDENTITY. NEIGHBORHOOD CHURCHES ALSO OFTEN SERVED AS SCHOOLS, WHERE STUDENTS AND FAMILIES LEARNED TO READ AND WRITE AND CONTINUED TO GAIN EDUCATION. IN 1890, AFTER FACING SOME CHALLENGES, JOSHUA HOUSTON AND OTHERS PREVAILED IN CONSTRUCTING A NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOL. HIS SON, NOTED EDUCATOR SAMUEL WALKER HOUSTON, GREW UP HERE AND ESTABLISHED THE SAM HOUSTON INDUSTRIAL TRAINING SCHOOL AT GALILEE. ROGERSVILLE BECAME THE SITE FOR THE ANNUAL JUNETEENTH CELEBRATION, THE MAJOR SOCIAL EVENT FOR HUNTSVILLE’S AFRICAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY. OVERALL, ROGERSVILLE’S ESTABLISHMENTS HAVE EXTENDED ECONOMIC, EDUCATIONAL, AND CULTURAL OPPORTUNITIES TO ALL WALKER COUNTY CITIZENS.