Prairie Mission was listed on National Register of Historic Places in 2001

The old Prairie Mission school building. 

If you’ve ever traveled along State Highway 28 in northwestern Wilcox County, you’ve probably noticed a historical marker located at the intersection of McCall Road, just a few miles west of Millers Ferry. My 11-year-old son and I happened to be riding through this area on Saturday afternoon and stopped for a closer look. Those of you who have taken the time to do the same will know that the marker describes the old Prairie Mission school.

According to the marker, Prairie Mission was “established in 1894 by the Freedman’s Board of the United Presbyterian Church of North America to educate the children of ex-slaves. The Mission consisted of a church, school building, dormitories for male and female students, a teacher’s home and a cemetery. The school, also known as Prairie Institute during its history, was discontinued in the late 1960s. The church still maintains an active congregation. Prairie Mission was entered into the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.”

From there, we cut down McCall Road, and a few minutes later we found ourselves parked in the driveway leading up to the old school. We walked up the drive for a closer look and noted what looked like an old concrete well in front of the school and a tire swing hanging from a large cedar tree out back. As we stood there, I tried to imagine what this place must have looked like a century ago when students attended classes here, back when the school was still relatively new.

We then took a short walk across the road to see the Prairie Presbyterian Church, which is also known as Prairie Mission Church. The grounds of this neat little country church are well-maintained, a sign that the congregation takes pride in their place of worship. I scouted around briefly for a cornerstone that might indicate when the building was constructed, but did not find one. I would not be surprised to learn that it was built around the same time as the school across the road.

Behind the church, there is a small cemetery, which appeared to have been damaged by a large tree that fell at some point in the recent past. The fence around the cemetery and the metal sign near the entrance, as well as a few graves, had received heavy damage. Just eye-balling it, I’d say this cemetery contains about 30 graves, and the oldest that I saw belonged to a one-year-old named Mary Lou Gotton, who died four days before Christmas in 1911.

As we walked back to my truck, my son asked why this community was named “Prairie.” I had to admit that I did not know, but when we got home we learned that, according to the book “Place Names in Alabama” by Virginia O. Foscue, while the community’s name is “descriptive of the town’s location, it may have been borrowed from the nearby river town, Prairie Bluff.” The book also noted that a post office was first established at Prairie in 1838, and other sources say that a post office existed there from 1894 to 1993.

On the way home, as my son napped in the seat beside me, my thoughts returned to all that I’d seen at the old school site. Were there any old ghost stories, tall tales or local legends associated with the Prairie community? Also, as close as this community is to the Alabama River, one is left to wonder if there are any old Indian village sites or mounds in the Prairie community.

In the end, please let me hear from you if you have any additional information about the Prairie Mission school, church and cemetery. Also, if you know of any good ghost stories or information about old Indian sites in this area, please let me know. It would be a shame to let this information fade into the past before it can be documented for future generations of Wilcox County residents.