Click image to enlarge. From 1949 to 1968, the Rosa A. Lott School in Citronelle was the only African American high school in northern Mobile County. Under the leadership of local educator Rosa Amelia Lott (1903–1952), the Citronelle Consolidated School provided education for first through twelfth grades. Local students and other children from at least eighteen communities in Mobile and Washington Counties attended the school. Prior to its construction, parents had to send their children away to attend high school. Some traveled more than thirty miles to get an education, and many children were forced to live away from home, boarding or staying with family in distant communities during the school year.
The building’s design and large banks of original wooden windows are noteworthy. The U-shaped plan and lack of an interior hall allowed students to walk directly into classrooms from the outside. The Lott School closed in 1968 when integrated with other schools. Currently empty, it suffers from infrequent maintenance and continued deterioration. The Rosa A. Lott Historical Preservation Society is working to save the building and return it to community use.
RSS Feed