{"nrhp_refnum":"86003438","name":"McCray School","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"NW side of NC 62, S of jct. with SR 1757","address_restricted":false,"city":"Burlington","county":"Alamance County","state":"NC","lat":36.180420051000056,"lon":-79.37966658299996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1986-12-04","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Black","Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-room, one-story frame schoolhouse for Black students on N.C. 62 in northern Alamance County near Burlington, North Carolina, built between 1915 and 1916 by local carpenter Andrew Nash and community volunteers.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is the best-preserved early twentieth century one-room school built for Black children in rural Alamance County, and one of only two such schools remaining. It is typical of the facilities that served the county's rural Black population from about 1869 to the mid-twentieth century. It also embodies common architectural features of North Carolina one-room schools.","narrative":"McCray School is a small one-room schoolhouse on N.C. 62 in northern Alamance County, built in 1915-1916 for Black students. Landowner Albert Graham agreed to provide the land, and carpenter Andrew Nash and neighbors built the frame, gable-front building with weatherboard siding and a porch. The county Board of Education took ownership in 1919, and a rear addition was built in 1925 when enrollment reached sixty. The school had no plumbing, and a wood stove supplied heat. It closed in 1951 when students moved to a consolidated school, then served as a community center until an oak tree destroyed the addition in 1981. High school vocational students and residents restored it in 1983-1984, and a museum is planned. The nomination values it as the best-preserved example of its type in rural Alamance County, reflecting the separate and often underfunded schooling available to rural Black communities.","period_of_significance":"1900- (specific dates 1915/16)","architect_builder":"Unknown; built by Andrew Nash, a local carpenter, and community volunteers","architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Listed as unoccupied, with a proposed museum; restored by vocational students in 1983-1984 after the 1925 rear addition was destroyed in 1981.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:57:51.01828-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/52/7188/47718852/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/86003438.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47718852","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCray_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q17560792"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/alamance-county/mccray-school-86003438/"}