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Research dossier · Places & Architecture

S. R. Butler High School

high school in Huntsville, Madison County, Alabama

Architectural plans, a scale model, maps and brass measuring instruments
Places and architectureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 23, 2026
Entity authorityQ7387782 ↗
Source-derived summary

S. R. Butler High School was a four-year public high school that served students in grades 9-12 from Huntsville, Alabama. The school was named after Samuel Riley Butler, a principal, school superintendent, and school founder.

It opened in 1951 and closed in 2015.

History

Samuel Riley Butler (November 2, 1868 - ?) was a principal, superintendent of public schools, and school owner in Alabama. He was born in Poplar Ridge in Madison County and grew up in Tennessee. He was a Democrat. He married Ida Lee Smith. Canada Butler was one of his grandfathers.

He started Butler Training School in 1908 and operated it until 1914. From 1914 until 1929 this building served as the Wills-Taylor School for boys and girls.

Editorial summary

“S. R. Butler High School” enters the record as high school in Huntsville, Madison County, Alabama. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Butler, High and School can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA valuable geographic starting point for tracing changing names, boundaries, uses and administrative responsibility. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1951, 2015, 1868, 1908—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1951. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Butler, High and School.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“S. R. Butler High School” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Butler, High and School provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7387782. Authority coordinates are 34.726, -86.618. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1951, 2015, 1868 and 1908.

Critical limits

Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.

Best used for
  • Historic place names
  • Jurisdictional context
  • Routes into maps and plans
Verify next

Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “S. R. Butler High School”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow S. R. Butler High School primary sources, S. R. Butler High School archive and Butler research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “S. R. Butler High School”?
  2. Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
  3. Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “S. R. Butler High School” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.