Decatur

The Old State Bank is a historic Jeffersonian-style bank building in Decatur, Alabama, United States. It was recorded by the Historic American... Buildings Survey in 1934 and 1935. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 24, 1972, due to its architectural significance. The Decatur branch of the Alabama State Bank opened its doors on July 29, 1833. It was authorized by the Alabama General Assembly in 1830 to be one of three branches of the Alabama State Bank. After outstanding debts of over $1 million dollars were unable to be reformed the Decatur branch franchise was revoked. The building remained vacant until the 1860s when it was one of three buildings that survived the Civil War in Decatur, Alabama. During the Battle of Decatur, the bank was used as headquarters for the Union forces in the area, and was also used as a hospital while battles raged outside. Such evidence of the battle remains in the form of visible bloodstains in one of the three vaults, slugs from musketfire, and Minie balls are still clearly seen in the walls of the building. In 1881, the First National Bank opened its doors in the Old State Bank building.
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The Cotaco Opera House was the first opera house constructed in the state of Alabama. It is located at 115 Johnston Street in historic downtown... Decatur, Alabama. In 1889, the city of Decatur was the largest city in North Alabama, out-sizing Huntsville. It had become increasingly apparent that the city was in need of a theater to showcase its fine arts. The Opera House was built on a 100 by 140 foot site that ran south from Johnston Street and fronting on the east side of 1st Avenue. It was built by the Cotaco Opera House Company, which was incorporated on September 16, 1889.
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Ogle Stadium is an 9,000-seat stadium in Decatur, Alabama, located on the southern end of Decatur High School's campus, and is owned by the Decatur... City Schools. Prior to 1949, the Decatur football team played at the 3,000 person capacity Benson Field that is now a part of Rhodes Ferry Park along the shores of the Tennessee River next to the old Riverview High School. The stadium is named after former coach, and Alabama Sports Hall of Famer, H.L. "Shorty" Ogle, who led the Red Raiders from 1933 to 1963. Both of the high schools in Decatur play their home games in this stadium. The one exception is the Decatur vs. Austin game. In this case, one team sits on the away side while the other occupies the home side. The schools alternate each year. This football game usually sells out the stadium, and brings in crowds of over 10,000 to watch the city's major rivalry.
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Mae Carol Jemison is an American physician and NASA astronaut. She became the first black woman to travel in space when she went into orbit aboard... the Space Shuttle Endeavour on September 12, 1992. After her medical education and a brief general practice, Jemison served in the Peace Corps from 1985 to 1987. She resigned from NASA in 1993 to form a company researching the application of technology to daily life. She has appeared on television several times, including as an actor in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. She is a dancer, and holds 9 honorary doctorates in science, engineering, letters, and the humanities. Mae Carol Jemison was born in Decatur, Alabama, the youngest child of Charlie Jemison and Dorothy Green. Her father was a maintenance supervisor for a charity organization, and her mother worked most of her career as an elementary school teacher of English and math at the Beethoven School in Chicago. The family moved to Chicago, Illinois, when Jemison was three years old, to take advantage of better educational opportunities there. Jemison says that as a young girl growing up in Chicago she always assumed she would get into space.
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Dean Carroll Jones is an American actor. Jones is best known for his light-hearted leading roles in several Walt Disney movies between 1965 and... 1977, most notably The Love Bug. Jones was born in Decatur, Alabama to Andrew Guy Jones, a traveling construction worker, and Nolia Elizabeth White Jones. As a student at Decatur's Riverside High School Jones had his own local radio show, Dean Jones Sings. Jones served in the United States Navy during the Korean War, and after his discharge worked at the Bird Cage Theater at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California. Jones attended Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky, as a member of its Class of 1953 but did not graduate. However, the university awarded him an honorary degree in 2002, and he spoke at the ceremony for the dedication of Asbury's Andrew S. Miller Center for Communications Arts on March 4, 2011. After appearing in minor film and television roles, Jones made his Broadway debut in the 1960 play There Was a Little Girl. He stepped into the role in Boston, Massachusetts on only one day's notice.
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Angela Michelle Little is an American model and actress. Little was selected as Playboys Playmate of the Month for August 1998, and she has appeared... in several Playboy videos and special editions, working steadily for Playboy for more than five years following her centerfold appearance. Little was born in Albertville, Alabama. Playboy magazine founder and publisher Hugh Hefner's nickname for Little is "Little Marilyn". Little has had roles in a number of mainstream films including the movie Walk Hard starring John C. Reilly, American Pie: Band Camp, Rush Hour 2 and My Boss's Daughter. She has been a guest star in episodes of TV series such as Cold Case, CSI, Nip/Tuck, Monk, The Mullets, Charmed, Malcolm in the Middle, Reno 911! and the soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful, plus a role on the short-lived TV series Buddy Faro. She also hosted the E! Channel's Wild on the Windy City. Little was the St. Pauli Girl for 2000, the second of the Playmate national spokesmodels for the beer brand after Jaime Bergman. Little has choreographed and performed cabaret style dance reviews for casino venues. Little married actor/musician Andy Mackenzie August 20, 2005.
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Lucas York Black is an American film and television actor. He is known for his roles in the CBS television series American Gothic as well as roles... in films such as Sling Blade, Jarhead, Friday Night Lights, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Legion, Get Low, and All the Pretty Horses. He also appeared on an episode of outdoors with TK and Mike. Black was born in Decatur, Alabama, the son of Jan, an office worker, and Larry Black, a museum worker. He has two older siblings, brother Lee and sister Lori. Black was raised a Southern Baptist. He grew up in Speake, Alabama and played for the Speake Bobcats, graduating from high school in May 2001. He currently resides in Columbia, Missouri. Without any formal training as an actor, Lucas's film debut was in the 1994 Kevin Costner film, The War. He was subsequently cast as Caleb Temple in CBS's television series American Gothic, which ran from 1995 to 1996, and in the films Sling Blade, Ghosts of Mississippi and The X-Files. Later in 1997 Black starred in the TV film Flash, which aired on The Wonderful World of Disney. In 1998, Black was offered a part in The Horse Whisperer.
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David Donald Albritton had a long career that spanned three decades and numerous titles and was one of the first high jumpers to use the straddle... technique. He was born in Danville, Alabama. Albritton had a number of similarities with all-time great Jesse Owens. Both were born in Danville, Alabama; both attended East Technical High School in Cleveland, Ohio; both attended the Ohio State University; both were members of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity; both competed in the 1936 Summer Olympics. As a sophomore at Ohio State, Albritton won the National Collegiate Athletic Association championship in 1936. In 1936, Albritton and Cornelius Johnson both cleared 6-9 3/4 to set a world record at the Olympic Trials, becoming the first blacks to hold the world record in the event. Albritton was second to Johnson at the 1936 Summer Olympics, with a height of 6' 6 3/4" . He claimed the silver medal in a jump-off after he and two other jumpers cleared the same height. Albritton and Johnson were snubbed by Hitler when they went to collect their medals. Albritton won or tied for seven National Amateur Athletic Union outdoor titles from 1936 to 1950.
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Dean Carroll Jones is an American actor. Jones is best known for his light-hearted leading roles in several Walt Disney movies between 1965 and... 1977, most notably The Love Bug. Jones was born in Decatur, Alabama to Andrew Guy Jones, a traveling construction worker, and Nolia Elizabeth White Jones. As a student at Decatur's Riverside High School Jones had his own local radio show, Dean Jones Sings. Jones served in the United States Navy during the Korean War, and after his discharge worked at the Bird Cage Theater at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California. Jones attended Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky, as a member of its Class of 1953 but did not graduate. However, the university awarded him an honorary degree in 2002, and he spoke at the ceremony for the dedication of Asbury's Andrew S. Miller Center for Communications Arts on March 4, 2011. After appearing in minor film and television roles, Jones made his Broadway debut in the 1960 play There Was a Little Girl. He stepped into the role in Boston, Massachusetts on only one day's notice.
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Lucas York Black is an American film and television actor. He is known for his roles in the CBS television series American Gothic as well as roles... in films such as Sling Blade, Jarhead, Friday Night Lights, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Legion, Get Low, and All the Pretty Horses. He also appeared on an episode of outdoors with TK and Mike. Black was born in Decatur, Alabama, the son of Jan, an office worker, and Larry Black, a museum worker. He has two older siblings, brother Lee and sister Lori. Black was raised a Southern Baptist. He grew up in Speake, Alabama and played for the Speake Bobcats, graduating from high school in May 2001. He currently resides in Columbia, Missouri. Without any formal training as an actor, Lucas's film debut was in the 1994 Kevin Costner film, The War. He was subsequently cast as Caleb Temple in CBS's television series American Gothic, which ran from 1995 to 1996, and in the films Sling Blade, Ghosts of Mississippi and The X-Files. Later in 1997 Black starred in the TV film Flash, which aired on The Wonderful World of Disney. In 1998, Black was offered a part in The Horse Whisperer.
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Helen Ferguson was an American actress later turned publicist. Born in Decatur, Illinois in 1901, she graduated from Nicholas High School of Chicago... and the Academy of Fine Arts. Ferguson was a newspaper reporter before entering the motion picture field. It is thought she made her debut in films in 1914, although her first recorded credits are in 1917. She soon starred in roles for Fox Film Corporation by 1920, which is when her career really took off with films such as Hungry Hearts for Samuel Goldwyn. She was cast mostly in westerns, comedies, and serials. She was selected as a WAMPAS Baby Stars in 1922. She married actor William Russell in 1925, but he died in 1929. The following year, she married wealthy banker Richard L. Hargreaves. Following her second marriage, she left films to concentrate on stage work, though she only received minimal success in this medium. In 1933, she left acting altogether to focus on publicity work, a job she became very successful in and which made her a major power in Hollywood, because she was representing such big name stars as Henry Fonda, Barbara Stanwyck, and Robert Taylor, among others.
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Caroline Duncan is a costume designer.

Earl Gaines was an American soul blues and electric blues singer. Born in Decatur, Alabama, he sang lead vocals on the hit single "It's Love Baby ",... accredited to Louis Brooks and his Hi-Toppers, before undertaking a low-key solo career. In the latter capacity he had minor success with "The Best of Luck to You" and "Hymn Number 5" . Noted as the best R&B singer from Nashville, Gaines was also known for his lengthy career. After moving from his hometown in his teenage years, and relocating to Nashville, Tennessee, Gaines found employment as both a singer and occasional drummer. Via work he did for local songwriter, Ted Jarrett, Gaines moved from singing in clubs to meeting Louis Brooks. Brooks led the instrumental Hi-Toppers, who had a recording contract with the Excello label. Their subsequent joint recording, "It's Love Baby ," peaked at #2 on the US R&B chart in 1955. It was Gaines biggest hit, but his name was not credited on the record. Breaking away from the confines of the group, Gaines became part of the 1955 R&B Caravan of Stars, with Bo Diddley, Big Joe Turner, and Etta James.
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John-Paul Howard is an actor and model.