{"nrhp_refnum":"99001366","name":"Billingsville School","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"3100 Leroy St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Charlotte","county":"Mecklenburg County","state":"NC","lat":35.19616389500004,"lon":-80.80800002599995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1999-11-12","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Black","Education"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"The former Billingsville School is a one-story, hip-roofed brick-veneered school building at 3100 Leroy Street in the Grier Heights neighborhood of Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. It was built in 1927 with a small brick addition in 1949.","why_significant":"The school was built in 1927 with support from the Rosenwald Foundation and is a landmark in African American education in Mecklenburg County. It reflects philanthropic efforts to improve schooling for rural Black communities in the segregated South. It is one of three best-preserved Rosenwald schools remaining in the county and an important institution in the Grier Heights community.","narrative":"Billingsville School is a one-story brick school building at 3100 Leroy Street in Charlotte's Grier Heights neighborhood, a historically African American community southeast of downtown. Built in 1927, it has a hip roof, a symmetrical facade, a front gable porch and banks of nine-over-nine windows. A small brick addition was made in 1949. Grier Heights residents bought land from Sam Billings, the first African American landowner in the community, and the school took his name. The Mecklenburg County School Board and the Rosenwald Foundation of Chicago built it as a four-teacher Rosenwald school, and the community soon raised money to veneer the frame building in brick. Only two Rosenwald schools in the county received that treatment. In 1949 it became the first county school absorbed into the Charlotte system after annexation. It is one of three best-preserved Rosenwald schools left in Mecklenburg County, and it was listed for its role in education and African American heritage.","period_of_significance":"1927-1949","architect_builder":"unknown","architectural_style":"Craftsman","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Retains its architectural integrity and schoolyard setting; connected by a covered walkway to the modern Billingsville Elementary School campus. Current function is listed as Commerce/Trade: Organizational.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:57:52.779532-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/62/7213/47721362/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/99001366.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/99001366/c2f3b30273-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/99001366/c2f3b30273-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Crazyale","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Billingsville_school.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Crazyale</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:Billingsville_school.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47721362","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billingsville_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q19460533"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/mecklenburg-county/billingsville-school-99001366/"}