Hidden in plain sight near the intersection of Vine Street and South Alves Street is one of Henderson’s most overlooked named alleyways, Royster Alley.
Royster Alley shows up clearly on historic Sanborn maps. Just steps away, at Vine and Alves, stood the W. C. Handy Pool, which opened in 1955. The pool was a major recreational site for Black residents during segregation and remained in use until the early 1980s. City records later described it as a “reminder of a segregated society,” and it was ultimately closed, filled in, and erased from the landscape. Today, that same ground is occupied by the basketball courts beside the John F. Kennedy Community Center.
The pool is gone. The fences are gone. The signage is gone. But Royster Alley still appears on the old maps.
