York Graded School
National Register Listing
Street Address:
212 East Jefferson Street, York, SC (York County)
Alternate Name:
York Elementary School; McCelvey Elementary School; McCelvey Center
NRHP Nomination
Record Number:
S10817746061
Description and Narrative:
York Graded School is the product of several different building campaigns in 1902, 1922, and 1956. The existing building is partially built on the foundation of an earlier 1853 school that burned in 1900. The 1902 building (west wing) is the base of the “E”-shaped plan. The spine of the “E” (central block), facing East Jefferson Street, was built in 1922, along with the east wing and auditorium wing at the rear of the central block. The load-bearing brick building is two stories over a raised basement with Neoclassical details on the exterior, including a full-height Ionic portico at the center of the principal façade along East Jefferson Street. Despite several renovations, including 1956 fire-code upgrades and additions, the building retains a remarkable amount of its character-defining features from 1922. York Graded School is significant for its architecture and associations with local educational history. York’s first public school, Yorkville Graded School, was established in 1889 in an earlier building on the same site. After that building burned, the school was rebuilt in 1902 and became known as York Graded School. Within two decades, the 1902 school had become overcrowded and quickly outdated, leading local school officials to remodel the building and incorporate it as the west wing of a new and significantly larger facility completed in 1922. This single school building educated all of the white students in the City of York from elementary to high school, with elementary school classes held within the remodeled, earlier wing and high school classes held within the newer wings beginning in 1922. The school served as the only white public school in York until a new white high school was constructed in 1950. It is also an excellent local example of Neoclassical architecture. It is one of only two non-residential Neoclassical buildings in York, both designed by prominent South Carolina architect William Augustus Edwards. Listed in the National Register May 26, 2023.
Period of Significance:
1922 – 1950
Level of Significance:
Local
Area of Significance:
Education;Architecture
National Register Determination:
listed
Date of Certification:
May 26 2023
