Uriah, Alabama
| Uriah, Alabama | |
|---|---|
| Census-designated place | |
 Uriah, Alabama
|
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| Coordinates: 31°18′19″N 87°30′07″W / 31.30528°N 87.50194°WCoordinates: 31°18′19″N 87°30′07″W / 31.30528°N 87.50194°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Alabama |
| Counties | Monroe |
| Area | |
| • Total | 1.606 sq mi (4.16 km2) |
| • Land | 1.606 sq mi (4.16 km2) |
| • Water | 0 sq mi (0 km2) |
| Elevation | 351 ft (107 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 294 |
| • Density | 180/sq mi (71/km2) |
| Time zone | CST (UTC-6) |
| ZIP code | 36480 |
| Area code(s) | 251 |
| GNIS ID | 153822 |
Uriah (pronounced, in the local English dialect, "you-rye") is a census-designated place and unincorporated community in Monroe County, Alabama. Uriah is located at the junction of State Route 21 and State Route 59. As of the 2010 census, its population was 294.
This area was settled in the early nineteenth century, after the United States government had removed most of the American Indians to west of the Mississippi River. Anglo-Americans settled the area, clearing timber and developing farms.
In the 21st century, it continues to be rural, with most people working in agriculture or timber.
The local school, J.U. Blacksher, was named after James Uriah Blacksher, one of the founders and a namesake of Uriah. The school houses kindergarten through 12th grade on its campus.
J.U. Blacksher School was established in 1924, and graduated its first class in 1925. The building was a large white frame structure built around an open-air garden, complete with a goldfish pond.
In January 1950, the main building burned down. The gym, cafeteria and vocational buildings remained. For two and a half years, students attended school at the Masonic Lodge and the CCC Camp at Little River State Park. In the fall of 1951, the school was rebuilt on its present site with two new brick buildings for the elementary and high schools. In 1972, a new cafeteria was completed, and in the fall of 1975, the new gym was completed.
In the spring of 2001, a new eight-classroom wing was added to the back of the campus complex. The main administration office was renovated and enlarged. The football stadium was also renovated, receiving new bleachers and a pressbox. Stadium lights were erected on the baseball field, illuminating it for the first time. In 2008, a new elementary wing was added that contained ten new classrooms.
In 1997, a group of five local white teenagers were found to have committed arson of a black church and vandalized another in the nearby rural community of Little River, Baldwin County, following a Ku Klux Klan rally. They were later convicted and sentenced to several years in prison. These incidents and the events leading up to them in this rural area were explored by author Paul Hemphill in his book The Ballad of Little River: A Tale of Race and Restless Youth in the Rural South, (2000).
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