AFRICATOWN News – Winn Dixie or Truck Stop?

During the peak of the Historic Africatown, Alabama Community, between 1960 & 1970, the total population of Africatown was between 10,000 & 12,000 people. After Africatown’s residents voted to annex themselves to the city of Mobile and the end of segregation, the population begin to decline. The major owner of property in Africatown were the Meahers (the last slavers). Because their property taxes increased after the annexation to the city of Mobile, the Meahers strategy was to move residents out of the Meahers homes they were renting and lease the land to industries and build warehouses for the industries. Most of Africatown was rezoned from residential to industrial and a mass exodus had started.

Africatown soon begin to lose half of its neighborhoods. Residents were moved out of the New Quarter Neighborhood and the land was sold to Alabama Power, about 250 residents were displaced. Residents were moved out of the No Man’s Land Neighborhood and the land was leased to Scott Paper Company, about 1,500 residents were displaced. Residents were moved out of the Tin Top Alley Neighborhood and The Africatown-Cochran Bridge was expanded from about 300 yards to about 2 miles long. In addition Bay Bridge Road (now Africatown Blvd.) was widen from 2 to 4 lanes thus eliminating Africatown’s Downtown area. Houses and property were taken and about 1,500 residents were displaced. The Graveyard Alley Neighborhood was also eliminated when Bay Bridge Road was widened, another 250 residents were displaced. Residents in The Stockyard Neighborhood on Conception Street Road were displaced and the land sold to a local business in the area. About 500 residents were displaced after that transaction. It is estimated that about 2,000 residents were transferred when International Paper Company, Scott Paper Company and Brookley Air Force Base closed their operations in Mobile. And last but not least, another 2,000 residents were moved when the Mobile Housing Board tore down The Josephine Allen Housing Project in Happy Hills. That means that about 8,000 residents of Africatown were displaced because of industrial intrusion into the community or job transfer. Because of white flight during the seventies most residents displaced by The Meahers simply moved west across Telegraph Road into the city of Prichard and formed what is commonly called Africatown “Prichard”.

Before this “mass exodus” of Africatown residents made the community a food desert , there were small grocery stores on most every street within the community while the larger grocery stores were along Telegraph Road. Some of the most popular stores were Randolph Grocery Store in Magazine Point, Hubbard Grocery, Giles Grocery, Purnell Grocery & Keevan Grocery all in Plateau. There were other smaller stores in Plateau & Happy Hills but the ones mentioned were the popular ones. The major shopping for grocery was done at Long’s Grocery & Naman’s Grocery on Telegraph Road and Greer’s Grocery & Delchamp’s Grocery stores closer to downtown Prichard. Because no grocery store currently exist within a 5 mile radius of the Africatown Community it is considered a “Food Desert”.

Most economists will tell you that whenever the people leaves, the businesses will leave and when the people return the businesses will return. That economic theory is what most Africatown Non-Profits have been working under as we all work in unison to revive this historic community. Africatown’s population begin decreasing after 1970 or about 55 years ago. Its not coming back over night. It took 55 years for Africatown’s population to decrease from about 10,000 to about the 2,000 that are there today. However, the current (and only) Africatown Community Plan was not put together until 2016. That is less that 10 years of a plan to revitalize Africatown. And, as we all know, no plan is any good unless it comes with the funds to make those plans a reality.

Businesses follow people is the common accepted practice when building or revitalizing a community. Consequently, there are Africatown organizations working to renovate historic homes, install re-enforced roofing on other homes, building new homes and working with the middle school to assist whenever needed. There are organizations that have created about 10 different cultural events for the community and others to rally around throughout the year. While the politicians that represent Africatown have come together to find funds to build The Africatown Heritage House Museum, The Africatown Hall and the news last week broke that construction on the long awaited Africatown Welcome Center would begin soon.

HOWEVER, while some Africatown supporters work on a gradual plan that would entice stores to locate in Africatown and eliminate the food desert situation, others think that they can kill two birds with one stone by building a Raceway Truck Stop in a vital intersection leading to Africatown. While residents hope for a Winn Dixie, they get a TRUCK STOP. Recently, Africatown’s two environmental organizations have had quarterly meeting with Alabama’s Dept. of Transportation and others about how to manage the big truck traffic problem on Africatown Blvd. that will be created when a new bridge is built across the Mobile River with a truck toll on it with trucks coming thru Africatown to keep from paying that toll. Those talks will have to be discontinued because this truck stop will blow those plans for controlling truck traffic out of the water. With the truck traffic coming in and out of the ever expanding Port Of Mobile, this new truck stop will be the closest one to the port and thus the busiest. It will fill up every night before 7 pm and trucks will start rolling around 5 in the morning to be the first in line for loading or unloading. This truck stop will be known as “The Africatown Truck Stop” and as soon as the parking spaces are filled some truckers will try to use The Africatown Welcome Center as a place to park their 18 wheeler. When that happens those 18 wheelers will tear up the Africatown Welcome Center parking lot. In addition, some truckers will get lost and try to navigate those narrow streets in the community. The D.O.T. have better have plenty of traffic signs, traffic lights and traffic cops to ensure Africatown residential life is not disturbed with this new Truck Stop in the area.

Africatown “Mobile” and Africatown “Prichard” are separated only by Telegraph Road. The city of Prichard does not have a Planning Commission, thus residents did not know this was coming until they saw the construction. However, residents in the area had better keep their eyes and ears open because with the millions and millions of dollars recently allocated to The Port of Mobile for expansion purposes, this is just the beginning. In the meantime, enjoy you grocery shopping at the “TRUCK STOP”.

My college economics professor once told me, “If you have some money to invest with put in babies and poor people because they have no say so in their lives and will always do what you tell them to do and go where you want them to go.”

Dr. Major Joe Womack USMCR(ret)

Executive Director of africatown-chess.org

251-404-9558 & jnwomack1@yahoo.com

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