COLUMBIA, Tenn. - Columbia city officials are trying to save a one-time funeral home believed to have been one of the longest serving black-owned businesses in the country.
Mrs. A.J. Morton and Sons Funeral Home closed 20 years ago. The building has a faded facade and is in major disrepair.
City Councilwoman Christa Martin said she will meet with several organizations to discuss saving the building.
"This is a major piece of history," she said. "Hopefully the community will rally around this building."
According to The Daily Herald, the business is believed to have opened in the 1890s. Maury County historian Bob Duncan said it is representative of many black establishments in the city that overcame struggles.
"It was the scene of an early black entrepreneur's business days when black folks had a hard time starting businesses," he said. "... If we think black history is important it's important."
It also occupies a place in the civil rights movement.
Trent Ogilvie, director of the Columbia Housing Authority, said the funeral home is nestled in the business district near where racial disturbances broke out in 1946.
"It is a treasure," he said. "When the whole thing happened, that building became a focal point for the local community."
Cemora Newsome, granddaughter of Andrew James and Kelly Morton who founded the funeral home, said she has some fond memories of the business. It was in her family for 100 years.
"We buried a lot of people," she said.
But after the death of her mother and a move to Maryland, Newsome said she had to give up the family business. She said she would love to see the building restored.
"It was very difficult, but it just didn't work out," she said.
___
Information from: The Daily Herald, http://www.columbiadailyherald.com