Abandoned Rosenwald school in Georgia
Noble Hill School, Cassville Georgia
Nobel Hill School is one of two Rosenwald Schools in Bartow County for black children, and was established in 1923 and continued to operate until 1955. The school was a part of the public school system in Georgia, and it was established to improve the quality of education for black children. The Rosenwald Schools were partially funded by the state, local citizens and the Rosenwald Fund, initiated by Julius Rosenwald (1862-1932), a wealthy Chicago merchant who was chairman of the Board of Sears, Roebuck, and Company. The purpose of the Rosenwald school plan was to provide quality elementary education to black children in grades one through seven that included both traditional curriculum and industrial arts. The first Rosenwald School was constructed in 1913 in Alabama, and by 1932 there were 242 schools in Georgia.
The school is a good example of a simple, one-story, weather-boarded "Rosenwald" school constructed in 1923 for black children. It has a standardized plan with two classrooms, two cloakrooms, two vestibules, and an industrial arts room. This type plan was representative of several standardized plans for schools used by the Rosenwald Fund in Georgia and the Southwest between 1913 and 1932. Noble Hill School is one of two Rosenwald schools that were built in Bartow County, and one of many that were constructed in Georgia and the south in the early 20th century. Of those that survive, however, most have been abandoned and suffer from deterioration and vandalism.
Julius Rosenwald was a retailer and philanthropist who started a foundation to provide funds for black schools throughout the South at a time when little public money was spent on black education. The school is important for having educated numerous young blacks in Bartow County who became successful in their chosen careers, and continued their education with college, masters, and doctoral degrees.
Building Description
Noble Hill School is a one-story weather-boarded structure built in 1923 for black children in the Cassville community in Bartow County, northwest Georgia. It is rectangular in shape with a sheet metal roof, two brick chimneys, and a rock foundation. It is in a deteriorated condition. The main facade has two entrances on either side of a central projecting gabled front extension. Six windows are clustered on each side of the building with three windows on the central front extension and two on either side of the entrances. The interior arrangement consists of two large standard-size classrooms, an industrial arts room, two cloakrooms and two entrance vestibules. The plan is based on Rosenwald School specifications for two-teacher school buildings. There are four door entrances to each classroom. Most of the original interior flooring, baseboards, ceiling, walls, and doors are intact. The original blackboards are also intact. The building has no interior plumbing. It was heated by coal/wood stoves, and it had electric lighting.
The property is landscaped with a few trees to the front and rear of the school, and there is a block well house located on the left side of the school, that was constructed in the 1950s. The school was abandoned in 1955 when all the schools for blacks in Bartow County were consolidated into the Bartow Elementary School in the Cassville community. The Bartow County Board of Education sold the school to New Hope Baptist Church, who later sold it to the Wheeler Family.
Main facade and east facade (1986)
Main facade (1986)
Rear facade and east facade (1986)
East classroom (1986)
East classroom (1986)
West classroom (1986)
West classroom (1986)
