Free Hill (also called Free Hills) is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

Clay County Clay County is the name of 18 counties in the United States. Most are named for Henry Clay, U.S. Senator and statesman: * Clay County, Alabama * Clay County, Arkansas (named for John Clayton, and originally named Clayton County) * Clay County, Fl ...

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It is an

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

community established in 1816, before the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

History

The original inhabitants were the freed

slaves Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

of Virginia Hill, the daughter of a wealthy

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

planter. After purchasing of isolated hilly land, Hill freed her slaves and turned the property over to them. Folklore suggests that the original residents included Virginia Hill's own mulatto children. In the aftermath of the Civil War, with a logging boom pushing them economically, the residents of the nearby mainly white town of Celina began terrorizing the townspeople of Freehill, and burned down their school and church; in 1878 just before elections they drove all Black residents from the town violently. Once the Democratic party swept most of the seats in Congress, the whites holding the land were permitted by the new government to keep the stolen land and farms--one example is that of

Cordell Hull Cordell Hull (October 2, 1871July 23, 1955) was an American politician from Tennessee and the longest-serving U.S. Secretary of State, holding the position for 11 years (1933–1944) in the administration of President Franklin Delano Roosevel ...

, FDR's Secretary of State, whose family gained a large farm and land. At its peak, the community had about 300 residents and included two grocery stores, three clubs, two eating establishments, two churches, and a school. Today, Free Hill's population is approximately 70.

Free Hills Rosenwald School

The settlement's

Rosenwald school The Rosenwald School project built more than 5,000 schools, shops, and teacher homes in the United States primarily for the education of African-American children in the South during the early 20th century. The project was the product of the partn ...

was one of 354 schools for African Americans built in the early 20th century with financial support from the

Julius Rosenwald Fund The Rosenwald Fund (also known as the Rosenwald Foundation, the Julius Rosenwald Fund, and the Julius Rosenwald Foundation) was established in 1917 by Julius Rosenwald and his family for "the well-being of mankind." Rosenwald became part-owner of S ...

. The Free Hills Rosenwald School was used from approximately 1925 to 1949. The structure, which is believed to be one of only about 30 Rosenwald schools still standing, was placed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1996.

Recent years

A small number of residents remain in Free Hill, whose population has declined since the 1960s. In September 1993 the state of Tennessee placed a historical marker on

Tennessee State Route 53 State Route 53 (SR 53) is a north–south state highway that traverses six counties in Middle Tennessee. It is long. Route description Coffee County As a primary route, SR 53 begins at the junction with US 41/ SR 2 in the Coffee ...

to identify the community and commemorate its history.The Free Hills Community, an African-American heritage area
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References

External links

Documentary video about the Rosenwald School
{{authority control African-American history of Tennessee Unincorporated communities in Clay County, Tennessee Rosenwald schools in Tennessee Unincorporated communities in Tennessee Clay County, Tennessee Populated places in Tennessee established by African Americans