Sims High School

National Register Listing

Street Address:

200 Sims Drive, Union (Union County)

Alternate Name:

Sims Junior High School

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NRHP Nomination

Record Number:

S10817744031

Description and Narrative:

Sims High School is locally significant in the areas of Education and Ethnic Heritage: Black. Located in the town of Union, the school was built in the mid-1950s through the South Carolina equalization program, a massive state-funded construction campaign intended to shore up the legality of segregation by “equalizing” Black and white schools. The Modern school was designed by architecture firm Lockwood Greene and initially built in 1954-55 with additions in 1965-66. The nominated property replaced an older c.1926 Sims High School campus and was Union County’s only public high school for African Americans until desegregation. It is also one of only three Black equalization schools still standing in Union County. Additions made to the school in the 1960s during the period of significance reflect the continued efforts of white officials to keep schools segregated through the equalization program. The period of significance is 1954-1970, from the year construction began on the school through its years of operation during segregation, and ending with the property’s conversion to an integrated junior high school in 1970. Listed in the National Register September 20, 2023.

Period of Significance:

1954 – 1970

Level of Significance:

Local

Area of Significance:

Education;Ethnic Heritage: Black

National Register Determination:

listed

Date of Certification:

September 20 2023

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