The Travelers Rest CME Church is just south of Montezuma, Georgia. Once completely overgrown, efforts have been made to clean up the cemetery and the brush around the building. Unfortunately, the building is likely too far gone to be preserved unless someone with very deep pockets comes forward.
The Travelers Rest CME Church was built on land deeded to it by the Travelers Rest Methodist Church in 1884. The church remained active until 1994.
Fort Davis, Alabama, is named after Fort Madison Davis, the town’s first postmaster and one of the town’s founders, and not a military base. As of 2020, the town had a population of 156.
One of the town’s landmarks is the Fort Davis Railroad Depot. Built in 1904, it was a part of the Savannah-Americus-Montgomery Railway line. This is the second depot for the town of Fort Davis after the first one burned.
Funded in 1906 by Andrew Carnegie for $10,000, the library began construction later that year. Masons banded together to assist in the construction and modeled the building after the library built in Albany.
Booker T. Washington was an educator, speaker, author, and benefactor. He was the first president of Tuskegee University when it was known as Tuskegee Institute. His accomplishments are numerous. From working with Julius Rosenwald to start the fund for Rosenwald schools to traveling the world to speak on issues that impacted the Black community, Washington was a tireless advocate for change. Many members of the Black community supported his belief that the focus should be on education and wealth accumulation. Whereas there were those, who disagreed with him and felt that he bowed to white interests by not pushing forward an agenda based on civil rights and political representation.
“The Oaks” is a large Victorian that sits next to campus. Tuskegee’s students helped build the home that Washington and his family moved into in 1900.
In 1915, Booker T. Washington passed away. It was believed that he died from congestive heart failure and kidney disease that was caused by the stress of his work (later examination of his medical records indicated that he was suffering from very high blood pressure). Over 8,000 people attended his funeral. He is buried in the campus’s cemetery, which is next to the Chapel.
Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church and School were founded in 1916 and 1922, respectively. The school is the only Rosenwald school that is still standing in Macon County, Alabama.
The church and school were one of the locations during the Tuskegee Syphilis Study where participants were told to meet so the United States Public Health Service officials could pick them up for treatment or lack thereof.
The church and school were placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010. The school went under restoration in 2011.
