Tiffany Miller
palmettoreport@gmail.com

(Rock Hill, S.C.) — The Carroll School, located in York County, was added to the National Register of Historic Places earlier this year, because of its significance as a landmark in the African-American community.

The former Rock Hill schoolhouse was built in 1929 after the creation of the Julius Rosenwald Foundation, a program that supplied grants for thousands of buildings across 15 states.

The buildings, which included schoolhouses, teachers’ homes and shops, were built by and used by African-Americans, according to the Rock Hill school district.

“I (saw) the building a few times but never really knew the story behind it,” said Robin Clyburn, who lives near the school. “I just thought it was an old house; I never thought it was so deeply rooted in African-American history.”

The Carroll School formally shut its doors in 1954, but an effort to restore the school began in 2001 and now it is used to teach lessons in a different manner.

For example, fifth-grade students in the Rock Hill school district take field trips to the school and learn about African-American history and how the Great Depression affected the South.

The experience can also demonstrate how students were taught during the time the school operated.

“I feel like these field trips could change the way students see education,” said Cheryl Stowe, a parent whose daughter recently attended a field trip to the Carroll School.

“They didn’t have all the technology we have today and students get to see how much better they have it than the generations before them.”

The school’s newfound status as a historical landmark may only solidify its impact on the community and education.