FULTON KENTUCKY
Jerry Rucker's Fulton
From the 2010 Facebook Photo Collection of Jerry Rucker
REMEMBERING FULTON KENTUCKY
Anonymous Post 2008 http://www.city-data.com/forum/kentucky/99553-tell-me-about-fulton-ky-3.html
I was raised and grew up in Fulton in the 50's & 60's. I remember the Banana Festival and the night activities of that week. I also remember that around noon every day of that week they would hang stalks of bananas on the parking meters and as kids we would rush during lunch downtown just to get bananas. The large pudding is something that I also remember and I tell about it all the time. One thing that I remember were the beautiful floats that were in the parade on that last day. Afterwards there were events at the park where there was generally a baseball game. I remember the Dairy Queen across the street from the school. I attended Milton Elementary School (an all black school) during segregation and was with the....
last group to go to Fulton Elementary after the integration. I think about the wonderful teachers that were at Milton (Mrs. Vick, Mrs. Jackson, Mr. Maddox and Mrs. Hart?). When we went to Fulton there was a coach Barringer may not be the correct spelling of his name, he was a very nice coach. This may seem simple but I remember that there was the Pure Milk Co, don't know if it is still there, but around Christmas they made a drink called boiled custard, it was like eggnog but without the spices. It was very good. Also how as a child Halloween was a treat and we could go trick-a-treating without fear of kids getting harmed and the next day at school we would compare our treats. It was true back then everybody knew everybody (business as well) and no one was a stranger. Coming up on this site has also brought back sooooo many memories growing up as a child in Fulton, and retiring there would not be a problem for me. I still have lots of family and friends that live there. Thanks for the memories.
http://www.city-data.com/forum/kentucky/99553-tell-me-about-fulton-ky-3.html
Source: Anonymous Posting 2008 http://www.city-data.com/forum/kentucky/99553-tell-me-about-fulton-ky-3.html
http://www.city-data.com/forum/kentucky/99553-tell-me-about-fulton-ky-3.html
Source: Anonymous Posting 2008 http://www.city-data.com/forum/kentucky/99553-tell-me-about-fulton-ky-3.html
The Banana Festival
See TCRR Museum Photos:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.103548599724474.7432.100002080036103
Recipe1,900 cups of Turner's Boiled Custard; 29,000 vanilla wafers; and 3,760 Dole bananas
See the 2012 Banana Festival Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/10150118437385527/members/
"For those who are fans of the International Banana Festival which was held annually in Fulton, KY/South Fulton, TN for quite a long time. Per The Fulton Leader, the "Banana Festival" is scheduled to resume in 2011!
History: Until the advent of mechanically refrigerated railroad cars Fulton, KY was a major distribution point for most of the bananas sold in the Eastern US. The bananas were loaded into "ice reefers" belonging to the Fruit Growers Express Company in New Orleans and shipped northward until they reached Fulton, KY. At that point the cars needed to have a fresh supply of block ice to prevent spoilage. At Fulton the long Fruit Growers Express trains were also broken down and shipped North by the Illinois Central Railroad and East by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad.
Fulton used to be known as the "Banana Capital of the United States," although the days of mile long FGE trains have long passed. For a few decades starting in 1963, each year the city held a "Banana Festival" in mid-September. One of the major attractions was a one ton banana pudding which the entire community shared at the local park.Below banana
Festival photos courtsey of Twin Cities Railroad Museum files."
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.103548599724474.7432.100002080036103
Recipe1,900 cups of Turner's Boiled Custard; 29,000 vanilla wafers; and 3,760 Dole bananas
See the 2012 Banana Festival Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/10150118437385527/members/
"For those who are fans of the International Banana Festival which was held annually in Fulton, KY/South Fulton, TN for quite a long time. Per The Fulton Leader, the "Banana Festival" is scheduled to resume in 2011!
History: Until the advent of mechanically refrigerated railroad cars Fulton, KY was a major distribution point for most of the bananas sold in the Eastern US. The bananas were loaded into "ice reefers" belonging to the Fruit Growers Express Company in New Orleans and shipped northward until they reached Fulton, KY. At that point the cars needed to have a fresh supply of block ice to prevent spoilage. At Fulton the long Fruit Growers Express trains were also broken down and shipped North by the Illinois Central Railroad and East by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad.
Fulton used to be known as the "Banana Capital of the United States," although the days of mile long FGE trains have long passed. For a few decades starting in 1963, each year the city held a "Banana Festival" in mid-September. One of the major attractions was a one ton banana pudding which the entire community shared at the local park.Below banana
Festival photos courtsey of Twin Cities Railroad Museum files."
A festival memory from 1992, included in an illustrated story for young children: "The Saturday morning parade was long and lots of fun. The pudding was scrumptious. The day was unforgettable! These words and pictures described what people saw, heard, and tasted that day. There were many good parts to the parade, but only one Best Part!"
- Used with permission from But That Wasn't The Best Part!, ©1995 by Jerry Jindrich (http://www.meddybemps.com/8.1.html)
- Used with permission from But That Wasn't The Best Part!, ©1995 by Jerry Jindrich (http://www.meddybemps.com/8.1.html)
Fulton Teachers & Schools
The One Enduring Strength For Black People Is Education
Our Faith:
May have kept us strong but it is, was and always will be education that has moved us forward. Even before we fought to get the vote, we fought for education. Before we fought for employment opportunities we fought for education. Before we fought to be Mayors, Legislators, Judges, Senators or Governors we first fought the battle for education.
http://www.blackfamilyinitiative.com/index.html
Click title for stories of Fulton's wonderful teachers and schools.
Missionary Bottom
Fulton's Missionary Bottom was a 43-acre tract bounded by Vine Street, the railroad tracks adjacent to Carr Street, and North Highland Drive. Though Blacks lived through out the area and had businesses in other parts of town, Missionary Bottom was known as the African- American section of town. It was a separate community, complete with....
Scroll to below photos for full story
Scroll to below photos for full story
The Bottom
Alar Green’s Band from Jackson,
TN often performed on the Front
ulton Kentucky
Missionary Bottom was a 43-acre tract bounded by Vine Street, the railroad tracks adjacent to Carr Street, and North Highland Drive. Though Blacks lived through out the area and had businesses in other parts of town, Missionary Bottom was known as the African- American section of town. It was a separate community, complete with grocery stores, nightclubs and schools. It was home to a number of railroad workers and close enough to walk to work.
Bordering the Bottom and right down the hill from the train station was “the Front” i.e. Burns Avenue which ran adjacent to the railroad tracts parallel to Fourth Street on the northeast side of Mears street viaduct.
Entertainment establishments on the Front hosted local talent , like the Alar Green Band, from surrounding areas along with some of the biggest national show business names- Ruth Brown, Lavern Baker, James Brown, Ike and Tina Turner etc. - of the timeAn entertainment mecca, over the years, places like Mose Patton’s, Burt’s Place, the Topodoro, The Chicken Shack, The Hot Spot, The Playhouse, The Jitterbug, and Lauretta Grill and Lounge contributed to the area so successfully that one reminiscer tells of folks taking the train to Fulton, staying on the Front for two days and taking the train right back out, without ever leaving the Front.
Missionary Bottom, successful and popular beyond belief in the 1940 and 50’s, in the late 1960s, with little thought or effort toward retaining or replacing the entertainment or other of the community’s cultural remembrances, was leveled by urban renewal. Forever, gone were the establishments that attracted large crowds, and their spendings, (particularly groups from surrounding dry counties) that were looking for entertainment.
The urban renewal project relocated 136 families, 17 businesses, 2 churches, and 1 school. All buildings were razed and the area rezoned from residential to light industry. Water Street, Burton Row, and Burns Avenue no longer exist, and Norman Street was straightened and renamed Martin Luther King Drive, transforming the landscape to its appearance today.
Adapted: Images of America FULTON, 2005 Elizabeth R Jones
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Photo below posted on facebook by Pere Algee (2/2018) and commented by Robert Vanderford I remember them playing at the topodora club in Fulton KY with Pullen who is Annie Mae Thacker husband 3/3/18
Missionary Bottom was a 43-acre tract bounded by Vine Street, the railroad tracks adjacent to Carr Street, and North Highland Drive. Though Blacks lived through out the area and had businesses in other parts of town, Missionary Bottom was known as the African- American section of town. It was a separate community, complete with grocery stores, nightclubs and schools. It was home to a number of railroad workers and close enough to walk to work.
Bordering the Bottom and right down the hill from the train station was “the Front” i.e. Burns Avenue which ran adjacent to the railroad tracts parallel to Fourth Street on the northeast side of Mears street viaduct.
Entertainment establishments on the Front hosted local talent , like the Alar Green Band, from surrounding areas along with some of the biggest national show business names- Ruth Brown, Lavern Baker, James Brown, Ike and Tina Turner etc. - of the timeAn entertainment mecca, over the years, places like Mose Patton’s, Burt’s Place, the Topodoro, The Chicken Shack, The Hot Spot, The Playhouse, The Jitterbug, and Lauretta Grill and Lounge contributed to the area so successfully that one reminiscer tells of folks taking the train to Fulton, staying on the Front for two days and taking the train right back out, without ever leaving the Front.
Missionary Bottom, successful and popular beyond belief in the 1940 and 50’s, in the late 1960s, with little thought or effort toward retaining or replacing the entertainment or other of the community’s cultural remembrances, was leveled by urban renewal. Forever, gone were the establishments that attracted large crowds, and their spendings, (particularly groups from surrounding dry counties) that were looking for entertainment.
The urban renewal project relocated 136 families, 17 businesses, 2 churches, and 1 school. All buildings were razed and the area rezoned from residential to light industry. Water Street, Burton Row, and Burns Avenue no longer exist, and Norman Street was straightened and renamed Martin Luther King Drive, transforming the landscape to its appearance today.
Adapted: Images of America FULTON, 2005 Elizabeth R Jones
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Photo below posted on facebook by Pere Algee (2/2018) and commented by Robert Vanderford I remember them playing at the topodora club in Fulton KY with Pullen who is Annie Mae Thacker husband 3/3/18
FULTON'S EARLY ENTREPNEURS
Babe Patterson's Gulf Station
Vanderford Funeral Home
Began in South Fulton, Tennessee in 1939 by F. M. Vanderford, who was born in Corinth, Mississippi, the son of a funeral director who was located in Corinth, Mississippi and they owned the Wells & Vanderford Funeral Home in Corinth, Mississippi.
Vanderford as he was called attended Rust College in Mississippi and Gupton Jones School of Mortuary Science in Nashville , Tennessee .
Vanderford established the Vanderford Funeral Home at 114 Roach Street , South Fulton Tennessee
On December 28, 1941 he married the former Hattie Robert Bethea in Fulton , Kentucky , she being the first Afro-American 4-H director for the state of Kentucky and assigned to the counties of Fulton and Hickman. (1936-1942)
Both F. M. and H. B. were licensed funeral directors and embalmers in the states of Tennessee and Kentucky
They had two sons Robert and Drew Vanderford, Robert who is a licensed funeral director and embalmer also and lives with his wife Beverly in South Fulton , Tennessee they still involve in the funeral field. Robert is a veteran of Vie Nam Era War, a mason, church member, retired employee of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., and former city of South Fulton City Commissioner , Drew with his wife Cheryl lives in Brookport , IL is a retired chemical worker.
With both of the boys having children and grandchildren
F. M. died on 8 Dec 1969 and H. B. died 2 Dec 1995
The Vanderford Funeral Home closed on March 22 2004 they have touched many lives giving friendly and courteous service regardless of circumstances.
Wells-Watson-Vanderford Funeral Home Employees
Front Row: right to left
1. Rev. Watson, 2. Henry Vanderford, 3. Adra Crump Vanderford, 4 Ophelia Watson 5. Mrs. Watson, leaning against the funeral car William McDonald (Embalmer
Second Row: left to right 1. L. W. Wells, 2. Unknown 3.Rev. Richardson (with hat on) 4. Mae Bell Townsend, 5. with cap on William Hines, 6. Dr. Zuker
(Corinth, MS)
Front Row: right to left
1. Rev. Watson, 2. Henry Vanderford, 3. Adra Crump Vanderford, 4 Ophelia Watson 5. Mrs. Watson, leaning against the funeral car William McDonald (Embalmer
Second Row: left to right 1. L. W. Wells, 2. Unknown 3.Rev. Richardson (with hat on) 4. Mae Bell Townsend, 5. with cap on William Hines, 6. Dr. Zuker
(Corinth, MS)
FULTON KENTUCKY &
THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD
1859 -1909
With construction reaching Pontotoc (Fulton) in 1859 the railroad was a critical said by some to be a founding, part for the city of Fulton. Late 19th century rail and town prosperity led to a warm effusive description in a later Illinois Central Magazine article: “Fulton [is] a city of beautiful residences, bristling with many business enterprises, throbbing with commercial activities, pulsating with social life of a superb citizenship, nestles sun- kissed and God -favored at the intersections of two great lines of the Illinois central railroad…and ranks with the foremost of the cites of its size in the South.”
1909-1959
During the first half of the 20th century an impressive new depot was constructed, more than 30 passenger trains a day passed through; and Fulton became home to the second largest of the Illinois Central Headquarters, issuing paychecks for between 800 and 1100 workers. Of special note, one particularly important cargo starting in the 1920s was bananas. Fulton serviced and re-routed the required refrigerator cars and became known the banana capital of the nation.
1959-2009
The second half of the 20th century as a result of improved trucking, air travel, and air transport the railroad industry and it’s presence in Fulton experienced a slow gradual decline. The numbers of daily trains dropped and the Illinois Central Headquarters closed. In 1979, the old depot was torn down and in 1989, the downtown railroad tracks were removed. As well, in 1992, the famous Banana Festivals that began in 1962 honoring the railroad’s role in the banana industry, ended.
Fulton and it’s relationship with the railroad perseveres and though, certainly not to the accustomed scale, hosting freight trains and two passenger trains a day- Fulton is still a railroad town. And it is one of the few with passenger train services in the state.
FULTON KENTUCKY AND ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD
The Kentucky and Tennessee regions owe much to the intrusion of the railroad, which had a dramatic effect on the states as towns appeared quickly along the route and massive areas were brought under cultivation due to the availability of easy transportation to markets. Needless to say, though seldom told, the impact of African American workers on this great industry was significant. As was the impact of the railroad on African Americans.
During slavery, southern companies were known to have purchased slaves to work on the railroads and as slaves and freemen alike, Blacks contributed greatly to the building the railroad and our nation in general. Yet, our contributions did not guarantee or even encourage access to the fruits of our labor. Jim Crow laws, enacted during the Reconstruction era after the Civil War, became a new way of ensuring white supremacy. These laws kept white people and black people far apart from each other in daily life. Blacks could not use the same public restrooms or waiting rooms as whites and were not allowed to attend “white” schools or sit in “white” seats on buses. Signs hung in public places designating the “whites only” and “colored” facilities.
The railroad was especially privy to the institutional racism of the time as evidenced by the 1892
passage of Kentucky’s “Separate Coach Law “ that forbade Blacks from sitting in white coaches and required the all too familiar, “movement of Black passengers” to the Black car when the north-south trains crossed over the Ohio River into Kentucky . Black leaders fought hard against the bill and won only to have the ruling nullified in less than two years by the Plessy v. Ferguson ruling that remained the law of the until it was overturned over sixty years later in 1954 by Brown v. Board of Education.
EARLY FULTON
FULTON, KY
The Chickasaw Indians were the first known inhabitants of what is now Western Kentucky with the name, Pontotoc, which means the “Land of the Hanging Grapes.” The Fulton community was originally formed around the Pontotoc Rail Station in 1859. It was incorporated in 1895 as Fulton; named after the inventor of the Steamboat, Robert Fulton. The railroad industry has long been and still is a vital part of FultonPost- slavery African America families often followed the lucrative work of the north south routes of the Illinois Central Railroad (ICRR) and many migrated to Fulton for work on the railroad. As a major port, the location of the ICRR in Fulton was especially important to the commerce of the Ken Tenn region, and Fulton soon became a home base for the executive headquarters, second only, at one time to the major Chicago IL office.
In the early years, Fulton was referred to as the “end of the line” by the United States Government and all mail was addressed to this extent. In 1896, the Illinois Central Railroad, later to be known as the Main Line of Mid- America, owned the two railroad lines that crossed Fulton, and hosted 30 passenger trains a day and 3,000 freight cars that picked up or delivered cargo. The freight cars would usually have banana and would stop in Fulton to be re-iced and then shipped to rest of the country. Through this process, Fulton became know as the "Banana Capital of the World.”
The March 1920 issue of the Illinois Central Magazine describes Fulton KY as:
“… a city of beautiful residences bristling with many business enterprises, throbbing with commercial activities and pulsating with the social life of a superb citizenship, nestled sun-kissed and God-favored a the intersections of the two great lines of the Illinois central railroad and upon the border line between western Tennessee and western Kentucky. Its central location, surrounded as it is by soil of the great fertility, appeals strongly to the man who is seeking the best business and social opportunities. It has a population of 8,000 and ranks with the foremost of the cities of its size in the south. “
Into this arena of beauty, tranquility and lingering vestiges of Jim Crow Law and racism in the form of social customs, segregated movie theaters, train stations and trains: ventured the brave the noble and the grand African American men of the Illinois central Railroad that are commemorated in this project.
Source: Full text and adaptations from: http://www.archive.org/details/illinoiscentrale19illi ,
http://fulton kentucky.com, http://www.ket.org/civilrights/timeline.htm http://www.archive.org/details/illinoiscentrale19illi
FULTON & THE GREAT MIGRATION
Located at the intersection of two major rail lines Fulton played an important role in the magnanimous Great Migration.
The Great Migration
The Great Migration was a long-term movement of African Americans from the South to the urban North, between 1916 and 1970 that forever, transformed the established racial patters of the nation.
During those decades, approximately 7 million African Americans left the South to escape racism and seek employment opportunities in industrial cities.
Before widespread automobile ownership, migration from the South generally followed water and rail routes. By the time World War I opened employment opportunities for African Americans in northern cities, the Illinois Central and its feeder lines had penetrated many of the plantation regions where the black population was most concentrated and served as a primary mean of migration.
So threatening to the southern way of life, was this phenomenon that southern politicians tried to pass laws forbidding south –north train passage to African Americans.
The crossing of Fulton’s two major railroad lines positioned Fulton for a critical and indispensable role in this nation transforming experience.
Adapted: http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/page/545.html
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Through a series of paintings, in The Great Migration, Jacob Lawrence illustrates the mass exodus of African-Americans who moved to the North in search for a better life. Lawrence's parents were among those who migrated between 1916-1919, considered the first wave of the migration....
"Many migrants moved to Chicago and Pittsburgh, which were great industrial centers at the time."
Railroad stations were so crowed with migrants that guards were called in to keep order." J Jacob Lawrence cob Lawrence
The First Wave of the Great Migration (1916-1919) - part I
"Around the time of WWI, many African-Americans from the South left home and traveled to cities in the North in search of a better life."
Jacob Lawrence sleeping
The First Wave of the Great Migration (1916-1919) - part I
"Northern industries offered Southern blacks jobs as workers and lent them money, to be repaid later, for their railroad tickets. The Northbound trains were packed with recruits."
The railroad stations were crowded with migrants."