Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 09/14/1998
NRHP Listing Date 10/30/1998
NRHP Reference Number 98001309
Salem School is a simple, one-story, frame school building of a type once widely found in rural Virginia. It is the sole survivor of seven schools built in Charlotte County with grants from the Julius Rosenwald Fund, established to improve public education for African Americans in the rural South. In addition to Rosenwald funds, the school was constructed adjacent to the Salem Baptist Church in southern Charlotte County in 1924 with land, money, some materials, and labor donated by the local black community. Grades one through seven were taught in the three classrooms. A fourth room served as a lunchroom. Outside were a privy and a well. The Salem School closed in 1959 upon the integration of Charlotte County schools.
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Updated: May 26, 2022
