Marker Dedication or Erection Date: March 5, 1995

SIDE 1: BAPTIST HILL
Auburn’s first separate black community cemetery offers a rich source of the city’s black heritage. Much of the history is oral but it is known that a white man gave most of the land in the early 1870’s. The four acre cemetery contains over 500 marked graves and many others are unmarked. The oldest grave is dated 1879. Those interred here are a cross section of the city’s blacks. Many were born slaves but later succeeded in teaching or business. The cemetery is still in use and is maintained by the City of Auburn but its ownership is unknown. Documentation of the site was done by the auburn Heritage Association in 1990.

Erected by the Historic Chattahoochee Commission and the Auburn Heritage Association, 1994.

SIDE 2: BAPTIST HILL
Though located at the base of a slope, the cemetery derives its name from Ebenezer Baptist Church on a hill to the west. Ebenezer, established in 1865, was the first black churched formed in Auburn after the Civil War. The church building was erected before 1870 on land donated by Lonnie Payne, a white man. The church was so prominent in the area that it gave the name “Baptist Hill” to the vicinity. Its members were the first buried in the cemetery although members of other black churches are now interred here. Ebenezer was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. The cemetery was added to the Alabama Register in 1994.

Erected by the Historic Chattahoochee Commission and the Auburn Heritage Association, 1994.

City Hall

Location: Located at 144 Tichenor Avenue, Auburn, Alabama

Marker Dedication or Erection Date: September 17, 2002

SIDE 1: CITY HALL
In 1846, Auburn’s Founder, Judge John J. Harper deeded the property on this corner to Simeon Perry, as town agent for two of the earliest public schools in Auburn. A member of the settlement party, Perry laid out the original boundaries of the City of Auburn. In 1931, the City of Auburn donated this land for a larger post office. Congress gave $90,000 for its construction and the building was completed in 1933, while Levi Knapp was Postmaster. First class status was attained here in 1940 under Postmaster Homer Wright, and it served as the post office until 1991. It was at least the seventh location for town postal service.

Erected by the Historic Chattahoochee Commission, the City of Auburn and the Auburn Heritage Association, 2002

SIDE 2: CITY HALL
The City of Auburn bought the building in 1992 for $375,000. In 1999, the City Council voted to renovate it as City Hall. It was dedicated in 2001. The building has a “Starved-Classical,” symmetrical style, with pointed pediments, typical of Federal Depression architecture. These elements have been preserved through several additions and renovations. Postmasters who served Auburn on this site: Levi A. Knapp; Homer Wright; Mrs. Katherine Wright; Jay G. Hitchcock; Harold Nall; Charles M. Dawson; Bill Kitchen; J. Dan McLaughlin. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places by the U.S. Department of the Interior in 1983.

Erected by the Historic Chattahoochee Commission, the City of Auburn and the Auburn Heritage Association, 2002

Dillard-Lawson House

Marker Dedication or Erection Date: 2000

Marker Text:
Built by Auburn merchant A. L. Dillard in 1894, the home was once part of the old Scott Plantation. It was one of the first homes in Auburn to have an indoor bath and electricity. An unusual feature of the house is the gray stone, for which Dillard invented a secret formula to make it moisture proof. Mrs. Dillard and her daughter were the first registered women voters in Lee County. In 1925, Sigma Pi Fraternity was chartered here. The James L. Lawson family owned the house from 1939-1984. It was home to Mabel Yearby, the first woman defense lawyer in Alabama. In 1984 the house was sold to business interests.

Erected by the Auburn Heritage Association and the Historic Chattahoochee Commission, 2000.

Ebenezer Baptist Church / Baptist Hill / East Thach Avenue

Location: Located at the Church on East Thach Avenue, Auburn, Alabama.

Marker Dedication or Erection Date: December 10, 1978

SIDE 1: EBENEZER BAPTIST CHURCH / BAPTIST HILL / EAST THACH AVENUE
This simple frame structure was built by newly freed black men and women before 1870. The property on which the building stands was given to a member of the Ebenezer congregation in 1865, the year the War Between the States ended, by a white landowner, Lonnie Payne. The church is built of hand hewn logs, felled on the Frazer plantation, northeast of Auburn, and were hauled by mule to this site. Members of the congregation constructed the building. The Church and its early leaders figured prominently in Alabama’s black Baptist history. The church congregation held its services here until 1969.

SIDE 2: EBENEZER BAPTIST CHURCH / BAPTIST HILL / EAST THACH AVENUE
Pastors serving church at this site: Reverend Tom Glynn Reverend Ishman Pollard Reverend I. T. Simpson Reverend C. J. Davis Reverend H. E. Jones Reverend Saunders Reverend O.D. Slaughter Reverend J. M. Alexander Reverend G. R. Young, Jr.

Erected by the Historic Chattahoochee Commission, 1978

General James Henry Lane House/Woman’s Club of Auburn

Location: Located at the corner of Thach & College Street, Auburn, Alabama.

Marker Dedication or Erection Date: October 8, 1992

Marker Text:
The Lane House, built in 1853 at the corner of Thach and College Street, was home to several Auburn University notables. E. T. Glenn, Treasurer, leased it in 1873. General James H. Lane, Aide to General Stonewall Jackson and Head of Engineering, purchased the house in 1884. Daughter Mary married Dean George Petrie, author of the Auburn Creed. Daughter Kate Meade Lane was the last resident. Mollie Hollifield Jones purchased the house in 1960 for the Woman’s Club. The house was moved to its present location in 1962. It was placed on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage in 1991.

Erected by the Historic Chattahoochee Commission and the Women’s Club of Auburn, 1992.

Lee County Courthouse

Location: Located on Lee County Courthouse lawn, Opelika, Alabama.

Marker Dedication or Erection Date: July 19, 1978

SIDE 1: LEE COUNTY COURTHOUSE
Lee County was created from portions of Russell, Macon, Chambers and Tallapoosa by act of the Alabama legislature, approved December 5, 1866. The county’s first election was held January 21, 1867. An early courthouse stood across the street from the present structure. In 1896, when W. C. Robinson was Probate Judge, erection of today’s courthouse got underway: low bid, $23, 000; architect’s fee, $1,000; total bond issue, including jail, $35,000. Last bonds paid off in late 1930’s. Placed on the National Register of Historic Places July 23, 1973.

Erected by the Historic Chattahoochee Commission, 1978.

SIDE 2: LEE COUNTY PROBATE JUDGES
David Read, January 21, 1867- August 10, 1872 Wilson Williams, August 1872 – 1880 James K. Edwards, 1881- October 20, 1883 Thomas L. Frazer, November 2, 1883 - 1886 William Carlisle Robinson, 1887 – 1898 Frank Monroe Renfro, 1899 – 1904 John B. Lyons, Late 1904 – May 24, 1915 Griffin P. Butler, June 1, 1915 – November 28, 1932 Lum Duke, late 1932 – January 1935 John T. Frazer, January 15, 1935 – January 25, 1949 James Lewis Killian, 1949- 1950 Ira H. Weissinger, Sr., November 11, 1950 – January 17, 1977 I. H. (Hal) Smith, January 18, 1977 –

Erected by the Historic Chattahoochee Commission, 1978.

Noble Hall

Location: Located at 1433 Lee Road 97, 3 miles north of Auburn, Alabama.

Marker Dedication or Erection Date: 1988

SIDE 1: NOBLE HALL
Side 1 The Greek Revival rock and mortar house was built by Addison Frazer (1809-1873) between 1852 and 1854 and served as the center for a 2,000 acre cotton plantation. Frazer owned 100 slaves and was on the Board of Trustees of Auburn Masonic Female College and East Alabama Male College. The contractor from Kentucky used slave labor to build the eight rooms with 12 foot high ceilings and 18 inch exterior walls, two cantilever balconies and eight Doric columns. In the rear are the original separate kitchen, carriage-smokehouse and overseer’s house. The Frazer family owned the house until 1922.

Erected by the Historic Chattahoochee Commission and the Lee County Historical Society, 1988.

SIDE 2: NOBLE HALL
In 1932, J. V. Brown, Head of Buildings and Grounds at Alabama Polytechnic Institute, now Auburn University, bought the house and began restoration. In 1941, he sold it and 251 acres to Dr. Luther Noble Duncan (1875-1947), who served as president of A.P.I. (1935-1947). In 1943 his daughter, Elizabeth Pearson (Mrs. Allen M.), and family occupied the house and continued restoration. Mrs. Pearson inherited the house in 1951, collected its furnishings and named it Nobel Hall. In 1972 it was the first building in Lee County to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Erected by the Historic Chattahoochee Commission and the Lee County Historical Society, 1988.

Pine Hill Cemetery

Marker Dedication or Erection Date: November 2, 1997

SIDE 1: PINE HILL CEMETERY
Pine Hill was established in 1837 and is the oldest cemetery in Auburn. Judge John J. Harper, Auburn’s founder, donated almost six acres to the new town to be used as a community burying ground for white settlers and their slaves. The original part of the cemetery lies to the north and contains the oldest marked grave – 1838. Early cemetery records are non-existent as the fist survey was conducted in the 1950’s when over 1,100 marked graves were cataloged. Of this number, only one black grave is identified. A cross section of Auburn Citizens are buried here including University presidents and slaves.

Erected by the Auburn Heritage Association and the Historic Chattahoochee Commission, 1995.

SIDE 2: PINE HILL CEMETERY
In the 1870’s a separate cemetery, Baptist Hill, opened to the southeast. For decades Pine Hill served as the primary burying ground for whites in the area. The city’s Confederate marker rises at the rear of the cemetery over the common graves of 98 Texas soldiers who died in a temporary hospital housed in a college building known as “The Main.” Pine Hill suffered from vandalism and neglect until 1995 when the Auburn Heritage Association launched a restoration of the cemetery. It was placed on the Alabama Register in 1978 and is owned and maintained by the City of Auburn.

Erected by the Auburn Heritage Association and Historic Chattahoochee Commission, 1995.

Robert Wilton Burton

Location: Located in front of Burton House Apartments on East Magnolia, in Auburn, Alabama.

Marker Dedication or Erection Date: 1999

SIDE 1: ROBERT WILTON BURTON 1848-1917
Near this site once stood “Four-Story Cottage,” the home of Robert Wilton Burton. A one-story house with wide porch and bay window, Burton built it in 1885 with proceeds from the sale of four stories to children’s magazines. Born in Camden County, Georgia, Burton grew up in Lafayette, Alabama, where he began writing stories for the newspaper, on various subjects. In the early 1870’s, with his brother, he opened a bookstore in Opelika, Alabama. In 1878, at the request of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama, Burton opened the first bookstore in Auburn. It was soon known as the “Coffee House of the College City.”

Erected by the Auburn Heritage Association and Historic Chattahoochee Commission, 1999.

SIDE 2: ROBERT WILTON BURTON
Burton wrote numerous local color stories for national magazines and newspapers. Many of his best tales, in Negro dialect, feature “Marengo Jake” Mitchell, a former slave in Auburn known for his tall tales. In 1991, these stories were published as “De Remnant Truth.” An active Presbyterian, Burton also served as Secretary of the Town Board of Education, County School Superintendent, Clerk of the Town Council, and Secretary to the College Board of Trustees. His bookstore was sold in 1968; his home dismantled in 1993.

Erected by the Auburn Heritage Association and Historic Chattahoochee Commission, 1999.

Scott-Yarbrough House

Location: Located at 101 Debardeleben Street, Auburn, Alabama

Marker Dedication or Erection Date: December 10, 1978

SIDE 1: SCOTT-YARBROUGH HOUSE
Home of Nathaniel J. Scott Family 1847-1871. Colonel Nathaniel J. Scott, from Harris County Georgia, and brother-in-law of John J. Harper (1807-1863), founder of Auburn, Alabama, built this house, which he called “Pebble Hill,” on 100 acres at this site in 1847. With its pyramidal roof and symmetrical lines, the frame house reflects the Greek Revival architecture popular at the time. Colonel Scott was one of four commissioners appointed to lay out and manage the town of Auburn. He organized the East Alabama Masonic Female College in 1847. In 1856, he led in the establishment of East Alabama Male College, now Auburn University. Colonel Scott was Auburn’s first State Legislator.

SIDE 2: SCOTT-YARBROUGH HOUSE
Owned by Dr. Cecil Yarbrough Family 1912-1974. “Pebble Hill” was purchased in 1912 by Dr. Cecil S. Yarbrough (1878 -1940) for his family home. Dr. Yarbrough served in the Alabama State Legislature in the 1920’s. He served three times as Mayor of Auburn, in 1918, in 1921-22 and from 1936-44. He was college physician during World War II. The Auburn Heritage Association purchased the House in 1974. The raised cottage rests on a brick foundation. The joists and rafters are pegged. The floors are hand hewn heart pine. Owners between 1871-1912: Ray, Hollifield, Riley, Hodges.

Erected by the Historic Chattahoochee Commission, 1978.

The Baughman-Honour-Stiles House

Marker Dedication or Erection Date: 2001

Marker Text:
Designed by William Dryden Baughman and built by Fred Burk in 1929, the house was not finished due to the Great Depression. Because of its two-story turret and French Norman Style, it became known as “The Castle.” In 1949, the home was sold to architect Wilfred M. Honour. In 1996, Warren and Mary Ann Stiles purchased it and restored the original heart pine wood floors, gothic archways, wrought iron fixtures and French millwork. They completed the unfinished tower room and the entire second story.

Erected by the Historic Chattahoochee Commission and the Auburn Heritage Association, 2001.

Wittle Dormitory

Marker Dedication or Erection Date: 1999

Marker Text:
Wittel Dormitory has long been admired as one of Auburn’s most significant examples of classic nineteenth-century design. Built in the early 1900’s by Samuel S. Wittel to house professional women, it also served as a home for three generations of the Wittel family. After World War II enrollment at the Polytechnic Institute, which is now Auburn University, rose dramatically and Wittel became Auburn’s first dormitory for college women. The original structure features copper roof details, wood floors throughout, silver plate applied to the front entrance ceilings and Auburn’s first elevator.

Erected by the Historic Chattahoochee Commission and the Auburn Heritage Association, 1999.

Wright's Mill

Location: Located at the entrance of Chewacla State Park, four miles south of Auburn, Alabama.

Marker Dedication or Erection Date: July 18, 1979

SIDE 1: WRIGHT’S MILL
A popular recreation area for more than 100 years. Original dam located a short distance below Chewacla Lake Dam. Mill located on the west bank and ground both corn and wheat. Earlier mill owners from 1840’s were Echols, Hiram Reed, Charles Nelms, and John F. Lewis. W.W. Wright (1825 – 1905) owned the mill from about 1873 into early 1900’s when it was abandoned. Most of these years his miller was Joe Broome. Just before Town Creek enters the Chewacla is the Gin-Saw Hole. A water powered gin and sawmill were located here in the 1840’s. For many years it was a very popular swimming hole.

Erected by the Historic Chattahoochee Commission and the Auburn Heritage Association, 1979.

SIDE 2: WRIGHT’S MILL
In early 1890’s a club house was built on the hill between Wright’s Mill and the Gin-Saw Hole. This was a favorite area for Auburnites before Town Creek was contaminated by Auburn Sewage. A bicycle club was formed in Auburn circa 1900. George Petrie and B. B. Ross were prominent members. A bicycle path was constructed from Auburn to Wright’s Mill. It began where Gay Street formerly terminated at Samford Avenue following the east bank of Town Creek much of the way. Chewacla State Park was opened in 1939 and this park included the Wright’s Mill area. Erected by the Historic Chattahoochee Commission and the Auburn Heritage Association, 1979.