Colony
| Town of Colony | |
| Incorporated | 1981 |
|---|---|
| Population | 275 |
| Mayor | Donnis Leeth |
| School district | Cullman County Schools |
| Government |
Colony Town Council |
| Web site | none |
| |
| Locate with Google Maps | |
Colony is a town of 275 on 2.26 square miles in southern Cullman County, just west of I-65 at Exit 291 and north of Alabama State Highway 91. It lies south of the ridge of Prospect Mountain and north of the Mulberry Fork, which separate Cullman County from Blount County.
Colony was settled by former slaves, many from the community of Baltimore, who had applied for land grants from during Reconstruction. Among those founders were brothers Major Reid and Enoch Montgomery, along with George Wilson, John Johnson and Irson Byars. Colony has served ever since as a haven for black residents in the overwhelmingly-white county.
Reid Byars began operating a horse-drawn cotton gin in Colony, and later partnered with Lee Reid and J. P. Ward to convert it to steam power and add a sawmill and grist mill. Mall Fields erected a two-story building which housed his Colony Mercantile general store and a meeting room above.
Under the leadership of M. A. Griffin, Colony constructed a grammar school in 1927, which was expanded to a 1-12 grade school in 1941 with Matthew E. West was principal. Since the county schools were integrated in 1966, students in Colony have been zoned for Hanceville Elementary School.
Colony currently has a municipal park adjacent to Fairview Baptist Church with a Community Center, playground, walking trail and baseball field.
Government
The Town of Colony was incorporated in 1981 and operates from the Colony Town Hall, which also houses a small public library. The current Mayor, who ran unopposed in 2016, is Donnis Leath. The Colony Town Council includes Julian Fields, Jamelle Dimbo, Tam Malcolm, Myra Twitty and Curtis Johnson.
Former mayors include Morris Fitts and Vernon Fields. Fields was appointed in 2012 after the Town Council was unable to resolve a 64-64 tie between Donnis Leath and Patrick Ward.
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Cullman County |
|---|---|
| Topics | |
| Cities |
Berlin | Baileyton | Colony | Cullman (seat) | Dodge City | Fairview | Garden City | Good Hope | Hanceville | Holly Pond | South Vinemont | West Point |
References
- Cullman County Heritage Book Committee (1999) Heritage of Cullman County, Alabama. 2 Vol's. Clanton: Heritage Publishing Consultants Inc.
- Green, Tiffany (February 10, 2009) "Colony Mayor refuses to release records." Cullman Times
- "Town of Colony officially shuts down." (November 5, 2012) WBRC.com
- Kreps, Sharon Shuler (April 7, 2015) "A Brief History of Colony, Alabama." Cullman Times
- Owens, Tiffeny (August 14, 2016) "Donnis Leeth becomes Colony mayor after Fields fails to qualify." Cullman Times