Tag Archives: school

Tamassee DAR School in Oconee County, South Carolina

The Illinois Cottage was built in 1939.

In the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in Oconee County, South Carolina, is the Tamassee DAR School. Like Rosenwald Schools, the school was founded to provide education to rural schoolchildren. Started in 1919, the school primarily provided an education to local white children. The school initially operated as a boarding school for girls and a day school for boys. Later, boys were allowed to board on the campus. In addition to getting an education, students learned about citizenship. It is one of two DAR-owned schools in the country, the other being the Kate Duncan Smith School in Grant, Alabama.

Sarah Corbin Robert School was built in 1942.

Additionally, Temassee was the site of the first “Opportunity School.” An initiative that began in 1921 focused on adult education and literacy for employees of local textile mills. The school focused on developing basic reading and math skills while also educating participants on health habits and civic responsibility.

South Carolina Cottage was built in 1919.

Buildings are named to recognize important women within the DAR or states where the statewide DAR chapters gave generously to support the founding and building of the school. The school was intentionally frugal by using wood from the local forests and leftover blue granite from the incomplete Stumptown Tunnel. Most buildings were constructed in the 1940s. The Tamassee Post Office was not an original building and was relocated to the campus.

Pennsylvania Health House was constructed in 1942.

Although the school no longer offers a primary education, it remains active by providing services to local children in need and daycare. Additionally, they host summer camps for local children.

The Pouch Cottage was built and expanded from 1939 to 1946.

The school was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012.

All State Building was built in 1930.
May Erwin Talmedge Auditorium was completed in 1952.
The Post Office was built in 1900 and was later relocated to campus.

The Dining Hall was completed in 1990.

Vineyard School of Vineyard, Georgia

Northwest of Griffin, Georgia, is a school that is one of the remaining reminders of a town known as Vineyard, Georgia. The Vineyard School was built in 1930 and used as a school until the 1960s. It then served as a cooperative education center for Spalding County. In recent years, it was home to the Beacon Voices of Christ Outreach Ministries. Currently, it does not appear that the building is being used.

Elmore County Training School-A Wetumpka, Alabama Rosenwald School

Elmore County Training School opened in Wetumpka, Alabama, on September 20, 1926. The first principal was A. R. Mosely. It was the county’s first high school for Black students and the largest Rosenwald built in th county. The school closed in 1963.

After the school closed, the city built a park around the school for the Black citizens of Wetumpka. The school served as a community center and eventually became the Elmore County Black History Museum

Broad Avenue Elementary-An Albany Place in Peril

Broad Avenue Elementary was built in the 1930s and was open until 2005. It was abandoned until 2019 when the nonprofit organization Southwest Georgia Rising purchased it in hopes of turning it into a rural innovation center.

In 2024, the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation included it in its annual list of Places in Peril. The brickwork and details highlight construction not seen in modern school buildings. The book at the roofline is an interesting touch for the facade.

Sardis Elementary School-Jasper County, Georgia

This website identifies this as the Sardis School and that it is a Rosenwald School. It is a Sardis School since the Sardis CME Church shares the same land. However, the build date of the 1940s and the style indicate it is not a Rosenwald School.

This 1950s image shows the students and the building. It is courtesy of the Digital Library of Georgia.

Griggs Business and Practical Arts College of Memphis, Tennessee

Griggs Business and Practical College began as a private home for Joseph Minter and Elizabeth Gregory in 1858. Mrs. Gregory stayed in the brick Italianate home until her death in 1920.

In 1949, Reverend S. A. Owens and C. J. Gaston purchased the home to serve as the permanent home of the Griggs Business and Practical College. The school began five years earlier in Emma Griggs’s home. It was one of three Black colleges in Memphis. Griggs taught the “practical arts” of sewing, cooking, and other domestic activities. Griggs passed away before the school opened in its Vance Avenue location.

Fortunately, the school thrived until the 1970s and the decision was made to close it.

The school was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2023.

Advertisement in The Commercial Appeal in the September 7, 1952 edition