greetings from Sand Town!
many thanks to our neighbor and host, roosevelt edwards, for generously welcoming us into his beautiful home!!
UDC is voted into law!
PROTECTIONS AFFORDED SAND TOWN
Sand Town residents are to work with representative Gina Gregory of District 7 and Shayla Beaco of Build Mobile to draft an amendment to the UDC. The amendment is to provide protections and a Safe Zone for Sand Town against commercial development and encroachment.
We view these actions as movement in a positive direction. Thank you to citizens of greater Mobile, our Spring Hill neighbors, business owners and members of other civic organizations who have helped elevate our voices while continuing to support us on this journey. Stay tuned.
Please direct all questions from the media to: inquiry@sandtowngroup.org. Thank you!
Sand Town Traffic and Safety Concerns
Road Closures at N. McGregor
Communication from Councilwoman Gina Gregory, District 7
Newsletter Alert: January 13, 2023
Dear Residents,
The N. McGregor Avenue roadway project has started - if this has been part of your daily commute, please heed the detour signs and take either University Blvd. or the I-65 Service Road as an east-wide route. PLEASE DO NOT CUT THROUGH NEIGHBORHOOD STREETS.
The road closure is causing a lot of confusion for motorists who don’t heed the warning signs about the closure and instead of detouring to another east-west corridor, they are cutting through neighborhood streets off McGregor Avenue that are not designed for such a high volume of traffic. The heavier traffic on these narrow streets has caused a lot of concern for people who live there. The McGregor closure has also resulted in more motorists using Tuthill Lane as an east-west route. Residents report a high volume of traffic in the early morning hours at high speeds and some motorists failing to heed stop signs. Following that, the traffic tends to slow down, and get backed up. Some people who live on Tuthill report that they’re not able to get out of their driveways. Mobile Police Traffic Officers have been on the scene and have been a big help. They’re coordinating with the Director of Public Safety and Traffic Engineers to monitor and evaluate what can be done now with the first few days of the closure behind us to be more proactive and make improvements. We are looking at ways to better ensure the safety of everyone who lives in the area, paying special attention to the number of youngsters who walk to school. In the meantime, Police Officers will continue to have a presence in the area. The city has set up a website for e-mails and a texting option to answer questions and provide updates. Visit www.city of mobile.org/McGregor-avenue-project or text MOBILEMCGREGOR to 91896.
Sand Town Heavily Impacted
Deja vu. The challenges created by the recent closures of North McGregor at Spring Hill Avenue and further east of Springhill Avenue at the train tracks resulting in traffic chaos seems oddly familiar. It’s apparently going to be a year of challenge and change. Council woman Gina Gregory advised in her recent correspondence to 7th District residents that the closures have caused residential streets to become congested, high traffic areas.
Even though Gregory did not mention Sand Town in her letter, Mordecai and Sheips Lanes are dealing with the same chaotic traffic and safety concerns as Tuthill. Travelers in search of alternative routes have also tried to squeeze down Mordecai and Sheips Lanes. Both have such narrow points that only one car can pass at a time. This is causing confusion and potential dangers for the residents and motorists. East to west, from St. Ignatius at Tuthill to Forest Hill at Municipal Park, these new traffic patterns are uncontrolled.
Alas, this is a real-world view into the potentially lifetime of a mess for the residents of Sand Town and neighboring streets who are now and will be even more adversely impacted by commercial development at the corner of McGregor and Springhill Avenue. While some areas will return to normal once the road construction is completed, Sand Town and nearby neighborhood streets will not be so fortunate. This will be due to people trying to access whatever shops there may be, at who knows what hours, which creates high traffic situations.
Residents along Springhill Avenue have had difficulty getting in and out of their driveways since the once peaceful two-lane street was widened into a five-lane boulevard in the 1970’s. In addition, there is talk of a potential roundabout at Springhill and N. McGregor. Residents that need to get out of their driveways between McGregor and Tuthill Lane without a stop light to halt traffic will forever be negatively impacted.
Sand Town stands in solidarity with the residents on neighboring streets. We are against commercial overdevelopment and street reconstruction plans that threaten the peace and safety of this area.
SAVE SAND TOWN
The Village of Spring Hill’s Master Plan Endangers Sand Town and Its Historical Significance to Mobile!
The Village of Spring Hill organization recently sent the following in an email to supporters:
“The Village of Spring Hill form-based code that guides our Master Plan will finally be voted on at the City Council meeting July 12th at 10:30 am. If the code is not approved as mandatory no doubt stagnant development will persist in the Village. If the code IS approved as mandatory, a precedent will be set in the City of Mobile allowing the “citizens” of Spring Hill to determine the future of their community and allow our Master Plan to be fully realized!.... there are still those few individuals who continue to speak against our efforts.
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Are We, The People Of Sand Town, Established Before 1845 In Spring Hill By Freed Slaves and Indigenous People, NOT “Citizens”?
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A home is the most sacred and biggest investment that one makes. Their Master Plan includes, among other things, the development of a Commercial Center right in the heart of our historical, safe, peaceful, quiet residential neighborhood!! The radical development that Linda St. John, president of the Village of Spring Hill, and their corporation of commercial investors advocate in our area jeopardizes our existence and even the peaceful, quiet, safe, quality of life for citizens and neighborhoods in closest proximity to Sand Town!
Now Ask Yourself:
- How can two ex-officio members of the Village of Spring Hill organization: Councilwoman Gina Gregory and Councilman Joel Daves, be allowed to vote on this issue when they were instrumental and facilitators of this Master Plan from its inception?
- Why have our repeated requests over a two-year period for Sand Town’s exemption from the mandatory Village of Spring Hill Overlay fallen on deaf ears?
- Why isn’t the new, more modern UDC code for the rest of Mobile not good enough for Sand Town as opposed to the 16-year-old Village of Springhill’s deceptive, draconian plan; and why do we need a special overlay that promises to geographically Split Sand Town in HALF?
- Why was this plan created without the knowledge or input of Sand Town residents all those years ago?
- Why has the Village of Spring Hill told Sand Town residents that they cannot join nor have a voice in the Village of Spring Hill organization?
- Why are Sand Town residents and the traditional Spring Hill businesses along Old Shell Road subjected to this outside commercial developers’ Mandatory Master Plan with no regard for what we all envision for our own future development?
The Village of Spring Hill speaks about “being allowed to determine the future of THEIR community.” Most members of that organization don’t even live within the community that they want to control! Why aren’t the residents of Sand Town allowed to determine OUR OWN future while preserving our peaceful history and quality of life?
It makes one wonder: “What is the group of corporate developers who comprise The Village of Spring Hill organization really trying to accomplish?”
dora franlin finley african-american heritage trail
MARKER CONTENT
FRONT SIDE:
Sand Town, the oldest African American neighborhood in the area
of Spring Hill, in Mobile, Alabama, was established before 1845, by
former enslaved and free, indigenous people of color. Sand Town residents
built their own homes, school and places of worship and founded the Rising
Sons Cemetery. It is a thriving community populated by multigenerational
descendants of the original, proud and hard-working property owners.
The Spring Hill School for Colored applied to open in 1873 and remained
open through the 1948-49 school year. The Mt. Hebron Methodist
Church was formed in 1847. After a fire in 1884, a new church was
constructed at the corner of Spring Hill Avenue and Knowles Street.
Sand Town ancestors, former residents and veterans are buried in the
Rising Sons Cemetery, located at the end of Knowles Street.
In 1937, under the guidance of Spring Hill College, St. Augustine
Catholic Church, a log cabin, was built for Colored Catholics in the
area. It existed until 1963, when many African American Catholics in
Spring Hill began attending St. Ignatius Catholic Church. Windows and
doors from St. Augustine Church are installed in the Mt. Hebron A. M. E.
Zion Church..
YESTERYEAR CHRISTMAS CELEBRATIONS
A Sand Town Christmas
"Merry Christmas!" is a familiar phrase you hear at this joyful time of year. It's a time to reflect and a time to share. However, most importantly it's a time to celebrate the birth of Jesus, our Savior, who was born to absorb our sins, to stand in the crevice when we fall and return us on solid ground. So we celebrate His birthday by sharing stories and gifts. This is the story of Christmases past as we remember how the Sand Town Community celebrated Christmas.
My grandmother, who we all called Nina, raised us. My grandfather, Amos, died young so Nina was a widow. She was the mother of ten children, Richard, Lucile, Walter, Gilbert, Bernice, Vera, Joseph, Mabel, Andreta and, lastly, Amos, Jr. who died as a baby. Our parents worked long hours and a lot of double shifts. Nina was a no nonsense grandmother who was loving, kind and dedicated to her family.
You knew Christmas was just around the corner at my grandmother’s when the paint cans came out, all the interior walls got a fresh coat of paint and the windows and curtains were washed, starched and ironed. I really mean that every single corner was polished, reorganized and cleaned. My cousin recently said that you would think Christ himself was going to be a guest at Nina's house on Christmas Day. Fruit cakes were baked ahead of time so they could be wrapped and soaked with bourbon then placed in tins. You need not ask about a tree until all those chores and more were completed!
Christmas Eve was a magical time. The men and some of the older boys would go out in the woods to cut down a tree. The children excitedly discussed their wish lists, and the adults told stories, joked and laughed easily with each other. The Jacksons were a divided group when it came to religious denomination. Half of the brothers and sisters were Catholic and the other half Methodist. At midnight on the eve of Christmas, midnight mass was a must. The partying and fellowship really began after the mass. Friends who had attended midnight mass and others from the neighborhood would come together at Nina’s for gumbo, fruitcake and spirits.
I can remember it always being a very festive time; although children were not allowed, we could hear the music and laughter while we pretended to be asleep. Sometime during the night we would no longer be able to keep our eyes open. The next thing we knew it was Christmas morning and we would jump up and race to the tree.
I have not been able to quite duplicate the fragrances and aromas of those Christmases of long ago. Those smells…the kumquats, apples and oranges, roasted nuts, dinner being cooked and fresh baked cakes and pies, not to mention the scent of a freshly cut tree. Maybe it was the people and the love surrounding us that made those days so special.
While reminiscing about those years, I realize that I am now the age my grandmother was then. It is hard to put into perspective. Now, my home here in Sand Town is a place where we gather with my children, nieces and nephews during the holidays. Together we remember our loved ones no longer here to join us in this year’s celebration. But they left the memories to pass along. And they left us with the knowledge and the lingering spirit of the true meaning of Christmas. Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday Dear Jesus, Happy Birthday to You!
Written by Geneva Gayles with contributions from Angela Brown, daughters of Sand Town.
