{"nrhp_refnum":"81000202","name":"Elder, Thomas Jefferson, High and Industrial School","other_names":["Elder, T.J., Elementary School"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"316 Hall St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Sandersville","county":"Washington County","state":"GA","lat":32.977323442000056,"lon":-82.81647869499994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1981-05-12","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Black","Education","Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A brick H-plan school building at 316 Hall Street in Sandersville, Washington County, Georgia, built in 1927-28 by Chafin Construction Company as a Rosenwald Plan school for Black students.","why_significant":"It is an authenticated Rosenwald Plan School with an intact H-plan and original finishes, and the oldest remaining school building in Washington County. It stands on a site tied to local education since 1889 and honors Thomas Jefferson Elder (1869-1946), who led the school and trained teachers for rural Black schools. It also reflects the Rosenwald Fund's effort to improve Southern Black education.","narrative":"Built in 1927-28, this brick school on Hall Street in Sandersville follows the Rosenwald Plan, with an H-shaped layout of classrooms flanking a porch and auditorium. Inside, beaded ceilings, beaded wainscoting, plaster walls and pine floors remain. Six classrooms were added to the rear wings in 1938. The building is the only one left from a once-larger school complex and is the oldest surviving school building in Washington County. The site has been used for local education since 1889. Thomas Jefferson Elder led the school for decades, introduced manual training, and trained teachers for rural Black schools. The school was named for him in 1933. Of the roughly $11,500 construction cost, nearly $8,000 came from public donations by Black and white residents, $2,500 from the city, and $1,400 from the Rosenwald Fund. It served as an elementary school until 1980 and is now unoccupied, awaiting reuse.","period_of_significance":"1927-28","architect_builder":"Chafin Construction Company","architectural_style":"Rosenwald Plan School, H-plan","criteria":[],"status_note":"Unoccupied since 1980 after serving as an elementary school, awaiting adaptive reuse; described as in good condition.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:40.332718-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_GA/81000202.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/81000202/ec1f362259-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/81000202/ec1f362259-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Cyntata2672","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Front_of_TJ_Elder_High_School.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Cyntata2672</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Front_of_TJ_Elder_High_School.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/93209875","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Jefferson_Elder_High_and_Industrial_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q65079328"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/georgia/washington-county/elder-thomas-jefferson-high-and-industrial-school-81000202/"}