Prichard, Alabama

Prichard borders the northside of Mobile, as well as the Mobile suburbs of Chickasaw, Alabama, Saraland, Alabama, and the unincorporated sections of Eight Mile, Alabama. As of 2005 Census Bureau estaimtes, the population of the city is 27,963.^[1] It is a part of the Mobile metropolitan statistical area. Prichard is an impoverished city which has been in a state of decline since the mid-60s, it has been riddled with financial problems, Alabama's highest continuous per capita crime rate, and a population which has been fleeing for the last 40 years.

1 History
2 Recent Political History
3 City Government
4 Geography
5 Demographics
6 Education
7 References
8 External links

[edit] History

Prichard began as a settlement in the 1830's bordering the Telegraph Road (known now as U.S Highway 43) It remained largely unsettled until the Clotilde landed in Mobile Bay prior to the Civil War. Africatown evolved into a greater part of the Plateau/Magazine area which developed along Telegraph Road, and eventually, Plateau and Magazine had their territory split between Mobile and Prichard.

After 1900, Prichard began a slow and steady development. In 1925, Prichard was incorporated as a city During World War II Prichard became a company town as many Mobile shipbuilding companies built homes for their workers in Prichard. During the 1950's and 60's, Prichard annexed historic Whistler as well as parts of Eight Mile, Alabama and Kushla. The 40's and 50's saw phenomenal growth in the Mobile area, and Mobile, Prichard and Chickasaw all recorded their highest city proper populations in 1960. Following the Civil Rights Movement however, Prichard's rigid system of segregation collapsed, and many blacks who had previously lived in the Bullshead/Neely/Trinity Gardens area of Prichard began moving into East Prichard (downtown Prichard) causing a dramatic white flight to occur.

In 1960, Prichard recorded a population of 47,371, making it Alabama's largest suburb. In 1970, the population had decreased to 41,000 and by 1990 it had decreased to approximately 34,000. In 1970, Vigor High School on Wilson Avenue, which had been Prichard's white high school during segregation was 70% white, by 1980, it was 80% black, even considering the fact that most of Prichard's remaining white areas were in its district. In 1994, construction of I-165 was completed, and it has produced some economic benefits in East Prichard. The 1980's downtown vacancy rate was near 80%, as of 2000, it is closer to 30%. In 2004, the Prichard Housing Authority began demolition of the Bessemer Avenue Housing Project in Bullshead.

[edit] Recent Political History

In 1972, while still a majority white city, Prichard elected its first black Mayor, Algernon Johnson (A.J) Cooper, who would serve 2 terms as Prichard's mayor, and would eventually serve in the administration of President Bill Clinton. In 1968, Cooper had founded the Black American Law Students Association at New York University. Mayor Cooper was popular with both blacks and whites, however, he engaged in many battles with the Prichard City Council during his tenure. Cooper however, governed the city in an efficient manner, the same cannot be said for his successors, whose actions in the 1980s and the 1990s exacerbated the problems of crime and both white and middle class black flight, culminating in the 2000 impeachment of Mayor Jesse Norwood, who had led a controversial administration whose actions included having Prichard declare bankruptcy in 1999.

Mayor Norwood was succeeded in office by Mayor Charles Harden, whose stormy term included fights with Prichard CIty Council President Ron Davis, a Mobile County Sheriffs Deputy. Also during Harden, Prichards stagnant condition continued, and Mayor Harden missed a majority of City Council meetings held in 2004, and in August 2004, was defeated by Ron Davis, who received the support of whites, blacks, the business community and the Mobile Register.

Most recently, however, after Hurricane Katrina, Mayor Ron Davis was involved in controversy and came under scrutiny by local news media (most notably "The Mobile Register" and WPMI TV 15) when he applied for and received an emergency Red Cross grant. However, Mayor Ron Davis did have some loss from Hurrican Katrina and there were no minimum income requirements to receive the emergency grant. Mayor Davis has pursued a policy based on cleaning the city's blight and improving services, while revenues and businesses have increased.

In November 2004, Mobile County voters narrowly (500 votes out of 100000 cast on the issue) defeated a local amendment which would have allowed Prichard to set up a special trade zone, the measure passed by a 2/3s vote in Prichard, and also passed by smaller margins in Mobile and Chickasaw, but was defeated by the rest of Mobile County. The amendment is on the 2006 statewide general election.

[edit] City Government

The current mayor of Prichard is Ron Davis. Davis was elected mayor in the 2004 municipal elections, defeating incumbent mayor Charles Harden.

The city is served by a five-member city council, which is composed of five districts of equal size. The city council is responsible for establishing the policies of the city of Prichard. The current council president is Troy Ephriam. The Prichard City Council meets every Thursday at 4:30 pm in the Council Chambers at Prichard City Hall.

**Mayor** **Ron Davis**

**Current City Council Membership**
District	Representative	Position
I	Herman Towner	Councilman
II	Earline Martin-Harris	Councilwoman
III	Nepoleon Bracy jr.	Councilman
IV	Troy Ephriam	Council President
V	Ossia Edwards	Councilwoman

[edit] Geography

Prichard is located at 30°44′53″N, 88°6′1″W (30.748038, -88.100384)^GR1.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 66.0 km² (25.5 mi²). 65.8 km² (25.4 mi²) of it is land and 0.2 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (0.31%) is water.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 28,633 people, 9,841 households, and 7,272 families residing in the city. The population density was 435.4/km² (1,127.6/mi²). There were 11,336 housing units at an average density of 172.4/km² (446.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 14.18% White, 84.53% Black or African American, 0.30% Native American, 0.12% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.07% from other races, and 0.79% from two or more races. 0.57% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 9,841 households out of which 36.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 32.8% were married couples living together, 36.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.1% were non-families. 23.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.84 and the average family size was 3.35.

In the city the population was spread out with 31.4% under the age of 18, 11.4% from 18 to 24, 24.6% from 25 to 44, 21.0% from 45 to 64, and 11.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 84.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 76.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $19,544, and the median income for a family was $23,519. Males had a median income of $26,543 versus $17,040 for females. The per capita income for the city was $10,626. About 31.8% of families and 35.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 47.8% of those under age 18 and 25.8% of those age 65 or over.