{"nrhp_refnum":"86001126","name":"Dell School Campus","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"US 421 and SR 1003","address_restricted":false,"city":"Delway","county":"Sampson County","state":"NC","lat":34.801698675500035,"lon":-78.21480491135341,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1986-05-21","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A campus of five surviving buildings (plus one intrusive mobile home) in Delway, Sampson County, North Carolina, that belonged to the Dell School, a private Baptist-affiliated academy. The buildings date from about 1902 to 1908, and the brick school building was put up in 1908 by W. L. Beach, Richard L. Herring and Joe Smith.","why_significant":"The campus is tied to the growth of secondary education in the county and state around 1900 and to the Baptist Church's role in supporting it. The school produced six foreign missionaries, sixteen physicians and twenty ministers, and two of its principals became notable. Its buildings reflect period styles, notably the Colonial Revival brick school and the Queen Anne Principal's House. The community of Delway grew up around the school.","narrative":"Dell School Campus in Delway, Sampson County, preserves the remaining buildings of a private Baptist academy that operated from 1902 to 1923. Three local men founded the school, and the centerpiece is a two-story Colonial Revival brick academy built in 1908, with an auditorium, classrooms and music rooms. Across the road stand the Queen Anne style Principal's House, a much-reduced Girls Club/Dormitory, and two frame houses linked to teachers and trustees. The boys' dormitory and the Evergreen Baptist Church were demolished or relocated when US 421 was built through the community. The school joined the state system of Baptist secondary schools in 1909 and gained a regional reputation in music and literature. Its students included six foreign missionaries, sixteen physicians and twenty ministers. Principals included Rosser Taylor and Ivan L. Bennett, later Chief of Chaplains. The school closed as public high schools opened nearby and Baptist support ended. The brick school has long stood vacant.","period_of_significance":"1902-1923","architect_builder":"Builder/architect listed as Unknown; the 1908 brick school was built by W. L. Beach, Richard L. Herring and Joe Smith","architectural_style":"Colonial Revival (school building); Queen Anne (Principal's House)","criteria":["A","B","C","D"],"status_note":"The brick school building has been vacant for a number of years. The dwellings are inhabited. The Girls Club/Dormitory is greatly reduced and altered, and US 421 runs about 40 feet from the school.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:57:49.338682-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/49/7184/47718449/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/86001126.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86001126/96d0135e7f-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86001126/96d0135e7f-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Cat person","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dell_School,_Delway,_NC.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Cat person</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dell_School,_Delway,_NC.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47718449","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dell_School_Campus","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q19867884"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/sampson-county/dell-school-campus-86001126/"}