Martin Elementary School
Alberto Martin Elementary School was an elementary school in the Birmingham City Schools system located at 1201 14th Street North in Fountain Heights. It was named for pioneer Birmingham attorney Alberto Martin.
The first four-classroom unit of the school was built in 1901 on land donated by the Fountain Heights Land Company at a cost of $21,929. W. L. Bottes of Chattanooga, Tennessee won the construction contract.
Ten new classrooms were added to the original building in 1909, along with new plumbing and heating systems. The E. M. Lisle Company won the contract for $28,584. Construction was interrupted for numerous problems. City inspector W. O. Matthews found numerous unsafe conditions in the original structure, requiring its walls to be strengthened or rebuilt. The Birmingham Board of Education tried to suspend construction, and got Mayor Frank O'Brien to order a stop to the work when the contractor failed to comply. Several workers were taken into police custody and warned not to trespass on the site. Lisle maintained that the board had no right to terminate the contract and promised to sue.
By 1923 the Martin School had an enrollment of 745 students in grades 1 through 7. A report on the physical condition of the school by F. B. Dressler of the U.S. Bureau of Education found the school to have "a good building beautifully sited", with only a note that the indoor gymnasium was of makeshift construction.
Principals
- T. C. Young, 1901-
- L. Frazier Banks, 1919-1921
- R. Voyt Hill
- E. H. Ijam
References
- "Rock Products" (December 22, 1909), Vol. 9, No. 6 p. 46
- Cruikshank, George H. (1920) History of Birmingham and Its Environs: A Narrative Account of Their Historical Progress, Their People, and Their Principal Interests 2 volumes. Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Company. - via Birmingham Public Library Digital Collections
- Birmingham Board of Education (1923) The Birmingham School Survey.