Vigor High School Information

The mission of C. F. Vigor High School is to utilize effective instructional strategies in a setting that is conducive to learning in order to produce literate, ethical, and responsible citizens who will meet the challenges of the future. In 1914, Prichard was just a small settlement. Wilson Avenue was only around five blocks long, and the site of present day Vigor High School was occupied by two vegetable farms. For the most part, the Prichard settlement was located on the Southside of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad track. Only downtown streets such as Wilson Ave., Main, Clark, and Holmes had any noticeable amount of residents on them. Prichard remained a village until shortly after the beginning of World War I. As a result of the Chickasaw Shipbuilding plant and building of the town of Chickasaw by the Tennessee Coal & Iron Company, the population of Prichard increased very rapidly. On August 4, 1925, an election was held that allowed the property owners of Prichard to decide whether it should be incorporated as a town or not. 116 votes were cast that day, and the Incorporation passed with a count of 93 23. From henceforth, after roughly two hundred years as a settlement, Prichard would be recognized as a city. Charles Frederick Vigor, the schools namesake, was Assistant Superintendent of Mobile County, Alabama Public Schools for more than 30 years, serving from 1910 to November 3, 1941, and was mainly in charge of rural schools in the system. He was a lifetime resident of Mobile, having graduated from Barton Academy, and was the first president of the Mobile Education Association. It was fitting that in January of 1944, a new elementary school at 913 N. Wilson Avenue in Prichard was named for him. (The aerial view to the left of the school was taken in 1957). Originally there were eight grades in the school. After its opening, the student enrollment quickly increased to such an extent that three grades were put on double sessions. Three years later, relief for overcrowding came when the elementary grades ...