By Andrew Edwards
Elmore/Autauga News Staff Writer
AUTAUGA COUNTY – Built in 1900, Mulberry Schoolhouse at Mallard Chapel is the oldest surviving one-room schoolhouse in Autauga County. From 1900 to 1950, the building operated as a school for blacks in the surrounding communities, and was able to house up to 40 students and two teachers. It also acted as the Mallard AME Church from 1913-1919 after the original church burned down in 1913.
After closing in 1950, the building remained empty for 70 years until Laver Caver, President of the Old Autauga Historical Society, took interest in preserving the building back in late 2019.
Caver has helped to grow membership in OAHS to 144 members, each of which work to preserve local historical structures in dire need of preservation. In 2020, Caver and other members of the society worked to replace the roof of the building with tin metal sheets. Now, he along with the help of others are taking on their 2021 project – replacing the interior flooring.
“Much of the inside was rotting away, and a lot of the flooring was warped beyond saving. I was first able to lay my eyes on this building back in 1990 and immediately was fascinated by it, so I’m really proud of everyone’s effort so far in returning it to what it once was,” Caver said.
In early March, 2021 members of OAHS started ripping away at the rotting floorboards and replacing it with new, but similar wood. The crew managed to get about a third of the way done until they found that several of the support beams were rotting around the edges of the building. Workers look to replace those supports before they get back to work on the flooring.
In all, Caver expects to finish the flooring project by June 1st of this year. After which, he and other OAHS members will take a break from the preservation project until 2022, when they will focus on the interior roofing.
Make no mistake, though. Caver is preserving the building and not completely changing it.
“We want to keep the historical worth of the building intact. We are going to eventually paint the inside and out the same color, replace the windows, reinstall the same seating that was already here, and put the same type of shutters and door that was originally on the school. We’re also going to install a wood-burner cast iron stove in the same spot where the old rotten one was,” Caver said.
Caver said the end goal of the project is to make the building into a museum where various groups could meet. It could also be an opportunity for schools to come and take field trips.
“We’re excited about the future of the schoolhouse as well as our multitude of other projects,” Caver said.
Members of OAHS are expected to work on the flooring every Tuesday and Thursday this month. Caver wanted to offer a special thank you to the hard work put in by OAHS members John Dennis, Rusty Wood, and Benny Jackson – as well as Frank Burns, Member of the AME Mallards Chapel Church.
To volunteer, become a member of OAHS, or for more information, contact Larrycaverjr@yahoo.com
See more photos of the progress below.
