Supply chain delays and the hottest day of the year could not stop the Wheatley Historic Preservation Association from unveiling a historic marker in the Garfield Historic District of Poplar Bluff.
Most of the dedication ceremony was held indoors at Wheatley School to avoid the punishing heat. Rex Rattler, owner of Rattler’s Grocery and Vice President of WHPA, thanked attendees for coming and spotlighted members of the community who pulled together to get the Garfield Historic District on the National Registry of Historic Places: Kathern Harris, Emily Wolpers, city manager Matt Winters, WHPA President Robert Smith and the Rev. Tommy Robinson.
“Thank you all for participating in this moment with us,” Rattler said.
The 900 block of Garfield Street was designated in 2017 after years of work by residents and city officials, some of it grant-funded, to gather the documentation needed to meet national requirements. The district encircles Wheatley School, Pleasant Hill Missionary Baptist Church, Rattler’s Grocery and the Lutie house.
“Being put on the national registry was not an easy task,” said Rattler. “It was a tedious task, and it took three years.”
“It was not an easy process, and some people from Jefferson City and the state didn’t understand the importance of this block,” Winters recalled.
The district received recognition because of its social, educational and commercial significance to the history of Poplar Bluff’s African American community. Rattler said as a child, the district was the hub of his life because it held his family’s business, his school and his church.
“These were the three most important places in my life,” he said.
The sign was paid for by the city, according to Wolpers, but was delayed due to pandemic supply chain issues.
“We’re really happy that the city was willing to finance it,” she said.
The city began planning signage for historic districts in 2018. Besides the Garfield Historic District, the city has the Poplar Bluff Commercial Historic District, South Sixth Street Historic District, North Main Street Historic District and Cynthia-Kinzer Historic District.
Wheatley School opened in 1901 and was named for Phyllis Wheatley, America’s first published Black female poet. The building served Black high school students from across the region until the 1950s, when the Class of 1957 became the last to graduate from Wheatley. The school then taught grades 1-10 before students transferred for their final two years of high school. The school was damaged by a fire in 1967 and Poplar Bluff fully desegregated its school system 1968, after which Wheatley was repaired. It later served as an early childhood center until 2001. Today, Wheatley is a museum and community center, but continues its legacy of education by housing the Succeeding in School reading program and Super Kids Camp every summer. It is cared for by the Wheatley Historic Preservation Society.
Rattler’s Grocery is Poplar Bluff’s longest-operating Black business. It opened in 1926 and is currently run by Rattler.
Pleasant Hill Missionary Baptist Church has held an active congregation for over 100 years.
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