Alapaha Colored School
Why it's listed
Built in 1924 on Henry Street in Alapaha, this two-story frame building served as the school for African-American children in northern Berrien County. Its service area reached the Irwin, Atkinson and Tift county lines. Four rooms held eleven grades, with several grades sharing a classroom, and an upstairs room served as a lunchroom. Heating came from coal-burning pot-bellied stoves tended by students. In 1945 the older students, supervised by the principal, built a one-story rear addition with ribbon-style windows. The school closed after 1953, when Berrien County consolidated Black students into the new Nashville High and Elementary School. The building was later sold to a Masonic lodge, which still uses the second floor as a meeting hall. Its two-story height, wood frame, simple double-hung windows and lack of stylistic detail are typical of Georgia schools built before 1930, and few such buildings survive.
Significance in brief: It is described as a rare surviving two-story wood-frame African-American community school in Berrien County and Georgia. It was the only school for African-American children in Alapaha and the surrounding area, qualifying under Criterion A. It is also a good example of an early 20th-century community school with character-defining features common before 1930, qualifying under Criterion C.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 02000758, listed July 11, 2002. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | Henry St., S of jct. with George St., Alapaha |
|---|---|
| County | Berrien County |
| Listed | July 11, 2002 |
| Reference number | 02000758 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1924-1953 |
| Architectural style | Other/No Style |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture, Education, Black |
| Level of significance | State |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Used as a meeting hall by a Masonic lodge; a 2001 Georgia Heritage Grant funded rehabilitation for continued lodge and community use. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Coordinates | 31.37841, -83.22376 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For a publicly owned building or structure, listing mainly matters when federal funds, permits or licences are involved: projects then go through Section 106 review so effects on the property are considered. Listing also strengthens applications for preservation grants and, for leased income-producing uses, can enable the federal rehabilitation tax credit.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 02000758.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q28035257
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.