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. The city then bought it and made it the Huntsville Junior High School. Now it is a parking lot for the Annie Merts Center for school administration. The first Butler High School was built in 1954 and was originally intended to also serve as a
fallout shelter for the surrounding area in the case of a nuclear attack. Its proximity to
Redstone Arsenal Army Base made the area a likely target during the
Cold War. The final S.R. Butler High School was built in the late 1960s with the first graduating class in 1968. The previous Butler was renamed Stone Junior High School (years later renamed Stone Middle School) and is located at the intersection of Clinton Avenue and
Governors Drive, and was remodeled after a suspicious fire destroyed much of the old school. The final Butler H.S. was located on Holmes Ave. In 2015, Butler High School was closed due to a dwindling enrollment and poor ratings. Students were re-directed to Columbia, Grissom, Huntsville, Johnson and Lee High Schools. The Rock Family Worship Center currently occupies the old Butler High School building. == Academics ==