Decatur in Morgan County, Alabama — The American South (East South Central)

Parker-Hayes Boarding House and Tourist Home

Photographed by Deborah Spencer

1. Parker-Hayes Boarding House and Tourist Home Marker

Inscription. On this site once stood a successful boardinghouse owned by three generations of African American businesswomen. Born enslaved in Triana Madison County, in 1826, Winnie Parker acquired this property at the corner of Church and Railroad Street around 1869. By 1871, she was the proprietor of a well-appointed, two-story boardinghouse. She was Decatur's first businesswoman of color in her own right. In the mid-1880s, Parker oversaw an addition to the home. Beyond her business ventures, she was a civic leader in the surrounding Old Town community. In 1888, with an eye toward the future of the business, Parker conveyed the deed to her nineteen-year-old daughter, Fannie Parker Hayes, who assumed ownership in 1903 upon the death of her mother. Hayes managed the boardinghouse until her death in 1938. That same year, the Parker Hayes Boarding House and Tourist Home was listed as the only Decatur establishment in Victor H. Green's influential Negro Motorist Green Book, created to aid African American travelers as they navigated the maze of segregation laws and customs in the country. Stella Hayes Bond continued the

Paid Advertisement

Click or scan to see
this page online

business until 1940, when the home was sold. It was demolished in the late 1970s.

Erected by the Old Town Decatur Historical Group and History Revealed, a program of the Alabama Historical Association.

Erected 2023 by Alabama Historical Association.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: African Americans.

Location. 34° 36.872′ N, 86° 59.12′ W. Marker is in Decatur, Alabama, in Morgan County. It is at the intersection of Church Street Northeast and Railroad St NW, on the right when traveling south on Church Street Northeast. Marker is located at the end of Church Street in front of Etta Freeman Park. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 107 Church St NE, Decatur AL 35601, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in North Alabama.

It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Deep South,

in Appalachia,

and specifically in Southern Appalachia. Globally, it is in North America,

a Gulf of Mexico state,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds

Photographed by Deborah Spencer

2. Parker-Hayes Boarding House and Tourist Home Marker

itself in what was once the original Cherokee Nation,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Dancy-Polk House (circa 1829) (a few steps from this marker); Daisy Nolan (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); “An Affair Most Important to Us” - The Federal Right, October 27-28, 1864 (about 300 feet away); Old Decatur Historic District / Historic Depot (about 500 feet away); First Railroad (about 500 feet away); Historic Downtown / Founders Park (about 500 feet away); To Commemorate the Passage of The Olympic Torch (about 500 feet away); Two Bridges Across The Tennessee River (about 500 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Decatur.

Credits. This page was last revised on July 17, 2025. It was originally submitted on July 16, 2025, by Deborah Spencer of Huntsville, Alabama. This page has been viewed 164 times since then and 20 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on July 16, 2025, by Deborah Spencer of Huntsville, Alabama. • James Hulse was the editor who published this page.