First District Agricultural College and Experiment Station

First District Agricultural College and Experiment Station. 1896—1936. On this site was located the First District Agricultural College, authorized by an act of the Alabama Legislature and opened in 1896. The street in front was changed from Grove Hill Road to College Avenue in honor of the new school. An Experimental Station was established about ½ mile north on what is now a shopping center and housing area. The 1927 State Legislature established a Demonstration Farm operated jointly by the school and the extension farm agent. The farm was alongside the Coffeeville Road 1 ½ miles north of here. The farm was terminated and sold in 1939. , The purposes of the college were: to teach scientific and practical agriculture; to educate and train young men and women for teachers in the public schools of the state; to prepare those who wished to pursue a course of higher institutions of learning; and to give a good practical education to those who could not attend such institutions. The school was significant to the education, social and cultural life of Clarke and surrounding counties. Subsequently renamed, First District Agricultural School, and later, State Secondary Agricultural School, the 3-storied building was demolished and the graded and high school were consolidated in a new brick building in 1936.