Corner of Grove and Martin Streets
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Last updated on April 11, 2024
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Directions from Belle Grove to site 4:
- Exit Belle Grove visitor’s center and turn left onto US-11
- Continue for 6.5 miles then turn left at the light onto Fairfax St in Stephens City
- In 0.2 mile turn left onto Grove St
- At the next intersection of Grove St and Martin St on the northeast corner is the destination
Virginia established a public school system that was racially segregated. Previously, schools were private or connected to a church and not widely available. Formerly enslaved African Americans pursued education as a means of liberation. The Rosenwald Fund was started by Julius Rosenwald, Booker T. Washington, and the Tuskegee Institute to assist in funding and building schoolhouses for African American children in the rural South. According to the Julius Rosenwald Fund archives at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, the original school was built for $3,820. The Rosenwald Fund donated $500, and the rest of the funds came from the community. The land for the school was purchased for $450 from a sale of part of the town commons. The 1½-acre parcel adjoined Locust Grove Cemetery. The Rosenwald School of Stephens City was built around 1920-21 at the northeast corner of the Grove and Martin streets’ intersection. The school burned down in the 1930s. A second building replaced the original one and is no longer standing. It is unknown when the school closed its doors.
