The Beacon Community (Side 2)
The Allen Wilson Terrace Public Housing Project constructed in 1941, was named for the first African-American. School principal in Decatur. These school building, Lilly Hill Baptist Church, the former Trinity Presbyterian Church on Robin Street and the Allen Wilson Terrance project are the only remaining buildings dating to the early years of this neighborhood.
The beacon Community was home to Henry Oliver, a business owner and resident who was honored in 1902 with a local street named for him. In 1983, the street name was changed to Commerce Drive and his name was given to a meeting room in the new Decatur Conference Center. It was also home to Deacon J.H. Ebster for Ebster park was named; Federal Court Judge Clarence Cooper and Elizabeth Wilson, Decatur´s first African-American city commissioner and mayor.
City of Decatur Marker - February, 1998
Plaque courtesy Lat34North.com.
Original page, with additional info, here.
Photo credit: Byron Hooks of Lat34North.com.