Everett L. Fly > Black Towns & Settlements Alliance > Historic Black Towns Alliance- 4: 115 Years – Hobson City, Alabama
By August 11, 2014 Black Towns & Settlements Alliance 0 Comments

Historic Black Towns Alliance- 4: 115 Years – Hobson City, Alabama

First Hobson City mayor and council c.1901 - photograph courtesy of The New York Public Library:
First Hobson City mayor and council c.1901 – photograph courtesy of The New York Public Library: www.nypl.org

Mayor Alberta McCrory and the residents of Hobson City, Calhoun County, Alabama will celebrate their 115th Founder’s Day on August 15th and 16th of this week (details at Hobson City Hall: 256-831-4940).   In addition to being the oldest incorporated Black municipality in the state (chartered 1899), it is one of fewer than twenty five incorporated African American towns remaining in the United States.  The town charter was signed by forty nine registered male voters, according to the requirements of the Alabama state constitution at the time.  The adjacent photograph shows Hobson City’s first elected officials, and the 1900 Federal Census provided occupation information: Young Pyles (standing, left; occupation – farm laborer), Peter Doyle (seated, left; occupation-farm laborer), Jesse Cunningham (standing, center; occupation – farmer), Edward Pearce (standing, right; occupation – carpenter), C.C. Snow (seated, right; occupation – laborer), and Mayor Samuel L. Davis (seated, center; occupation – Mayor of Hobson City)….MORE