Allendale Training School
National Register Listing
Street Address:
4561 Allendale-Fairfax Highway, Allendale, SC (Allendale County)
Alternate Name:
Allendale County Training School;Allendale Primary School;C.V. Bing High School
NRHP Nomination
Record Number:
S10817703014
Description and Narrative:
The Allendale Training School is a collection of International Style one-story masonry buildings locally significant in the areas of Education, Ethnic Heritage: Black, and Architecture. Prior to the construction of the Allendale Training School, the town of Allendale’s Black students were served by a campus of wood frame buildings constructed in the mid-1920s. The destruction of part of that campus in a 1946 fire and a growing student body prompted the initial construction of the Allendale Training School in 1950. Increasing enrollment prompted plans for an addition to the existing school building and three new buildings in 1955, funded by the State of South Carolina’s “equalization” program, a statewide campaign to thwart mounting legal challenges to segregation by improving the condition of the state’s Black schools. Designed by notable architecture firm Lafaye, Lafaye, and Fair, the 1950 school and its 1955 additions exemplify the burgeoning trend of Modern architecture in the postwar period, particularly for educational facilities. The buildings are architecturally significant as they epitomize the Modern design utilized for most equalization schools, which included one-story, flat-roofed buildings with large banks of metal-framed windows. The site still reflects its original use as a school with visible remnants of modern playground equipment and large acreage behind the school for play. The site retains a high degree of integrity. The original windows are present throughout the buildings, the classroom layouts are largely untouched, and the horizontal dominance of the design remains intact, making this a highly intact piece of South Carolina’s educational history and legacy of racial discrimination. Listed in the National Register June 10, 2022.
Period of Significance:
1950 – 1970
Level of Significance:
Local
Area of Significance:
Architecture;Education;Ethnic Heritage: Black
National Register Determination:
listed
Date of Certification:
June 10 2022
