Anniston Federal Courthouse: A Fresh Take on the Model City

The first iron furnace was erected near the current intersection of Noble Street, shown on this 1888 Bird's Eye View map, and 8th Street. Noble Street and 17th Street served as the center of the town, which extended in a 1.5-mile radius from that location. 

The area highlighted in green is Block 148 where the new federal courthouse is located.

The Atlanta and Birmingham Railroad, completed in 1882, offered easier transportation and more options for development in the Anniston area.

Anniston experienced fluctuating growth and decline throughout the 1880s and 1890s. The railroad and industry contributed to the rise in population and prosperity, while the depression of the early 1890s affected the iron industry resulting in decline.

The Anniston Street Railway Company had a car shed on the northwest corner of Block 148 by 1890. This Sanborn Fire Insurance map shows the car shed and the three houses mentioned above.

The development of Block 148 and its immediate surroundings illustrates the growth that occurred in Anniston at the end of the century. In 1887, the Anniston Mercantile Company was established. The building shown here was erected in 1889 two blocks to the west of Block 148 on the northwest corner of 11th and Moore Streets.

The Armour and Company building was built adjacent to the Mercantile, their local agent, between 1900 and 1905. Based in Chicago, Armour and Company was a leader in the meat-packing industry. In 1906, Armour and Company took direct control of the Anniston branch and operated it separately from the Mercantile. Armour and Company operated in Anniston through the late 1950s. 

The fluctuation between growth and decline continued into the twentieth century until WWI. The demands placed on the iron industry by the war brought prosperity to Anniston. Growth led to an increased need for housing, businesses, and government services, which affected the development of Block 148 and its surroundings.

In 1900, the Calhoun County Courthouse was constructed to the east of Block 148 at the corner of Gurnee Avenue and West 11th Street when the county seat moved from Jacksonville to Anniston. In 1931, a fire decimated the courthouse interior leaving only remnants of the structure intact.

In 1904, the U.S. Courthouse and Post Office was built two blocks to the east of Block 148 at Noble Street and 12th Street. This building still stands.

In 1914, Chero-Cola Bottling Company opened a plant in Anniston on the north side of Block 148 along West 12th Street. The original city hall location was across the street at the northwest corner of Gurnee Avenue and West 12th Street.

In 1928, the company was renamed Nehi Corporation after one of their popular soft-drinks. In 1940, they relocated north to Noble Street and renamed themselves again -- this time as Royal Crown Bottling Company. The company operated from that location until the 1970s.

Although Anniston suffered decline during the Great Depression, World War II delivered an economic boom. The iron industry became extremely profitable, earning Anniston the nickname "Soil Pipe Capital of the World."

Prosperity brought by the war was reflected in the development of Block 148. In the 1940s, the houses and Chero-Cola bottling company were demolished to make way for a USO building on the northeast corner of the block and the Calhoun County Health Center on the southeast corner.

Pictured to the right is the USO building under construction in 1942. The tent pictured in the background is the Playland Amusement Center.

During the war, the USO building served as a recreation center for troops stationed at nearby Fort McClellan and the Anniston Army Depot.

The building was used as a City Auditorium until the late 1990s and as City Hall from 1949 to 2019 when it was demolished to make way for the new federal courthouse.

The USO building is a good example of the streamlined Moderne architecture of the period and was designed by local architect Paul W. Hofferbert.

Dr. Gordon Rodgers, local community leader, led a protest in 1960 in response to an attack on a Black Talladega College student. When the assailant was released without charges, students from the college marched to Anniston to protest with Dr. Rodgers.

Born in Anniston on October 28, 1915, Dr. Rodgers received a BS degree from Talladega College in 1937 and graduated from Meharry Medical College, School of Dentistry in June 1941. He was also a veteran of WWII.

Dr. Rodgers served as the State President of the Alabama NAACP when Rosa Parks was secretary, and during the Montgomery Bus Boycott. He ran for Anniston Public Safety commissioner in 1962 and became the first African American elected to the Anniston City Council in 1968 serving two consecutive terms.

This clipping from The Student Voice issued in April 1962 provides details about the events surrounding the march led by Dr. Rodgers. The Talladega College student and the bus driver were both beaten after the student attempted to use the "white" waiting room at the station. More violence ensued after the initial event, including the assault of a student using a chain.

This 1961 clipping from the Anniston Star states that, even when faced with multiple violent assaults, the student march led by Dr. Rodgers remained peaceful.

...our students went forth with prayer. They marched in orderly manner and in complete silence.

The 1960 Boynton v. Virginia decision to desegregate accommodations along interstate commerce lines spurred the Congress for Racial Equality (CORE) to integrate bus station waiting rooms and restrooms across the South.

In May 1963, Freedom Riders traveling to Birmingham encountered a mob of white segregationists when they arrived at the Anniston Greyhound Bus Station.

The mob slashed one of the tires while chasing the bus out of town. When the bus was eventually forced off the road due to the busted tire, the mob proceeded to set the bus aflame using home-made bombs.