In the Jim Crow era, South Guthrie was the African-American community associated with the white city of Guthrie, with the state line forming a dividing line between the rtwo.[1]
The community of Guthrie was established in 1868 and experienced early growth after a railroad junction was completed in 1870. South Guthrie, which grew up alongside Guthrie, was originally known as "Squig" according to local resident Clyde C. Kilgore.[2] It was also known by the nicknames "Squiggtown" and "Niggertown", the latter being a pejorative used by white residents of Guthrie.[1] Squig became known as "South Guthrie" around the time the South Guthrie Community Improvement Association raised US$27.85 for a gate to enclose the cemetery.[2]
In the early decades of the 20th century, residents of South Guthrie found industrial employment in a broom factory and a plant that made railroad ties. South Guthrie also had a small middle class of African-American professionals and benefited economically from African-American tobacco farmers in the surrounding "Black Patch" region.[1]
South Guthrie is still predominantly black, while Guthrie is predominantly white, although the divisions are no longer as sharply defined.[1]
The building that houses the South Guthrie community center was a Rosenwald school from construction in 1922 until 1968.[1][3] It is the only surviving Rosenwald school building in Montgomery County out of the 22 once there.[4] The Guildfield Missionary Baptist Church, also built in 1922, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[1]
