History - West Highland Historical Foundation

Alabama Department of Archives and History

Short History of West Highland

In the early 20th century, Booker T. Washington, the esteemed founder of Tuskegee University, and Julius Rosenwald, an industrialist and philanthropist, collaborated to establish the Rosenwald Fund. This initiative resulted in the creation of thousands of schools across the Southern United States. The Fayette Training School was part of that initiative.

Established in 1926, the Fayette Training School occupied five acres of land that became part of the West Highland High School campus. The original wooden structure of the Fayette Training School cost $9,550. Out of the entire amount: Fayette County African Americans contributed $6,050, public funds accounted for $2,200, and the Rosenwald Fund donated $1,300. In 1945, a two-story block building took the place of the original wooden structure. The two-story block structure of the Fayette Training school still stands today behind the main building of the West Highland High School structure. The Fayette Training School taught reading, writing, arithmetic, vocational, and agricultural training.

West Highland High School was constructed in 1960, and classes began on August 28, 1961, with Principal James W Beatty at the helm who served as the principal of both schools from 1948 to 1969. The State of Alabama originally constructed the school as part of its school equalization program, a policy intended to maintain racial segregation within the state’s education system. The school boasted a comprehensive range of facilities: including vocational, agriculture and home economics units complete with classrooms, shops, kitchens, and a sewing room. In addition to these specialized spaces, the school featured five academic classrooms, a science laboratory, a library, a commercial room, a band room, a lunchroom, and administrative offices. An auditorium and gymnasium further enhanced the school’s infrastructure. During its highest period of enrollment, over five hundred students attended.

This new school marked a major change to Fayette County African American History. It was the first African American High School in Fayette County. For the African American citizens who attended, it marked their first opportunity to receive an education equal to that of white individuals, fundamentally impacting their lives. This school gave African Americans in Fayette County opportunities to pursue any career they chose.

However, the school’s existence was short-lived. In 1970, because of the landmark Supreme Court ruling in Brown vs. Board of Education, which mandated the desegregation of public schools. West Highland High School was phased out. Its students were integrated into the Fayette County High School system, marking the end of an era for the school but also reflecting the broader shifts in the educational landscape of the American South.

Repurpose as the Area Vocational School.

Following its renovation in 1978, the building that once housed West Highland High School became home to the Fayette County Area Vocational School. It provided vocational training in cosmetology, welding, business education, small engine repair, automotive repair, home economics, and agriculture. Students from this school competed and received “Vocational Industrial Clubs of America” awards at the national level. The Fayette County Area Vocational School closed its doors in 2012. This was the last time the Fayette County Board of Education used this building to educate the students of Fayette County.