Hueytown High School

Hueytown High School is a four-year public high school in the Birmingham, Alabama suburb of Hueytown. It is one of fourteen high schools in the Jefferson County School System. School colors are purple and gold, and the athletic teams are called the Golden Gophers. Hueytown competes in AHSAA Class 6A athletics.^[2]

Student Profile

Enrollment in grades 9-12 for the 2013-14 school year is 1,113 students. Approximately 51% are white, 43% are African-American, 4% are Hispanic, and 2% are multiracial. Roughly 52% of students qualify for free or reduced price lunch.^[3]

Hueytown has a graduation rate of 88%.^[4] Approximately 89% of its students meet or exceed state proficiency standards in mathematics, and 85% meet or exceed standards in reading. The average ACT score for Hueytown students is 22.^[5]

History

The first Hueytown High School began classes on February 25, 1921, with students who had transferred from Bessemer High School. It was one of six new high schools in the Jefferson County system at that time. It had an enrollment of just 66 students with 25 seniors in the first graduating class in 1922. Mr. Harley F. Gilmore was the first principal and athletic director, serving as principal from 1921 until his retirement in 1956. Only six teachers served on the original staff with Mr. Gilmore.^[6]

Subjects available in those early years included French, Latin, chemistry, mathematics, and history. Home economics was offered for girls and manual arts (woodworking) for the boys.^[6]

In 1957, enrollment had reached 1,273. The next year the school relocated to its Dabbs Avenue campus serving grades 10-12. The old building then became Pittman Junior High School (serving grades 7-9) and continued in that capacity until May 1970.^[6]

Campus

Hueytown High School has been located at three different sites since its founding.

• The original campus included a white-stucco covered brick and wood structure that was located on the southeast corner of present-day Allison-Bonnett Drive and High School Road. That site adjacent to Gilmore-Vines Stadium is now a city park. The principal's residence was directly across the street from the school and still stands. Only the flag pole and a historic marker erected by the Hueytown Historical Society on July 19, 2009, note the location of the original school. As the school grew additional classrooms were added, including two white clapboard-sided four-room buildings located on either side of the main building.^[6] A fire destroyed the second floor science rooms that were over the front central section of the main building in the late 1930s.^[7] An auditorium/gymnasium which included a basement cafeteria was added about 1940. Additional classrooms were built under the grandstand of the football stadium. At least one other wooden building (the boys' shop) was erected sometime prior to 1953. It stood behind the auditorium. The entire school was demolished in 1972, except for a one story red brick building which still remains. That structure built in 1949, and used as classrooms, today houses the Hueytown Chamber of Commerce office.
• The second campus opened on Dabbs Avenue in the fall of 1958. It was built due to severe overcrowding and the decaying condition of the original school. That second school was an unusual design for the time. Designed by architect, Everett L. "Bill" Christian, it was spread out much like a college campus, it had multiple buildings scattered over several acres on wooded property. The 1958 site included four major structures. One was named Main (with administrative offices, cafeteria, band room, choir room, art room, and a gymnasium with a Quonset-style roof), an all steel and glass library building, and two other academic classroom buildings. One named Oak and the other Ivy. About 1962, a third academic classroom building was added and named Pine. In 1976, a second gymnasium with a stage was added as well as new band and choir rooms. It ceased to serve as the high school when the final class graduated in May, 2011. It was being demolished in the fall of 2018 to make way for a new school to be built on the site.
• The third and present Hueytown High School began classes on August 15, 2011. Groundbreaking ceremonies were held on October 7, 2009, for this new campus with construction beginning almost immediately. The school was designed by Lathan Associates, and constructed on a 109-acre (0.44 km²) parcel of land costing 1.58 million dollars. It is located off of 15th Street Road.^[8] The new brick and aluminum facility contains over 287,103 square feet (26,672.7 m²) at a cost of 37.2 million dollars. The two-story facility consists of fifty-six classrooms, five science labs, media center, a dining hall for 384, administrative offices, band and choral rooms and a cosmetology lab. Recreational facilities include an auditorium and a 1,650 person competition gym.^[9] An additional 6.4 million dollars paid for construction of a new football stadium (projected to be ready for the 2012 season). The new stadium replaces the more-than-70-year-old Gilmore-Vines stadium. Gilmore-Vines Stadium saw its final Golden Gopher football game on November 25, 2011. Also new baseball, softball fields, plus two practice fields for use by soccer and the marching band were built at the new school.^[10]

Extracurricular activity (non-athletic)

Student groups and activities include art club, band, cheerleading, choir, dance team, debate team, DECA, drama club, FBLA, FCCLA, First Priority, color guard, Hueytown Ambassadors, Key Club, majorettes, math team, National Honor Society, Scholar's Bowl, and Science Olympiad.

Athletic history

Today the school's sports teams, known as the Hueytown Golden Gophers, compete in baseball, basketball, football, golf, softball, tennis, track, cross-country, soccer, wrestling and volleyball.^[11]

On September 30, 1921, the as yet unnamed "Golden Gophers" played the school's first ever football game by visiting Jefferson County High School (present day Tarrant High). The next week the team played its first ever home game against Alliance High School and won 9-0. They would complete that inaugural season with a record of 3-4, including a loss to the Howard College Grass Cutters (Now Samford University). That same season the boys' baseball team posted a 10-3 record and the girls' basketball team finished 4-1.^[12]

During the next six years the football program would have a record of 28-16-5, including the 1924 team (7-1-1) which outscored opponents by the margin of 256-38. The 1924 squad had four shutouts and a victory over St. Bernard College of Cullman.^[13]

The Gophers' most successful football period occurred from 1948 to 1962, when Melvin Vines coached teams to an aggregate record of 78-44-9.^[14] His most successful team was the 1958 unit (10-0), the first undefeated and untied team in school history. The team recorded eight shutouts and outscored opponents 253-26, and it won the Jefferson County Championship (The Dental Clinic Game) over Fairfield High School that same year. Vines' teams won five county championships at a time when no statewide playoff system existed.^[15] Since the advent of a state playoff system, the football team has made several appearances with trips to the playoffs in 1974, 1975, 1995, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2011. The 2010 football team set a team record by winning 11 games. The 2011 squad broke that record winning all 11 regular-season games and then winning three rounds in the state playoff. It finished with a record of 13-1, thus making it the most games won by any football team in Hueytown history. The Current Head football Coach is Scott Mansell.

Listed below are the head football coaches in school history who had winning records.

In 1974, the Hueytown High wrestling team won the school's first state championship with the 4A State Title under the guidance of then head-wrestling coach, Tony Morton.^[16]

The boys' baseball team has traditionally been among the state's top programs including a state 4A Championship in 1976.^[11]

The girls' softball team has won four state softball championships in six years with titles in 2005, 2006, and 2008 as a 6A school and 2010 as a 5A school.

Notable alumni

• R. G. Armstrong, (Class of 1935) Movie and television character actor (often featured in Westerns) with a career spanning over 40 years.^[17]
• Walter G. Bridges, Sr. (Class of 1940), long-time District and Circuit Judge, Bessemer Division, World War II veteran and POW.^[18]
• Frank House, (Class of 1949) Former MLB player (Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Athletics, Cincinnati Reds)
• Richard C. Shelby, (Class of 1953) United States Senator (1987–present)^[19]
• Butch Wilson, (Class of 1959) Former NFL football player who played tight end for seven seasons at the Baltimore Colts and New York Giants.^[20]
• Joseph B. Morton, (Class of 1964) Alabama Superintendent of Education (July 2004 through August 31, 2011) ^[21]
• Tom Hardy, (Class of 1964) Former corporate head of the IBM Design Program instrumental in development of the original IBM Personal Computer (1981) and the first IBM ThinkPad (1992).^[22][23][24]
• Robert Higginbotham, (Class of 1965) Alabama high school football coach (1973–2008), Record 273-129-3 with one state football championship. Inducted Alabama High School Sports Hall of Fame, 2002.^[25]
• William L. Roper, Asst to the President of the United States for Health Policy (1983–86); Chief Health Officer, Jefferson County, AL (1977–1983); Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (1990–1993); current CEO- Univ. of North Carolina Health Systems.^[26]
• Greta Lambert, (Class of 1973) Professional actress and director. Primary work in theater and Alabama Shakespeare Festival, television appearances in Picket Fences and Young Riders.^[27]
• Rhonda Dotson, (Class of 1976) Movie and television actress, appeared in films, 'City of Angels' (1998), 'The Negotiator' (1998) and television series, 'Hell Town' (1985)^[28]
• Emmit King, (Class of 1978) National Champion, 1983 NCAA 100 meters
• Davey Allison, (Class of 1979) Named as one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers. 1987 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Rookie of the Year. Winner of Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600, Winston 500 and numerous other major races.^[29]
• Russ Davis, (Class of 1987) Major League Baseball Player (1994–2001)where he played 569 games.(New York Yankees, Seattle Mariners, San Francisco Giants)^[30]
• Jeremy Brown, (Class of 1998) Played college baseball at the University of Alabama. Former MLB player, Oakland Athletics (2006)
• Jared Bradford, (Class of 2004) Major League Baseball Player. He played for the LSU Tigers in college, St. Louis Cardinals (2008-2011).
• Deon Lacey,(Class of 2008) Professional football player, Edmonton Eskimos, Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills (2017).
• Jameis Winston, (Class of 2012) 2013 Heisman Trophy winner, and 2014 BCS National Championship Offensive MVP. Football quarterback and baseball outfielder for the Florida State Seminoles. NFL first pick to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

References

External links

• Hueytown High School

Coordinates: 33°26′47″N 86°59′31″W / 33.4464977°N 86.9919381°W / 33.4464977; -86.9919381