Charles Frederick Vigor, the school’s 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 were absorbed by other schools in the area. Eight additional classrooms were added to the existing facility and Vigor began concentrating on the upper grades. Before then, all public high school students in the county had to travel to midtown Mobile to attend Murphy. Vigor’s first 11th grade graduating class was in 1952, the same year the auditorium was added to the complex, and the last 11th grade graduating class was in 1953. The first 12th grade graduating class was in 1954.
