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

The E. L. Posey Parking Lot

Photographed by Mark Hilton, January 12, 2014

1. The E. L. Posey Parking Lot Marker

Inscription.
This site, known as “Posey’s Parking Lot,” served the black community as one of two major transportation centers during the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Mrs. Rosa Parks’s December 1, 1955 arrest following her refusal to surrender her seat at the order of the white bus driver sparked protests against segregation on the Montgomery City Bus Lines. After city authorities outlawed the use of black taxis as an alternative form of transportation for boycotters, the parking lot, operated by local black business owners, Eddie L. and Dorothy Posey, served as a transportation hub in the midst of the city’s black business district. Over 200 sedans and station wagons, dubbed “rolling churches” since many were owned and operated by African-American churches, shuttled some 2,000 black passengers daily over more than a year to work and to shop. On November 13, 1956, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a lower federal court decision in Browder vs. Gayle, declaring segregation in city bus seating unconstitutional. Integrated bus service began on December 21, 1956. This parking lot continued to operate until 1967.

Erected 2010 by Alabama Historical

Paid Advertisement

Click or scan to see
this page online

Association.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Civil Rights. In addition, it is included in the Alabama Historical Association series list. A significant historical month for this entry is November 1885.

Location. 32° 22.703′ N, 86° 18.309′ W. Marker is in Montgomery, Alabama, in Montgomery County. It is at the intersection of North McDonough Street and Monroe Street, on the left when traveling north on North McDonough Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: McDonough Street, Montgomery AL 36104, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Alabama’s Tri-Counties River Region.

It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Deep South,

and in the Black Belt.

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.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking

The E. L. Posey Former Parking Lot image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Mark Hilton, January 12, 2014

2. The E. L. Posey Former Parking Lot

distance of this marker: Montgomery's Slave Depots / Montgomery's Slave Traders (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Naval Heroes of the War of 1812 (about 400 feet away); Bill Traylor (about 400 feet away); The Capital City Guards (about 400 feet away); Montgomery Advertiser (Alabama Power Company) (about 500 feet away); Fred David Gray (about 500 feet away); Jonathan Coggswell Farley / Montgomery's First Election (about 500 feet away); History of the Alabama State Bar (about 600 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Montgomery.

Also see . . . The Montgomery Bus Boycott. National Park Service website entry (Submitted on August 20, 2022, by Larry Gertner of New York, New York.)

Credits. This page was last revised on August 20, 2022. It was originally submitted on January 13, 2014, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama. This page has been viewed 2,591 times since then and 186 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on January 13, 2014, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.