Uriah, Alabama

Uriah, Alabama
Uriah, Alabama Location within the state of Alabama
Coordinates: 31°18′19″N 87°30′07″W
Country	United States
State	Alabama
Counties	Monroe
Time zone	CST (UTC-6)
ZIP code	36480
Area code(s)	251

Uriah is located in Monroe County in the southern United States state of Alabama. Uriah serves as the junction of State Route 21 and State Route 59.

Education

The local school, J.U. Blacksher was named after one of the founding fathers (James Uriah Blacksher) of Uriah. The school houses kindergarten through 12th grade on its campus.

J.U. Blacksher School in Uriah, Alabama, 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 CCC Camp at Little River State Park.

In the fall of 1951, we entered the present site with two new brick buildings, the elementary and high school. 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 on to the backside of the campus and the main office was renovated and enlarged. The football stadium was also renovated receiving new bleachers with a new 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.

Church Arson Conflict

In 1997, a group of local teenagers were responsible for the arson of a local church and the vandalism of another in the nearby community of Little River. This story and the events leading up to it were documented by author Paul Hemphill in his book The Ballad of Little River.

Culture

Uriah is home to an annual festival called The Cotton Patch Festival. Various talents and arts and crafts are showcased during the festival.

Uriah is also home to an historic structure called King-Criswell Plantation House (www.king-criswellplantationhouse.com). The Plantation was built in the late 1850's by William 'Doc' King, newphew of William Rufus DeVane King the 13th Vice President of the United States. It was originally located in Lower Peachtree on the Alabama river. The main structure was dismantled and reassembled in the 1960s at its present location at 535 Hwy 59 in Uriah. The massive structure is approximately 9,000 square feet (840 m²) and is a wonderful example of the 'Classic or Greek Revival Style of architecture popular with large plantation owners during the mid 1800's.