Elba in Coffee County, Alabama — The American South (East South Central)
Mulberry Heights School
Coffee County
Photographed by Jimmy Emerson, August 31, 2025
1. Mulberry Heights School Marker
Inscription.
Mulberry Heights School. Coffee County. In 1927, the Mulberry Baptist Association deeded five acres of land to the state of Alabama for a Rosenwald School for African-American schoolchildren. The five-teacher type school stood here until the 1960s. The state built the current buildings during the height of segregation and the construction of Equalization Schools, which provided "separate but equal" schools for African-American children. In 1963, the school was renamed Mulberry Heights School. In 1966 a new gymnasium was built, two years before the school would have its final graduating class in 1968. In 1968-69 students in grades 10, 11, and 12 were bused to Elba City Schools. The state closed the school in 1970 due to integration. Williams F. Patton, Jr. served as the last principal.
Listed in the Alabama Registry of Landmarks and Heritage , December 1, 2016
.
In 1927, the Mulberry Baptist Association deeded five acres of land to the state of Alabama for a Rosenwald School for African-American schoolchildren. The five-teacher type school stood here until the 1960s. The state built the current buildings during the height of segregation and the construction of Equalization Schools, which provided "separate but equal" schools for African-American children. In 1963, the school was renamed Mulberry Heights School. In 1966 a new gymnasium was built, two years before the school would have its final graduating class in 1968. In 1968-69 students in grades 10, 11, and 12 were bused to Elba City Schools. The state closed the school in 1970 due to integration. Williams F. Patton, Jr. served as the last principal.
Listed in the Alabama Registry of Landmarks and Heritage December 1, 2016
Erected 2018 by Alabama Historical Commission and Elba Zion Christian Community Center, Inc.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Civil Rights • Education. A significant historical year for this entry is 1970.
Location. 31° 25.33′ N, 86° 4.74′ W.
Click or scan to see this page online
Marker is in Elba, Alabama, in Coffee County. It is on Adams Avenue north of Jones Street, on the right when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 740 Adams Avenue, Elba AL 36323, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in the American South, specifically in the Deep South, and in the Wiregrass. Globally, it is in North America, a Gulf of Mexico state, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Photographed by Darren Jefferson Clay, September 20, 2025
2. Mulberry Heights School Marker
of all markers in Elba.
Credits. This page was last revised on September 23, 2025. It was originally submitted on September 10, 2025, by Jimmy Emerson of Dalton, Georgia. This page has been viewed 144 times since then and 53 times this year. Photos:1. submitted on September 10, 2025, by Jimmy Emerson of Dalton, Georgia. 2. submitted on September 23, 2025, by Darren Jefferson Clay of Duluth, Georgia. • James Hulse was the editor who published this page.
