Barton Timeline
Source: bartonacademy.org
1826 – Led by Willoughby Barton, a state legislator from Mobile, the state establishes the Board of School Commissioners of Mobile County, the state’s first public school system.
1830 – School commission buys an entire city block on Government Street as a site for its future school.
1830-1836 – The commissioners have difficulty raising money to construct the school. Eventually the state legislature allows the commission to raise funds through a lottery. By early 1836, they have $50,000 in lottery funds, a $15,000 municipal loan and some private donations, including a large private donation from local millionaire Henry Hitchcock.
1836 – James Gallier Sr. and brothers James and Charles Dakin are selected as the architects. They work simultaneously on Barton and Government Street Presbyterian Church.
1836 – Construction begins on Barton.
1839 – Barton is ready for students, but the school commission has accumulated too much debt to offer free classes. Classrooms are rented to private and denominational schools, with the school commission contributing support funds.
1852 – After more than a decade on a semi-public plan, the commission reorganizes and reopens Barton as a true public school. Barton becomes the model for Alabama’s public school system.
1860 – Barton is closed during the Civil War.
1865 – Barton reopens after the war.
1899 – Barton is expanded with wings on the east and west sides.
1904 – J.D. Yerby School is added to the north side of Barton campus.
1926 – Murphy High School opens and Barton becomes a middle school.
1934-1937 – Barton is surveyed by the Historic American Buildings Survey, resulting in a large collection of photos and drawings maintained at the Library of Congress.
1960s – Barton closes to classes and becomes the central office for Mobile County Public School System.
1970 – Barton is added to the National Register of Historic Places.
2005 – Barton Academy is named to Alabama’s "Places in Peril" by the Alabama Historical Commission and the Alabama Trust for Historic Preservation.
2007 – The school board relocates its central office to West Mobile.
2009 – Barton Academy is re-named to Alabama’s “Places in Peril.”
2009 – Local preservation groups – including Mobile Historic Development Commission, Historic Mobile Preservation Society and Downtown Mobile Alliance – rally support for preserving Barton and form the Barton Academy Historic Preservation and Restoration Committee to explore a new life for the historic complex.
2012 – Barton Academy Foundation is incorporated as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. The foundation’s mission is to assist the school system in raising awareness and funds to create Barton Academy for Advanced World Studies as an innovative educational institution and an engine for growing Mobile’s economy.
2013 – The Mobile County Public Schools allocates $3.5 million from its $100 million construction bond for repairs to the exterior of Barton Academy.
2015 – Mobile County Public Schools completes a $4.2 million exterior
renovation – renewing every surface from the fence to the top of the dome.
2020 – Barton Foundation reaches $14 million goal to renovate Barton interior and construction begins.
2021- Barton reopens to students as Barton Academy for Advanced World Studies
