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Photograph of Lincoln Normal School
Photograph by RuralSWAlabama, CC BY-SA 3.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Phillips Memorial Auditorium

Built in 1867. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.

From the record

“The Lincoln Normal School (1867-1970), originally Lincoln School and later reorganized as State Normal School and University for the Education of Colored Teachers and Students, was a historic African American school expanded to include a normal school in Marion, Alabama. Founded less than two years after the end of the Civil War, it is one of the oldest HBCUs in the United States.”

Wikipedia article Lincoln Normal School, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 22 National Register listings published here for Perry County · listed in 1990 · category: Building · built in 1867.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

  • What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
  • Address. Lincoln Ave. and Lee St., Marion, 36756
  • When was it listed? February 1990
  • Category. building
  • Census division. Marion
  • When was it built? 1867
  • National Register reference number. 88003243 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Fires near this property

372 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 372 fires within 5 miles of Phillips Memorial Auditorium between 1994 and 2020, burning about 977 acres in total. 10 started naturally. 22 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Debris and open burning130
Missing data/not specified/undetermined88
Equipment and vehicle use56
Arson/incendiarism22
Smoking22
Recreation and ceremony18
Natural10
Misuse of fire by a minor10
Railroad operations and maintenance8
Other causes4
Power generation/transmission/distribution4

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
9 September 2010Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
9 September 1999Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
8 September 2020Debris and open burning1.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20200908-1
8 September 1995Debris and open burning10 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
6 September 1995Recreation and ceremony13 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
6 September 1995Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
5 September 2006Natural129 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
5 September 1995Smoking2.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named

Every fire recorded in Perry County

Storms near this property

37 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Marion, the town this property stands in, in 37 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 20 thunderstorm wind, 15 hail, 2 tornado. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
April 2004Thunderstorm WindMarion$150,000no account filed
May 2009Thunderstorm WindMarion$100,000Thousands of trees were blown down across Perry County.
March 1996Tornado (F1)Marion$95,000no account filed
April 2009Tornado (EF1)Marion$30,000The tornado touched down in a wooded ravine, between Nichols Lane and CR-7. It then traveled east-northeast for just over a mile, and lifted near the intersection of Coles Truck Stop Road and AL-5. Along the path, approximately 100 hardwood trees were snapped, and near the end of the path, several hardwoods were uprooted. A home sustained minor damage to shingles and siding. The occupant of the home took refuge in a closet, and was unharmed, after her brother called to inform her of the tornado warning.
May 2003HailMarion$25,000A swath of large hail occurred from west central Perry County near Scotts Station to near the Vaiden Airport. The hail may have been much larger in surrounding rural areas. A few trees were also blown down and one outbuilding was destroyed.
October 2007Thunderstorm WindMarion$10,000Numerous trees and several power lines were blown down on the western side of the city of Marion.
January 2007Thunderstorm WindMarion$10,000A deteriorating car repair garage was destroyed due to wind getting into the old building and blowing it out.
July 1998Thunderstorm WindMarion$10,000A roof of a downtown building was damaged, blowing debris over the area. Several large trees were also uprooted as well.
May 1998HailMarion$10,000Golf ball size hail was reported in Radford.
May 1998HailMarion$10,000no account filed
May 1996Thunderstorm WindMarion$10,000no account filed
April 2003HailMarion$8,000A swath of hail fell across central Perry County associated with supercell 3. Hail was reported from penny size to ping pong ball size. A few locations observed minor accumulations of the hail. The hail may have been larger in the rural areas and was therefore not observed.
November 1997Thunderstorm WindMarion$6,000Thunderstorm wind snapped trees north of Marion. There were also reports of structural damage north of Marion.
October 2007Thunderstorm WindMarion$5,000Several trees and power lines were blown down on the eastern side of Marion.
February 2007Thunderstorm WindMarion$3,000Several trees were blown down near the intersection of of SR 5 and CR 38.
March 2000HailMarion$3,000One inch diameter size hail fell in Marion.
March 2011Thunderstorm WindMarion$2,000Several trees were blown down northeast of Marion.
May 2010Thunderstorm WindMarion$2,000Several trees were blown down on CR-7, north of Marion.
April 2005HailMarion$2,000Quarter to golf ball size hail was observed in and around the city of Marion.
April 2011Thunderstorm WindMarion$1,000A tree was blown down and it blocked a road in Marion County.
April 2005HailMarion$1,000Quarter size hail briefly fell near the Coleman community.
March 2025Thunderstorm WindMarion-Multiple trees were downed with power outages around Marion and Sprott.
August 2024Thunderstorm WindMarion-Multiple trees were blown down around Marion.
December 2024Thunderstorm WindMarion-A few trees were downed around the Perry County.
April 2022Thunderstorm WindMarion-Numerous trees uprooted in and around the city of Marion.
April 2022Thunderstorm WindMarion-Several trees uprooted in Marion.
April 2022HailMarion-Quarter size hail reported a few miles north of Marion.
June 2013Thunderstorm WindMarion-A few homes sustained minor roof damage in Marion.
July 2012Thunderstorm WindMarion-Two homes along Oakcrest Drive sustained minor roof damage due to fallen trees.
March 2005HailMarion-Penny size hail was reported near the Perry Municipal Airport along CR 45.
February 2001HailMarion-Quarter size hail was reported near Marion.
December 2000HailMarion-Dime size hail was observed in the city of Marion.
April 1995Thunderstorm WindMarion-Several trees were down and at least one power line in the city of Marion according to the police department there.
May 2013HailMarion-no account filed
March 2013HailMarion-no account filed
February 2007HailMarion-no account filed
April 2004HailMarion-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Perry County

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Photograph PropertyDistance Listed
Lincoln Normal Schoolunder 500 feet2022
First Congregational Church of Marion0.2 miles1982
West Marion Historic District0.4 miles1993
Chapel and Lovelace Hall, Marion Military Institute0.4 miles1978
President's House, Marion Institute0.5 miles1979
Green Street Historic District0.5 miles1979

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 88003243 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Perry CountyAll 22 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

  • Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
  • Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
  • How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
  • Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
  • Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.