Acmar Civic Center, Acmar, St. Clair County

Nominated by the Alabama Historical Commission (AHC), the structure is a gabled-roof building with clapboard siding. It was recently listed to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage for its importance to the African American mining village in Acmar. Built in 1905 by the Acmar mining company, it served as the First Missionary Baptist Church until 1977. Until the 1930s, the building also served, for a time, as the community’s Acmar junior high school.

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The village of Acmar was associated with two coal mines operated by the Alabama Fuel and Steel Company. The village was entirely segregated, which necessitated the construction of a church and community space for African Americans. While serving as the Baptist church and junior high school, the Acmar Civic Center also held Methodist services every other Sunday. The mining company built a separate school across the street in the 1930s, but the civic center continued as an additional educational space into the 1950s, as well as providing trades education and a space for returning GI’s from WWII to finish their education. The building continued to serve the Baptist and Methodist communities until 1977, when the Baptist church moved out. The building continued as a community meeting space for the Acmar Civic League, the Acmar Environmental Preservation Group, and the local masonic lodge.
 
The building was closed in 1990, but the Acmar Civic League continues its efforts to maintain the structure. The group is now focused on saving the building and recreating the public space that once served the community. Stabilizing the structure is the first step in a plan that involves marking this site as an important historic community space for African American miners in Alabama.
 
For more information on the Acmar Civic Center please contact:
Hannah Garmon (AHC): 334.230.2644,
​mailto: hannah.garmon@ahc.alabama.gov